About the job
This position is with one of Weekday's prestigious clients.
Salary range: Up to 1,500,000 INR (15 LPA)
Minimum Experience Required: 8 years
Location: Mumbai
Job Type: Full-time
As the NPD Lead, you will be at the forefront of innovation within the food sector. Your role will encompass the entire journey from initial trials to national commercial rollouts, where you will convert consumer insights and global market trends into groundbreaking bakery and snack products.
This is a foundational role that emphasizes building from the ground up, providing a high degree of autonomy, agility, and accountability, while working directly with the founders to shape the product development roadmap.
Key Responsibilities
- Manage the complete product development process, from concept design to commercial launch.
- Leverage consumer insights and global trends to create innovative bakery and snack products.
- Take complete ownership of formulation, sensory evaluation, shelf-life testing, regulatory compliance, and quality assurance.
- Oversee pilot production runs and scaling activities in collaboration with co-packers and manufacturing partners.
- Track project timelines, budgets, and performance metrics for all NPD initiatives.
- Collaborate closely with founders, brand, sourcing, and supply chain teams to facilitate rapid iterations and ensure a robust product-market alignment.
- Develop and uphold long-term NPD systems, including documentation, processes, and knowledge repositories.
Qualifications & Experience
- At least 8 years of experience in Food R&D/NPD, ideally in bakery, biscuits, or snack categories.
- A degree in Food Science or Food Technology; a Master’s or PhD is highly beneficial.
- Demonstrated success in transitioning products from lab trials to national-level launches.
- Extensive knowledge of ingredients, formulations, sensory science, and manufacturing processes.
- Experience collaborating with co-packers or third-party production units and scaling recipes for commercial production.
- Proactive with a strong inclination towards action, thriving in fast-paced, entrepreneurial environments.
What We Seek
- Passionate Innovator , Deeply interested in food, emerging trends, ingredients, and experimentation.
- Confident Decision-Maker , Data-driven yet comfortable making bold, intuitive choices.
- Hands-On Builder , Thrives in start-up settings; driven to execute and achieve results.
- Entrepreneurial Mindset , Resilient, adaptable, and resourceful in tackling challenges.
- Future Leader , Potential to evolve into a Head of NPD role as the company grows.
