Sr. Manager - New Product Development (NPD) & Quality

Role : Senior Manager - Subject Matter Expert for Munchies & Snacks, Traditional Foods, Sweets, Chocolates-Confectionary, Breakfast cereals & Emerging Categories

Role Objective

We are looking for a highly skilled Senior Manager - Product Development & Quality to lead end-to-end development and quality assurance across Snacking, Traditional Foods, Sweets, Breakfast Cereals, and Emerging Categories within our private label portfolio.

As the Sr. Manager - NPD & Quality, This role will serve as the technical backbone for product range expansion, transforming traditional flavors into scalable, high-quality offerings. This role bridges culinary expertise with food science, ensuring every product meets our highest standards of quality, safety, and consistency. Drive trend-led innovation while upholding world-class product quality and robust food safety standards across all categories.

Key responsibilities

1. Product Development & Innovation

- End-to-End Development: Lead the formulation of a diverse portfolio including Namkeen, Extruded Snacks, Energy Bars, and Confectionary.

- Traditional Modernization: Adapt Indian Sweets, Chikki, and Traditional Foods for modern retail without losing authentic "homemade" soul.

- Clean Label Initiative: Work to reduce artificial additives, moving toward natural preservatives in Chutneys and Spreads.

- Health & Wellness: Drive innovation in Emerging Categories like high-protein Energy Bars, Clean-Label Spreads, and Whole-Grain Breakfast Cereals.

- Develop and optimize recipes/formulations aligned to target cost, quality, and shelf-life

- Drive innovation based on market trends, competitor benchmarking, and consumer insights

- Conduct trials (lab & plant scale) and ensure successful commercialization

2. Quality Assurance & Standardization

- Define product specifications, SOPs, and quality benchmarks for all SKUs

- Establish sensory, physical, and microbiological quality parameters

- Conduct supplier audits, product evaluations, and ensure batch-to-batch consistency

- Implement quality improvement initiatives and root cause analysis for deviations

3. Supplier Management & Capability Building

- Identify, Audit, onboard, and develop suppliers/vendors

- Work closely with manufacturers to ensure adherence to product specs and process controls

- Drive vendor performance through audits, scorecards, and continuous improvement plans

4. Regulatory & Compliance

- Ensure compliance with FSSAI and other applicable food safety standards

- Validate label claims, nutritional information, and ingredient declarations

- Support regulatory documentation and approvals for new product launches

5. Cost Optimization & Productivity

- Drive value engineering initiatives without compromising quality

- Optimize formulations, ingredients, and processes to meet cost targets

- Support scale-up efficiency and wastage reduction initiatives

6. Cross-functional Collaboration

- Collaborate with Procurement, Supply Chain, Marketing, and Operations for seamless launches

- Align with packaging and logistics teams for shelf-life and stability considerations

- Support customer feedback analysis and continuous product improvement

Key Skills & Competencies

- Strategic Product Development: Ability to build and drive NPD pipeline across categories, translating consumer insights and traditional recipes into scalable, commercially viable products.

- Food Science & Technical Expertise: Strong understanding of ingredients, processing technologies, shelf-life, and formulation across snacks, sweets, and cereals.

- Quality & Food Safety Leadership: Deep knowledge of FSSAI, HACCP, GMP/GHP with the ability to establish robust quality systems and ensure compliance across vendors.

- Scale-up & Commercialization: Proven capability in moving products from lab to plant scale, ensuring consistency, efficiency, and speed-to-market.

- Supplier & Stakeholder Management: Strong experience in vendor development, audits, and cross-functional collaboration (Procurement, Ops, Marketing, Supply Chain).

- Cost Optimization & Value Engineering: Ability to balance cost, quality, and performance through formulation and process optimization.

- Analytical Thinking & Problem Solving: Strong root cause analysis, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement mindset.

- Innovation & Market Orientation: Ability to identify trends, benchmark competition, and drive differentiated product offerings.

- Leadership & Team Management: Capability to lead teams, influence stakeholders, and drive accountability across functions and partners.

- Execution Excellence: High ownership with the ability to manage multiple projects, timelines, and priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Travel requirement

- This role requires extensive travel (~20-30%) across multiple cities and supplier locations.

- Travel will be primarily for product development trials, plant validations, supplier onboarding, audits, and quality alignment.

- The candidate should be comfortable working closely with manufacturing partners on-site to drive faster commercialization and consistent quality execution.

Qualifications & Experience

- B.Tech / M.Tech in Food Technology/ Food Science with 10 years in R&D/NPD and Quality Assurance within the FMCG or Food Retail sector.

- Experience in FMCG, QSR, or Private Label business preferred

- Ability to balance "the best recipe" with "the best COGS" (Cost of Goods Sold).