David Wood Baking is a successful food manufacturer which has experienced significant growth in the past decade, supplying key customers in the UK retail and foodservice sectors.

As a result of their growth and expansion, David Wood Baking is now looking for an ambitious Development Chef to join their successful and highly driven NPD Team.

Do you have the drive and passion to succeed and looking to form part of an NPD Team at a time when the business is going through an exciting period of development and growth?

David Wood Baking are recruiting now and keen to speak with candidates motivated and driven by success.

Due to the ongoing company success, there is an excellent opportunity for progression within the business.

Competitive Salary/Pension/Holidays/Occupational Health

About The Role

To help the business to continue to grow with innovative products, in this role you will participate in all aspects of the concept to launch process including:

• Work on creative briefs for major retailers, developing innovative and commercially viable products.
• Present concepts with confidence to clients and stakeholders.
• Use your culinary expertise to bridge the gap between kitchen innovation and large-scale production.
• Stay ahead of food trends, ensuring products are both on-trend and commercially successful.
• Collaborate closely with NPD teams, suppliers, and production teams to bring concepts to life.
• Kitchen based concept development work
• Leading daily product sampling sessions
• Factory trials of new products and improvements to existing products
• Driving forward product standards
• Sourcing of new ingredients

Responsibilities & Requirements

• Passionate about food with an awareness of the Pastry or Ready Meals sector
• Excellent Communication and Relationship building skills.
• Ambitious, looking to develop their career over the next 1 – 3 years.
• Driven and motivated to achieve without constantly being managed.
• Somebody willing to go the extra mile to ensure that key objectives are achieved.
• Used to working as part of a cross functional team to get the job done
• Urgent and responsive – to customer and business needs
• Proven experience as a Development Chef, ideally within food manufacturing or retail-focused product development.
• Strong presentation skills and experience delivering client-facing pitches.
• Passion for food innovation and an understanding of commercial scalability.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple projects.