New Product Development Commercial Placement

Do you have a passion for developing new products and have an ambition for a long-term career in a commercial environment within the food industry? Passionate about food and working as part of a team? If this sounds like you, then our Product Development Placement could be the perfect opportunity! Why Greencore? We’re a leading manufacturer of convenience food in the UK and our purpose is to make everyday taste better. We’re a vibrant, fast-paced leading food manufacturer. Employing 13,300 colleagues across 16 manufacturing units and 17 distribution depots across the UK. We supply all the UK’s food retailers with everything from Sandwiches, soups and sushi to cooking sauces, pickles and ready meals, and in FY24, we generated revenues of £1.8bn. Our vast direct-to-store (DTS) distribution network, comprising of 17 depots nationwide, enables us to make over 10,500 daily deliveries of our own chilled and frozen produce and that of third parties. This is a dynamic and innovative field, which brings many commercial challenges relating to market trends, product launches, maintaining relationships with customers, suppliers and internal teams. We’re looking for motivated undergraduates who are completing either a food or food science/nutrition related degree and have a keen ambition to gain experience within developing new products in a fast-moving consumer good business. This is a 12-month placement aimed at those who elect to complete a ‘year-in-industry’ as part of their degree, with the potential to return to Greencore once you have completed your undergraduate degree. Join us and be part of our great team, committed to making everyday taste better. What You’ll Be Doing: The Greencore Product Development placement is designed to help you gain valuable experience that supports your future career ambitions in the food industry. As the largest sandwich maker in the UK, we partner with both major supermarkets and smaller retailers. During this placement as a New Product Development Technologist, you will play a crucial role in supporting the product development process, creating new products that are validated, documented, and ready for a smooth launch. This will include:

• Inputting recipes into the management system to calculate costs, assess nutritional values, and maintain accurate documentation for product approvals.
• Working with New Product Development buyers, the packaging innovation team, and other stakeholders to source materials and meet project requirements.
• Help prepare kitchen made samples for internal panels, nutritional testing, and presentations, while organising product samples for ordering, transportation, and documentation.
• Conduct sensory testing to assess product quality throughout its shelf life, supporting recipe adjustments where needed.
• Support critical path timelines, identify risks, and escalate delays while ensuring sustainability considerations are factored into product development.
• Label and pack samples accurately for external shipment, purchase ingredients, and benchmark competitor products to inform development.
• Support in preparing product samples and coordinating project activities to ensure smooth progression through all stages of development.

At the end of the placement, you will have gained valuable on the job experience while also gaining knowledge of a commercial environment within the food industry. We firmly believe it’s our people who deliver our performance which is why we place so much emphasis on colleague development and career progression. You will be assigned a mentor who will support you in your development throughout the placement. You’ll also get to network with other Early Careers colleagues across the business and attend external events to help you develop your network in the wider industry. What We’re Looking For: At Greencore we put our people at the core. We celebrate their differences and help everyone to be themselves at work. Together we make everyday taste better. We are looking for you to have a passion for food, and people. You will also be: 

• Passionate about working as part of a team and have an ambition to have a long-term career in a commercial environment in the food industry.
• Have an interest in sustainability and the environment
• Highly motivated to grow your career.
• Resilient and equipped to take change in your stride.
• Curious, organised, and able to use your excellent communication skills to build effective relationships with a range of stakeholders.

To join our Commercial Placement programme, you will need:

• The right to live and work in the UK.
• Currently studying

To take full advantage of this opportunity, you will be required to travel to and be open to working from any of our UK sites, and therefore a full driving license is preferred. If this sounds like you, join us, grow with Greencore and be a part of driving our future success. What you’ll get in return  Not only will you gain experience across our business; you will also have access to our Greencore colleague benefits including:

• Competitive salary and job-related benefits
• 25 days Holidays, Plus Bank Holidays
• Exclusive Greencore employee discount platform

Applications are due to close on Sunday 9 March 2025, however if there are high volumes of applications, we may close early. Our first stage virtual assessment will take place between Tuesday 8^th – Wednesday 9^th April 2025. The second stage, face to face assessment will take place at one of our Greencore sites, between Wednesday 23^rd April and Thursday 24^th April 2025. You will join Greencore in June 2025 and attend an induction week at the end of August 2025. Grocery Aid – 08088021122 Mind – 03001233393 Samaritans – 116123 Frank – 03001236600