New Product Development Manager - Pizza Expertise

Role purpose

Product development and innovation

• Lead the NPD lifecycle from concept creation and feasibility through development, testing, launch, and post-launch evaluation.
• Develop new menu items, limited-time offers, and product renovations aligned with brand and business goals.
• Translate consumer insights and market trends into compelling, scalable product concepts.
• Ensure products can be executed consistently across restaurants.
• Pizza product development expertise in dough-making, seasonings, sauces, toppings, and meat toppings is essential.

Collaboration and commercial planning

• Work with the NPD Director, Marketing, Supply Chain, Operations Excellence, Quality Assurance, Finance, franchisors, and external suppliers.
• Coordinate product trials, kitchen tests, sensory evaluations, and consumer testing.
• Build business cases with costings, margins, and pricing recommendations.
• Support innovation calendars and long-term product roadmaps; monitor product performance and recommend optimizations.

Quality and project management

• Ensure products meet food safety, quality, and regulatory standards; manage specifications, ingredient approvals, and supplier compliance.
• Manage multiple NPD projects across timelines and complexity levels while meeting deadlines and budget requirements.
• Prepare presentations and updates for senior stakeholders.
• Balance consumer appeal, brand standards, operational feasibility, and cost constraints.

Requirements

• Pizza product development expertise covering technical aspects of dough-making, seasonings, sauces, toppings, and meat toppings is essential.
• Ability to develop products aligned with brand strategy, consumer insights, operational feasibility, food safety, and commercial objectives.
• Ability to manage multiple projects with differing timelines and complexity while meeting deadlines and budget requirements.
• Ability to balance consumer appeal, brand standards, operational feasibility, and cost constraints in a high-volume QSR environment.