Product Developer, General Merchandise

We have an exciting opportunity to join our Waitrose Own Brand team as a Product Developer, General Merchandise, a unique cross-brand role in collaboration with John Lewis.

You will be responsible for the end-to-end New Product Development (NPD) lifecycle, delivering innovative, high-quality products aligned with our Own Brand values. This is a critical commercial role, requiring you to balance creativity with the fast-paced realities of the grocery retail environment.

You will build, strengthen, and own the vital NPD relationships between Waitrose, John Lewis, and our suppliers. You will sit at the centre of a dynamic, cross-functional team, collaborating with innovation, customer insight, technical & quality, legal & compliance, own brand, packaging, design, and PR teams to bring exceptional products to life.

Waitrose & Partners is striving to be the most LOVED, TRUSTED, and INNOVATIVE own brand in the market, recognised for setting industry standards in QUALITY and SUSTAINABILITY. We are looking for a visionary Product Developer to help us achieve this goal.

• Partnership Salary - £60,000K - £90,000K

• However, we are looking for candidates up to 75K, depending on experience

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• Contract type - This position is a Permanent contract.

• Working pattern/flexible working - The Partnership has adopted a hybrid working approach, meaning you'll be able to work a mixture between the office and home-based, upon your personal needs, whilst balancing the needs of the business. The team aim for around 3 days a week in the office to connect and on a more ad-hoc basis to attend key meetings. 

• Location -  This role is based at our Bracknell Head Office campus, but will require both national and international travel

• Please note that interviews for this role will be in Person on Friday, 6th February only at the Waitrose Conference Centre - Bracknell

Key responsibilities

• Develops and delivers omnichannel product propositions to customers, supporting the General Merchandise (GM) Category Proposition Group (CPG).

• Defines the product and packaging design requirements to meet commercial and customer needs for GM categories in Waitrose.

• Builds, strengthens, and owns the New Product Development (NPD) relationships between Waitrose, John Lewis, and the relevant suppliers.

• In collaboration with John Lewis, develops clear and robust product and packaging briefs, in line with GSCoP (Grocery Supply Code of Practice) principles, enabling buying and technical teams to fully meet the design requirements throughout the development process.

• You will work closely with the Waitrose GM CPG & John Lewis GM delivery team, channel teams (e.g., online), external suppliers, Customer Insight, Own Brand & NPD programme team, Design & Repro, Legal, Compliance & Policy, Technical & Quality, and PR, as determined by project needs and RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed).

Essential skills/experience you’ll need

•  Previous product development experience within manufacturing or retail. 

• Proven track record of high-quality, commercially successful GM product development & supplier management. 

• Strong creative design skills.

• Good analysis skills and capable of analysing sales & insight data. 

• Strong experience in critical path management

• Able to demonstrate high levels and experience in teamwork and collaboration 

Desirable skills/experience you may have 

• Further education in Design. 

• Specific GM retail experience

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We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.  

We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.   

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect. 

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective. 

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.  

Important points to note:  

It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.  

We occasionally close vacancies early in the event we receive a high volume of applications, and therefore, we recommend you apply early. If you require a reasonable adjustment due to a disability which means you may need longer to complete your application please contact us as soon as possible.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview. 

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