Lead Product Develope

We’ve been trusted to serve Aussie communities since 1914 and grown to become a top 30-listed on the ASX with 120,000 team members and a portfolio of iconic brands. At Coles Group, you’ll not only get to make a difference to millions of Aussie lives—you’ll also get to see your impact.

**About the team**:
The Merchandise team at Coles plays a critical role and pride themselves on building sustainable long term supplier relationships, developing new range offers and ideas, and working on convenient, healthy solutions.

You’ll find us working across all business units at Coles Supermarkets and Liquor. Supermarkets is one of the largest teams at Coles, but we’re a close-knit group that come from all over the world. We’re passionate about working at the forefront of merchandising and making sure our customers have quality products at the right price.

**About the role**:
Reporting to the Own Brand Manager, you will plan, develop, and deliver world-class innovative Own Brand products to enhance our customer offering.

This is a Product Development Leadership role which oversees the Meat, Deli & Seafood portfolio. You will manage a small team of product developers and help execute and deliver against the strategic plans for the meat, deli & seafood portfolio aligning with the Own Brand strategy.

You'll also:

- Support and develop a category Own Brand plan and partner category teams to deliver product strategy and innovation
- Deliver Own Brand product plan at category level, with an emphasis on consistent quality, range, taste, and price including cost of goods
- Management of existing ranges with respect to quality, benchmarking enabling consistent growth
- Deliver against the New Product Development (NPD) process from ideation to commercialisation and ensure products are launched right, on time and in full
- Incorporate new strategic initiatives such as B2B, E-commerce and range platforms into the development plan
- Establish Health and Sustainability initiatives also incorporating these into BAU
- Manage complex categories with multiple products and Business Category Managers
- Lead, coach and develop a product development team to deliver innovation and differentiation
- Support, manage and partner in the development of suppliers, building capability to deliver Own Brand range plans

**About you and your skills**:
This position will suit an experienced Senior Product Developer, with skills across a variety of food categories. You will partner with the varied category teams to ensure that Own Brand are effectively represented delivering quality, innovation, and customer choice.

You’ll also need:

- Tertiary Qualification in Engineering, Food Science or equivalent
- Experience in a Senior Product Development/Leadership role within a fast-paced retail, or FMCG environment
- Well-rounded product development and innovation skills, including range architecture, product trends and insights as well as new and improvement product development
- Knowledge of manufacturing processes, systems, and standards; with a strong knowledge of safety and quality management systems
- Experience in developing and implementing product improvement processes.
- Advanced commercial acumen
- Proven people leadership and management of teams
- Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills

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With us it’s not about the discounts (although you do get those), it’s about joining a team where your wellbeing and professional development is invested in and celebrating your contributions is the norm. And because everyone leads unique lives, we offer flexible work including work from home, additional leave and parental leave entitlements.

Job ID: 88814

Employment Type: Full time