Product Development Trainee - Bolton

Competitive salary + excellent benefits

Key Benefits:

• Annual profit share
• Award winning pension scheme
• Health and wellbeing support, including access to free onsite physio & wellbeing initiatives
• Plus many more

The Recipe

To support the delivery of the Innovation Product Plan and Pipeline from product development through to launch at manufacturing bakery.

The Role

• Degree apprenticeship role (level 6) – Food industry Technical professional degree qualification (completion at Sheffield Hallam University)
• To support the Innovation Technical Team with product test baking including new raw material sourcing and performance evaluation within the R&I Bakery, this includes
  • Liaison with all Warburtons suppliers and providing regular status updates
  • Source new ingredients from suppliers 
  • Evaluation through test baking and recipe formulation
  • Liaise with Centre Laboratory to ensure necessary analytical data is created
  • Report findings to Innovation Team in status report.
• To support the successful completion of plant trials at the selected manufacturing bakery in conjunction with the Innovation Technical Team.
• To be responsible for maintaining the ingredient storage area and freezer in the R&I, collaborating with the Test Baker and ensuring the storage areas is clean tidy and safe. This includes:
  • Rotation of raw materials and replenishment
  • Reporting of any Health and safety hazards
  • Labelling of Best Before dates
• To be responsible for managing sample production to support business activities i.e. sell ins, consumer research
• To be responsible for completing competitor set benchmarking and associated reporting. Collaborate with Innovation Marketing on completion of the report and collation of the information.

Essential Ingredients

• Experience within a bakery role, within a food manufacturer
• Bakery qualification to NVQ or City and Guilds level 
• Ideally, knowledge and experience of the baking industry and raw materials
• IT and PC knowledge – able to use a wide range of software.
• Analysing and problem solving skills – anticipates problems before they occur and takes steps to deal with them/correctly & swiftly identifies the underlying problem & finds appropriate solutions. Asks probing questions – is inquisitive. Is meticulous – has a good eye for detail.
• Open minded and creative - builds on the ideas of others, develops innovative approaches to new challenges, encourages creative behaviour in others, takes risks in order to experiment with new ideas and .
• Strong relationship builder and collaborative – must have the ability to build relationships with internal and external contacts
• Excellent communicating skills – articulate, open and supportive in manner, listens to and welcomes ideas from others and asks helpful questions.
• Ability to manage own time – prioritises and manages own workload to ensure tasks are delivered as promised, works in a systematic and organised manner.
• Ability to link commercial challenges with Technical action plan – assess challenges and formulate an action plan to drive commercial 

Extra Dough

At last and by no means least, you will want to know what your breads worth:

• A slice of the annual profits (discretionary profit share)
• Family time is important to us and we know it will be to you so you have the opportunity to purchase up to an extra weeks annual leave.
• Award winning pension scheme with company contributions of 7%
• Life assurance
• Products you will love along with deals and discounts for you and the family through our Extra Dough website
• Continued investment in your personal development
• Fully stocked kitchens filled with our delicious products for you to enjoy with your daily brew! 
• Support for your health and wellbeing, including access to free physiotherapy, 24/7 access to a confidential helpline for practical advice and a comprehensive occupational health service

About us

As ‘the UK’s No. 1 Bakery Brand’ we have been baking bread since 1876. Today, we are proudly a fifth-generation family, with the sixth generation starting to join the company, supplying over 18,000 retail customers from 11 bakeries and 15 depots, producing a range of over 70 products including gluten and wheat free. Our family of 5,000 colleagues throughout the UK, have recognised us as a Sunday Times Top 25 Best Big Companies’ to work for. Family and values are what makes us different, and we are a proud bunch, join us and you too could be proud to be Warburtons.

We respect and value difference. We look to create an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. Companies that are diverse in age, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity, or any other aspect which makes them unique, are proven to be better companies. More importantly, creating an environment where everyone, from any background, can do their best work, is the right thing to do.