Product Developer - Fresh Food
Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: London Store Support Centre and Home, London, EC1M 6HA
Contract type: Fixed-Term Assignment
Business area: Food Commercial
Closing date: 23 March 2026
Requisition ID: 400052143
Why join us
Joining our Product Innovation team at Sainsbury's offers an exciting 12 month Fixed Term opportunity to be at the forefront of bringing new trends and innovative products to market, driving our Win in Food and Next Level Sainsburys strategies. As a passionate foodie, you’ll shape and deliver the Product Plan for your sub-category, leading the development of fantastic product innovation that delights customers and enhances their experience. With a strong focus on quality, customer insight, and sustainability, you’ll help create value and make a real impact in the industry. You’ll collaborate closely with cross-functional teams and suppliers, with the autonomy to drive change and pace. At Sainsbury’s, we value work–life balance and support you to thrive both professionally and personally.
What you'll do
You’ll work closely with cross‑functional teams and suppliers to shape and deliver the Product Plan for your sub‑category, developing fantastic product innovation for our customers. Acting as the custodian of customer experience and quality, you’ll identify and set customer‑led quality measures for all products developed, using insight from online reviews, panelling reports and customer complaints to guide decisions. You’ll utilise insights and your knowledge of trends to drive quality and distinctiveness where it matters most to our customers, while identifying new opportunities for innovation that create value within the category. You’ll create and deliver clear Product Briefs for all new and improved products, ensuring strong internal and supplier alignment on objectives and accountability for setting and managing achievable critical paths, challenging timelines where appropriate to deliver at pace. You’ll lead design briefs for new products and range refreshes, working with Design and Brand Agencies, while supporting the delivery of our Plan for Better targets through nutritional reformulation and more sustainable packaging solutions. Alongside this, you’ll collaborate with business partners across PR, Marketing, Sainsbury’s Online and Internal Communications, sharing your passion for your products with consumers and colleagues.
Who you are
You are a passionate food enthusiast who thrives on bringing new trends and innovations to the market. With your expertise in product development from the retail, manufacturing, or food service industry, you have a deep understanding of commercial awareness, cost structures, and quality management. Your ability to interpret and analyse data enables you to make data-driven decisions and identify new opportunities for innovation that deliver value in the category. With excellent communication skills and experience in project management and planning, you collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams to shape and deliver the product plan, ensuring customer experience and quality are at the forefront. Your passion for your products extends beyond the development phase, as you engage with consumers and colleagues through various channels to share your enthusiasm and drive for delivering exceptional products.
Essential Criteria
- Proven current/recent experience in product development within the retail, manufacturing, or food service industry
- Degree or equivalent in relevant discipline
- Ability to interpret and analyse data to make informed, data-driven decisions and identify new opportunities for innovation
- Excellent communication skills and experience in project management and planning, with a track record of effective collaboration across cross-functional teams.
- Commercial awareness, understanding and cost structure knowledge
- Knowledge of manufacturing & quality management principles
We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer, so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new - whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them:
Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to get 10% off at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat after 4 weeks. This increases to 15% off at Sainsbury’s every Friday and Saturday and 15% off at Argos every pay day. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 10% of salary, depending on how we perform.
Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance, and you can buy additional holiday. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, pay advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. And if you ever need it there is also an employee assistance programme.
Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave.
Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).
