Product Development Technologist

We've been proudly bringing joy to tables and smiles to faces with the delicious food we've been crafting for over 100 years.  A large part of our strong growth and success is because we're always looking for new ways to do things and thinking about how we can create a better, more sustainable future world together.  Our success as an industry leader in providing deliciously good food means we can continue to invest in our future as we work towards becoming Australia and New Zealand's first choice for poultry.

This is an exciting opportunity to join Inghams' Product Development team as part of the wider Growth team.  This hybrid role will work in collaboration with the Product Development Team (4 days per week) and encompass Specification Coordination duties (1 day per week).

The successful candidate will support both new product development (NPD), existing product development (EPD), and specification reviews across Inghams' integrated business portfolio including Primary, Value Enhancement (VE), and Further Processed Poultry (FPP).

This combined role offers excellent exposure across our business and the role can be based at any of our Production or Production Development sites nationally including Prestons and Lisarow (NSW) and Murarrie (QLD).

Key responsibilities:

Product Development focus (4 days per week):

• Support NPD and EPD projects across Inghams Own Brand and Customer Portfolio
• Lead product development projects from bench top through production plant trials to commercialisation, including Development, Sourcing, Costing, Presenting and Launch
• Work across the integrated business scope including Primary, VE and FPP Poultry products
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Operations, Sales, Project Management and Continuous Improvement
• Support volume growth initiatives with major and emerging customers to support diversification of customer base
• Analyse and interpret sensory results, data from product trials, sensory evaluations, and shelf-life studies
• Ensure all products meet Inghams' Always Good profile and quality standards

Specification Coordination (1 day per week):

• Support specification reviews for Inghams Own Brand and Customer Portfolio
• Maintain accurate product specifications and coordinate updates across Inghams Specification network
• Ensure specification data integrity and consistency across Primary, VE and FPP product lines
• Liaise with QAS and regulatory teams on specification compliance requirements
• Support customer specification discussions and technical documentation requirements
• Participate in cross-site specification standardisation initiatives

Collaboration tasks:

• Work closely with Operations teams across multiple sites to support product scale-up
• Collaborate with Sales teams on customer technical requirements and product positioning and presenting concepts to Customers
• Partner with Project Management teams to ensure timely delivery of development milestones
• Support Continuous Improvement initiatives through product optimisation and cost reduction
• Maintain detailed documentation of all product development activities and outcomes
• Support regulatory compliance requirements throughout the development process

Key requirements:

• Be based at Product Development sites (Prestons NSW, Lisarow NSW) or any Inghams production site (interstate candidates welcome)
• Degree in Food Science, Food Technology, or related discipline
• 2-3 years' experience in food product development preferred, however new graduates or internal candidates interested in role should apply
• Interest in food trends, quality and Inghams manufacturing processes
• Understanding of HACCP, food safety, and regulatory compliance requirements
• Experience in poultry or meat processing industry highly desirable
• Familiarity with retail customer requirements and technical specifications
• Experience with specification management and coordination processes
• Ability to work in a team environment, enthusiastic to help problem solve
• High attention to detail and good time management skills, capability to multitask and establish workload priorities

We're looking for people who are curious, caring, courageous and committed to join us; people who want to contribute their best work every single day and continue delivering deliciously good food that's…Always Good