Melbourne | Food Manufacturing

Build products. Build customer relationships. Build the next growth platform. We are partnering with an established Australian agri-food business that is continuing to invest in its value-added manufacturing capabilities and is looking to appoint a commercially minded Technical & NPD Sales Manager.

This is a unique opportunity for a Food Technologist, Food Scientist or technical product development professional who enjoys being close to both the product and the customer.

This isn’t a traditional NPD role where projects are handed over to Sales once they’re developed. You’ll sit at the intersection of technical, product development, manufacturing and commercial, helping identify what customers need, developing the solution and then working alongside the sales team to take it to market.

About the Role:

The role will have an approximate 60/40 focus: 60% – New Product Development & Innovation

You will own and develop a pipeline of new and improved value-added food products, taking projects from initial opportunity and customer brief through formulation, trials, scale-up, commercialisation and post-launch review.

You’ll be responsible for:

• Identifying customer, category and market opportunities and translating these into a prioritised NPD pipeline
• Managing NPD and product renovation projects from concept through to commercial launch
• Developing products that are technically viable, commercially attractive and capable of being manufactured at scale
• Leading bench, pilot and production trials
• Working closely with Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Procurement and Finance to ensure products are commercially and operationally viable
• Supporting product costing, margin expectations, capacity requirements and commercial feasibility
• Managing specifications, formulations, shelf-life, allergen, nutritional and regulatory requirements
• Identifying opportunities for product optimisation, cost reduction, process improvement and new applications
• Managing stage-gate processes, project timelines and launch readiness
• Building relationships with external technical, ingredient, packaging, laboratory and research partners

40% – Technical Sales & Customer Development

Working closely with the Domestic Sales Manager, you’ll also play a hands-on role in bringing NPD to market.

This will include:

• Engaging with existing and prospective manufacturing customers to understand their technical and commercial requirements
• Attending customer meetings, presentations, product reviews and trials
• Providing technical expertise and application support throughout the sales process
• Translating technical product capabilities into clear commercial value propositions
• Supporting customer proposals, tenders, samples and specifications
• Identifying opportunities to introduce new products into existing customer accounts
• Helping the sales team identify new applications, customers and markets for the developing product portfolio
• Supporting customers through product trials, approvals and commercialisation
• Maintaining strong relationships with customers throughout the development and launch process

Ultimately, you’ll be responsible for ensuring that good ideas become commercially successful products.

About You:

We’re looking for someone who combines genuine food technical expertise with strong commercial and customer-facing capability.

You will ideally have:

• A tertiary qualification in Food Science, Food Technology, Product Development, Chemistry, Nutrition or a related discipline
• Demonstrated experience in NPD, technical commercialisation or applications development within food manufacturing, ingredients or FMCG
• Experience taking food products from customer brief/concept through trials, scale-up and commercial launch
• A strong understanding of food safety, specifications, allergens, nutrition, shelf life, labelling and regulatory requirements
• Practical experience conducting bench, pilot or factory trials
• Experience working within a food manufacturing environment and understanding what makes a product commercially and operationally viable
• Strong customer-facing skills and the ability to confidently communicate technical information to commercial stakeholders
• An understanding of costings, margins, MOQs, capacity and investment considerations
• Strong project management and stakeholder management skills
• The ability to challenge a brief where something isn’t technically, operationally or commercially achievable
• A pragmatic, solutions-focused approach and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously

Experience across ingredients, value-added food manufacturing, bakery, confectionery, plant-based, beverages, dairy alternatives or similar categories would be highly regarded.

Why this opportunity?

This is an opportunity to take ownership of a genuine innovation pipeline, rather than simply managing individual NPD projects.

You’ll have the opportunity to influence what gets developed, why it gets developed and ultimately how it is commercialised, while remaining closely connected to customers and the market.

You’ll work across the full business — from Sales and customers through to Operations, Quality, Procurement, Supply Chain, Finance and manufacturing — giving you genuine exposure to the commercialisation of new food products. You will also lead cross-functional NPD workstreams while keeping the customer need and commercial outcome central to development.

The role is based in Melbourne, with monthly travel to the company’s regional processing and manufacturing facility and customer sites. There will also be interstate travel as required but infrequent.
Interested?

If you’re a Food Technologist/Food Scientist who has developed products but also enjoys getting in front of customers and seeing those products commercialised, we’d like to hear from you.

This role would suit someone who wants to move beyond purely technical NPD and take greater ownership of the commercial journey from customer need → product development → customer approval → commercial launch.

Apply now or contact Josh Kehoe at Blackbook Executive on (+61) 3 9823 7400 for a confidential conversation