NPD Technician
Are you passionate about working with ingredients, hands-on cooking, and creating samples—and ready for a new challenge in your NPD or kitchen career?
As an inclusive, forward-thinking business, we take pride in our approach to New Product Development across Avara Foods and are looking for a highly competent and motivated NPD Assistant to join our New Product Development Team, based at our Wednesbury Site.
This is a fantastic opportunity for a true "foodie", who loves cooking and working with ingredients with an organised and logical approach to their tasks.
Purpose of the Role:
As an NPD Technician, you will support the New Product Development (NPD) team at Avara across both Dudley and Wednesbury sites. You’ll be involved in a wide range of activities that help drive food product innovation from early concept through to successful launch, while ensuring the NPD kitchens and NPD factory areas operate efficiently, safely, and to high food safety standards.
Key Responsibilities:
- NPD Area Management:
Ensure the development areas are safe, clean, well-organized, and stocked with ingredients and consumables.
- Equipment Maintenance:
Monitor and manage equipment servicing, calibration, and risk assessments on a regular schedule.
- Sample Preparation:
Produce high-quality samples for customer submissions, internal innovation sessions, benchmarking, and presentations.
- Product & Data Support:
- Supporting the technologists with organoleptic tasting assessments, complete cooking validations, preparation of nutrition samples, requesting supplier samples, supporting during factory trials, uploading of NPD information onto the Avara recipe system/SharePoint and measuring product attributes.
- Ingredient Management:
Source, collect, and store ingredients according to allergen control procedures, including trips to factories, restaurants, or local suppliers.
- Audit & Compliance:
Support internal audits of the NPD areas to ensure minimum pass standards are consistently met.
- Presentation Support:
Assist with customer and supplier presentations and be willing to travel as required.
- Collaboration:
Build productive working relationships across departments at Wednesbury, Dudley, and other Avara sites.
- General NPD Support:
Provide hands-on help wherever needed to support the Development Technologists and wider NPD team.
What We're Looking For:
Essential Skills & Experience:
- Clear and confident verbal and written communication skills.
- Excellent time management and a logical, adaptable approach to tasks.
- Self-motivated and able to take initiative and ownership of your responsibilities.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office, especially Excel and email communication.
- Minimum 2 years’ experience in the food industry (e.g. home economics or kitchen-based roles).
- A full UK driving licence (manual & automatic, with business insurance).
Desirable Skills & Qualifications:
- Strong organisation, administrative, and presentation skills.
- High attention to detail.
- Basic Food Hygiene & Manual Handling certification.
- A passion for food, ingredients, and development.
- Familiarity with systems such as SharePoint and Recipe Professor.
A little about us:
Avara Foods is one of the UK’s largest food businesses, supplying chicken and turkey to the nation’s most popular supermarkets and restaurants. We are a fully integrated business controlling the whole product supply chain, which include feed mills, farms, hatcheries and factories with associated transport and logistics functions that employ more than 7000 people. This is achieved by investing in people, utilising the latest technology and being uncompromising in our commitment to high quality and food standards.
What’s in it for you?
As a Development Technician you will enjoy a secure, supportive and progressive working environment, where your contribution and achievements will be recognised and rewarded. We offer comprehensive training as well as continuous development as you build your career with us. You can also look forward to benefits that amongst other things include the following:
- 31 Days Holiday
- 3% Pension
- Life Insurance
- Various lifestyle benefits, including wellbeing resources
If you’re ready to work in a dynamic environment alongside talented people who take pride in delivering great results, apply today!
We are committed to being an equal opportunities employer.