Product Development Manager - FTC

Fresh Food, Happy Dogs.

We believe dogs deserve the healthiest, most natural and tastiest meals - with none of the nasties. That’s why we make FRESHly prepared food, cooked just like you would at home and delivered direct to our customers in perfect portions. As a B-Corp certified company, you’re joining a sustainable business that genuinely cares about our people, our products and our impact on the planet. Our goal is simple: to help dogs live healthier, happier, and longer lives, while leaving humans smiling after every interaction.

We’ve come a long way since our co-founders (Kev & Dave) hand-delivered the very first Butternut Box. Today, we feed hundreds of thousands of hungry dogs across the UK and Europe - but we won’t stop until we’re feeding dogs everywhere. To get there, we need a team of brilliant people who share that ambition.

🐾 The job:

This role sits in the Product Development team, reporting to the Product Development Director. You’ll be our go-to expert in fresh dog meal development and set the direction for how we innovate and improve the range. Your first big responsibility will be leading the launch of a market-first product that needs new equipment, investment and production capability. You’ll shape the pipeline over the next 24 months, lead complex programmes across multiple sites and teams, and take the big decisions to senior leaders and our co-founders. You’ll bring together creative thinking, deep technical and nutritional know-how and commercial judgement, so that every meal earns its place in the range.

⏳ The nitty-gritty: This role is UK-based in our kitchen in Doncaster and is a 5-day working week, with scope to work remotely where plans allow (e.g. no trials or in-person meetings). It’s a 12-month maternity cover, with genuine potential to stay on beyond the placement if you’re successful and interested in moving into another role at a relevant level within the team or wider squad.

A bit about the team you’ll be joining:

We’re a hybrid squad working across the UK, owning the product pipelines for both Butternut Box and Marro. We’re the foundation of what the business builds: great food, strong nutrition and products that genuinely improve pets’ health. We own what the physical product looks like and how it delivers real benefits for dogs and cats. We’re deliberately lean and close-knit, so everyone gets stuck in, has real ownership and plenty of opportunity to develop and progress. What brings us together is a deep belief in our products, our category and the power of fresh food to improve pets’ lives.

A bit about the work you’ll deliver:

Setting the Direction

• Set the strategic direction for our fresh dog meals.
• Set the quarterly and yearly goals for your area and report progress against them.
• Spot new opportunities, research the options and present a clear recommendation.
• Make confident calls on both reversible and hard-to-reverse decisions.

Leading Innovation

• Lead the launch of a market-first product, a new category for us that needs new equipment, investment and production capability. You’ll be accountable for taking it from development to a successful launch, on time and on budget.
• Own the NPD pipeline, using customer insights, market trends, competitor activity, nutrition opportunities, and kitchen learnings to decide which ideas to pursue and which to stop.
• Own your projects end-to-end, from first idea through stage-gate to launch and post-launch review, making the key product decisions along the way.
• Set the customer research approach, including Taste Clubs and product testing, and use the results to set development direction.
• Own palatability testing strategy, making sure every new and improved recipe is one dogs love to eat.

Improving Our Range

• Set the renovation plan for existing recipes, deciding where to improve quality, nutrition, taste or cost to keep the range ahead.
• Turn customer feedback, testing results and kitchen insights into a clear improvement plan, and feed what we learn back into the pipeline.
• Build strong supplier partnerships to find new ingredients that make our products better and help us stand out.

Scale-Up & Product Quality

• Own kitchen trials and scale-up, taking recipes from bench to full production, including on new equipment and processes, and signing them off for launch.
• Set the standard for product consistency across our kitchens, spot risks before they become problems, and lead the resolution of physical product issues with Operations and Process Specialists.

Nutrition, Compliance & Documentation

• Be the point of accountability for every recipe meeting FEDIAF guidelines and our own nutrition standards for each life stage, and lead improvements to our nutrition tools.
• Own recipe and finished product specs and technical documentation, keeping them accurate and BRC audit-ready.
• Sign off artwork, labels and technical information for accuracy and legal compliance, and push for clearer ways to explain and show our meals.
• Lead the development of evidence-based product claims with our technical and legal teams.

