Product Development Specialist

Position Snapshot

Business area: Froneri Canada Inc.

Location: London, ON located at 980 Wilton Grove Rd, London, ON N6N 1C7; Hybrid

A little bit about us

While Nestlé is known for KitKat®, Gerber®, Nescafe®, and Maggi®, our recipe for success comes down to one thing: our people.

We strive to lead a people-focused culture that empowers employees to bring their authentic selves to work each day. There are 3,400+ members of Nestlé Canada celebrated for taking action using agility, courage, and trust to find solutions that benefit the business or greater good. We’re a team of changemakers, who are curious and challenge the status quo, that take risks that will help drive us forward.

Our focus is not only on nourishing our customers, but also about enriching you. We know that empowerment leads to strong employee engagement, a great work culture, and motivated employees.

What to Expect

We are recruiting a Passionate Consumer-focused Product Development Specialist for our London office, reporting to the New Product Development Manager. This is a great opportunity to help the Ice Cream business develop new products and processes at the London factory. You will work with Marketing, Product Commercialization, QA, Production, Engineering, and other groups to ensure that our team is creating products that delight Canadian consumers. This position is an existing vacancy.

A Day in the Life

As a Product Development Specialist, you will support Innovation and Renovation projects from concept through to post-launch. You will focus on creating new products, improving existing products, supporting manufacturing processes within the factory, all the while ensuring excellent product and process quality. You will also maintain and update ingredient and recipe management systems, ensuring internal and external standards are closely followed.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Translating ideas into products that consumers love by developing ice cream that meets the key success criteria as outlined in the project brief
• Serving as the technical lead on Innovation & Renovation projects, supporting the factory and business in delivering value improvement initiatives across ingredients, products, processes, and technologies.
• Creating benchtop and pilot plant prototypes that satisfy the key sensory attributes and meet target costs; leading sensory evaluations with marketing to enable informed decision making
• Working with ingredient suppliers to onboard new materials, ensuring compliance with all relevant standards and instructions.
• Working with development systems such as SAP-GLOBE to develop raw material specifications, creating bills of materials, and completing master data setup for raw materials, semi-finished products, and trial materials.
• Collaborating with the factory warehouse and external vendors to coordinate the ordering of ingredients and packaging required for pilot plant trials, while also working as a team to maintain the pilot plant and building.
• Ensuring new product performance at the factory through production trials and the qualification process and providing technical support to the factory as needed.

Role Requirements

• University degree or equivalent experience in Food Science, Science, or a related field
• Exposure to food manufacturing or product development
• Demonstrated adaptability and eagerness to learn new technologies and platforms
• Self-motivated and proactive, with the ability to prioritize effectively and consistently meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Demonstrates strong individual ownership while collaborating effectively with other product developers and cross-functional stakeholders to achieve project goals
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to highlight technical risks and build proposed mitigation plans
• Strong ability to translate technical information for various audiences (factory and marketing)
• Ability to lift up to 20kg in the pilot plant

Preferred Skills

• Experience in food manufacturing
• Experience in food innovation and renovation
• Pilot plant/Benchtop sample making experience
• Quality Assurance/Food Safety experience or exposure
• Experience using recipe and ingredient management systems

Benefits

• Comprehensive total rewards benefits package including Health and Dental benefits that start on day one of employment
• Company matched pension plan
• Three weeks of Vacation and five personal days (Personal Paid Holidays)
• Flexible and hybrid work arrangements
• Excellent training and development programs as well as opportunities to grow within the company
• Access to Educational Assistance & Tuition Reimbursement
• Bonus eligibility
• Gender affirmation benefits to ensure access to necessary care, resources, and coverage for gender-affirming procedures
• Fertility Services and Surrogacy Medical Coverage to support the pursuit of a path to parenthood regardless of medical conditions, gender or sexual orientation
• Adoption benefits to remove some of the financial barriers associated with adoption

Compensation Range: $76,000 CAD - $89,000 CAD + bonus eligibility

At Nestlé Canada, we are committed to transparency and fairness in our compensation and job posting practices. This position offers a competitive salary within the range specified above, aligned with our commitment to equitable pay practices.

What You Need to Know

We will be considering applicants as they apply, so please don’t delay in submitting your application.

Nestlé Canada is an equal-opportunity employer. The principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility are vital to how we operate. We strive to foster a respectful and supportive environment where individuals feel valued and empowered to contribute and succeed.

If you are invited to participate in the recruitment process and require an accommodation, please inform Human Resources. Nestlé will work with you to ensure full participation.