Product Development Manager, Food Ventures

Location: Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

Overview The Product Developer plays a key role in transforming chef-created gold standards into functional, testable product prototypes and recipes. This role is highly hands-on—supporting the development, iteration, and validation of MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) that bridge culinary intent with real-world technical feasibility. Responsibilities Prototype and MVP Development: Execute hands-on development of early culinary product prototypes based on direction from Chefs and senior product developers. Works on simple projects in autonomy to deliver prototypes and scalable recipes Support product evaluations, reformulations, and recipe adjustments to align with gold-standard targets Document preparation parameters and product performance to support product iteration and scale-up. Provide input on product handling, quality challenges and pack-out implications. Organize samples, build variants, and prepare materials for sprint reviews and tastings. Collaboration & Scale-Up Support Work closely with the Chefs, Process development, Supply Chain and quality teams to prepare products for pilot trials. Support troubleshooting during early-stage co-manufacturing or test production runs. Support the product development Managers in daily tasks for complex projects Maintain accurate logs of formulas, build notes, test results, ingredients challenges and learnings, etc. Ensure traceability and development hygiene for all product iterations. Success in This Role Looks Like High-quality, well-documented prototypes delivered on time and within COGS Strong collaboration and communication with culinary, technical, and operational partners. Rapid iteration with clear learnings feeding into the next development cycle. Prototypes that are practical, consistent, and ready for handoff to senior developers or scale-up leads. Qualifications Degree in Food Science, Culinary Innovation, Food Technology, Engineering, or related field preferred. 3–5 years of hands-on product development experience in food, culinary innovation, or R&D kitchens. Experience within at east 2 of these technologies within Savory products: Ready Meals, Frozen foods, Pasteurization, chilled meals, shelf stable and/or culinary products. Experience with product comercialization and product scale up. FSQA experience is a major plus Strong practical culinary ability to prototype quickly and accurately. Comfortable in fast-paced, ambiguous R&D environments. Familiarity with pilot production or co-man processes is a plus. Excellent organization, documentation, collaboration and communication skills. Ability to find solutions and proactivity complete the profile

Responsibilities

Prototype and MVP Development: Execute hands-on development of early culinary product prototypes based on direction from Chefs and senior product developers. Works on simple projects in autonomy to deliver prototypes and scalable recipes Support product evaluations, reformulations, and recipe adjustments to align with gold-standard targets Document preparation parameters and product performance to support product iteration and scale-up. Provide input on product handling, quality challenges and pack-out implications. Organize samples, build variants, and prepare materials for sprint reviews and tastings. Collaboration & Scale-Up Support Work closely with the Chefs, Process development, Supply Chain and quality teams to prepare products for pilot trials. Support troubleshooting during early-stage co-manufacturing or test production runs. Support the product development Managers in daily tasks for complex projects Maintain accurate logs of formulas, build notes, test results, ingredients challenges and learnings, etc. Ensure traceability and development hygiene for all product iterations. Success in This Role Looks Like High-quality, well-documented prototypes delivered on time and within COGS Strong collaboration and communication with culinary, technical, and operational partners. Rapid iteration with clear learnings feeding into the next development cycle. Prototypes that are practical, consistent, and ready for handoff to senior developers or scale-up leads.

Qualifications

Degree in Food Science, Culinary Innovation, Food Technology, Engineering, or related field preferred. 3–5 years of hands-on product development experience in food, culinary innovation, or R&D kitchens. Experience within at east 2 of these technologies within Savory products: Ready Meals, Frozen foods, Pasteurization, chilled meals, shelf stable and/or culinary products. Experience with product comercialization and product scale up. FSQA experience is a major plus Strong practical culinary ability to prototype quickly and accurately. Comfortable in fast-paced, ambiguous R&D environments. Familiarity with pilot production or co-man processes is a plus. Excellent organization, documentation, collaboration and communication skills. Ability to find solutions and proactivity complete the profile