Costing & Commercials

• Partner with FP&A and Procurement on recipe costing and margin, identifying and leading opportunities to improve value without compromising quality.
• Manage the NPD budget, including investment for new capability, making sure spend is prioritised and delivers a return.
• Track product performance after launch using customer, sales, quality and kitchen data, and make clear recommendations on what happens next.

Working Across the Business

• Lead complex programmes across multiple sites and many teams, including Operations, Technical, Commercial, Procurement, FP&A, Marketing and Supply Chain.
• Run steering meetings for market-first launches and new concepts, presenting progress, risks, and required decisions to senior leaders and our co-founders.
• Build strong relationships with Operations and influence their priorities, so NPD gets the time, resources and attention it needs in the kitchens.
• Roll up your sleeves with Operations to solve problems hands-on, working through production challenges yourself rather than just handing them over.
• Lead our team’s preparation for BRC audits, and make sure our NPD processes and documentation are robust, followed and always audit-ready.
• Mentor and coach the people you work with, sharing your expertise and helping them build their skills.

A bit about what we’re looking for:

• 8+ years in NPD or product development in pet food, with a track record of taking products from idea to launch.
• A degree in animal science, veterinary science, food science, chemistry or a similar field.
• Strong knowledge of pet nutrition, FEDIAF guidelines, and pet food labelling and claims rules, plus experience with audits and a keen eye for detail on technical documentation.
• Hands-on experience of kitchen or factory trials and scale-up, ideally including launches that needed new equipment or processes.
• Commercially minded, comfortable working with costings, margins and budgets alongside Finance and Procurement.
• A track record of leading complex projects across multiple sites and teams, juggling lots at once while keeping everyone aligned and the important things on track.
• Experience setting the direction for an NPD pipeline or product area, balancing what’s needed now with what’s needed in 2 years’ time.
• Confident presenting to senior leaders, with the ability to build a clear case and influence people who don’t report to you.
• Tenacious about getting things done. You follow through, push past blockers and are happy to roll up your sleeves in the kitchen to solve problems hands-on.
• Curious about customers and what dogs love to eat, using insight and testing to guide decisions.

⏳ The interview process:

1. Initial call with your dedicated Talent Acquisition Partner, carried out remotely. 
2. Skills interview, for 75 minutes, in person. This stage will include an in interview task. 
3. Behaviours interview, for 60 minutes carried out remotely..
4. Leadership interview, for 45 minutes in person. 

We usually expect our interview process to take 3-5 weeks, end to end. 

🙌 Our benefits:

• 25 days holiday (plus 8 bank holidays) and an additional day for every year of service up to 5 years
• 5 additional, paid 'paws' days off per year dedicated to your learning, development or personal wellbeing. Hit pause when you need it most
• £500 personal learning & development budget to sharpen your skills
• A significant discount on our Fresh food, to keep your own dogs as healthy as our customers
• Enhanced parental leave
• Flexible core working hours
• Cycle to work scheme
• Pension with NEST
• Private Medical Insurance with Vitality
• Private Dental Insurance with Bupa
• Paid time off for fertility treatments and pregnancy loss
• Discounted gym access through MyGymDiscounts
• Lots of office dogs (Ajax, Peggy, Chief, Louis, Hansen, Winnie and many more….)

💡 Important things to note:

• We recommend getting your application in as soon as possible. We reserve the right to close the role early. 
• Our team thrives on collaboration. We spend 3 days a week in our West London office (Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday) and 2 days working from wherever you’re most productive. Because being together is a big part of our culture, we’re looking for someone within a comfortable commutable distance to London.
• We’re a small (but mighty!) recruitment team. We aim to respond to everyone personally, but if we’re flooded with brilliant applications, we may need to close the role early. We appreciate your patience while we review applications. 
• For this specific role, we’re unable to offer visa sponsorship, so you’ll need the right to work in the UK.

❗️We believe in a seat at the table for everyone. 

Butternut Box is an equal opportunity employer. We believe that to make the best food for all dogs, we need a team that represents all humans. We celebrate different nationalities, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. We are specifically committed to increasing representation from underrepresented groups. We want a strong, diverse team built from different identities and lived experiences. We’re not perfect, but we are dedicated to the ongoing work of building an inclusive, supportive place where you can do the best work of your career.