Location:
clondalkin, IE
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Job Type: Food Science
Working with Us
ARYZTA is for people who are passionate about what they do and doing it well. We take pride in our high quality, delicious food and in our leading position as the world's number one frozen bakery.
Our employees are one of our key ingredients, and together they play a critical role in driving the continued success of our business.
In ARYZTA, every day is different. If you are resilient, ambitious, and a team player, ARYZTA could be the place for you to thrive and grow in your career!
Reports to: Lead Product Development Manager - Manufactured
Location: Grange Castle Business Park, Dublin 22
We have a fantastic opportunity to join the ARYZTA Ireland Product & Innovation team!
PURPOSE:
The Test Bakery Innovation Lead will have overall responsibility for the Test Bakery and its day-to-day activities as well as ensuring the rapid and agile delivery of the NPD pipeline. This role is central to driving speed-to-market, ensuring concepts move efficiently from idea through trial to scalable solutions.
A high level of enthusiasm, creativity and curiosity is essential, bringing energy to concept development, problem solving and continuous improvement. The Test Bakery Innovation Lead will play a key role in fostering an agile and collaborative environment where ideas can be tested, refined, and progressed at pace.
This will be completed in partnership with the customer facing development team. Leadership of the Test Bakery will ensure that the day-to-day demand for sampling is met, while also establishing the function as a central knowledge hub, grounded in strong bakery fundamentals. You will need to develop strong supplier relationships and look for newness within the current base or by evaluation of potential new suppliers to deliver first to market opportunities. Transfer of products from test bakery to manufacturing is key to this role and therefore a team player that can build trust with our operations function is a must. Systems / Process and CI are key aspects of this role in line with a stage and gate innovation policy.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Test Bakery Leadership & Operations
Lead day-to-day test bakery operations, ensuring a safe, organised and high-performing environment
Plan and prioritise activities to support fast-paced project delivery
Drive agile ways of working to enable efficient trial execution
Maintain equipment, ingredients and overall operational readiness
Support and develop bakery capability through coaching and training (e.g. workshops, trade shows, etc.)
Ensure effective coordination of daily sampling requirements and associated (lab, customer)
Recipe Development, Scalability & Delivery
Support concept and recipe development using strong bakery expertise
Ensure all projects meet customer expectations and defined product requirements
Maintain clear, timely and accurate project and trial documentation
Ensure documentation aligns with Stage & Gate processes and external standards (e.g. BRC)
Coordinate review sessions and track actions to drive progress
Ensure products are effectively translated from test bakery into manufacturing
Maintain strong cross-functional collaboration with operations
Ensure test bakery quality standards are consistently delivered in production
Lead and support CI initiatives from test bakery through to manufacturing
Ingredient Sourcing & Innovation Support
Source ingredients aligned to innovation, quality and commercial requirements
Partner with suppliers to identify trends and first-to-market opportunities
Ensure compliance with technical, quality and business standards
Maintain accurate and up to date ingredient databases
Collaborate cross-functionally to support innovation delivery
KEY COMPETENCIES
Innovation, Creativity & Food Market Trend Awareness
Agility & Pace
Technical Bakery Expertise
Delivery Focus / Working to Deadlines
Organisation & Attention to Detail
Continuous Improvement / Problem Solving Mindset
Communication, Collaboration & Influencing Skills
Commercial & Market Awareness
Ownership & Accountability
REQUIREMENTS
Minimum 5 years’ experience in a commercial / industrial bakery
Bread Bakery hands on experience in high volume bakery in parallel with a clear understanding of artisan and sourdough production
Extensive knowledge of test bakery to trials and line hand over
Commercially savvy
Team player
Aware of market trends and competitive set
High level of detail with good communication skills
Works at pace
Strong leader with passion for mentoring
Other Requirements:
Regular travel required to customer and supplier sites (Mainly Ire & UK)
Availability to work flexible hours as needed
Your Application
At ARYZTA our employees are our number one asset and one of our key ingredients. If you are interested in applying for a position in ARYZTA please submit your complete application documents (CV and motivation letter). We are looking forward to receiving your application on http://www.aryztacareers.com/
Our aim is to promote equality of opportunity and fair treatment for all job applicants.
