New Product Development and Production Manager
Please note: this role is a 1 year maternity cover
We’re Craft Gin Club - the UK’s biggest spirits subscription service.
For over a decade, we’ve been redefining the way people discover and enjoy new drinks from the convenience of their home. From our successful Dragon’s Den pitch to launching our rum subscription and seeing our products appear on some of the UK High Street’s most prestigious shelves, it’s been quite the journey so far.
But there’s much more to come as we look to embrace new spirits, new channels and new markets through which to grow our business.
This role will be responsible for executing the development of our growing portfolio of new products, which includes the development of our flagship Spirits of the Month.
Key Accountabilities
- Responsible for the development and project management of NPD/EPD, including Spirits of the Month, alongside our distillery partners
- Owning the relationship with all supply chain partners (distilleries, bottle manufacturers, label printers, etc.)
- Working closely with our distillery partners to develop special edition spirits and branding
- Working with our Operations Teams to meet production timelines and requirements
- Owning and managing project timelines closely to meet all deadlines
- Ensuring that all products adhere to UK and EU regulations and Craft Gin Club’s highest quality standards.
- Growing strong relationships with suppliers and in-depth knowledge of their capabilities, as well as supporting with scoping new suppliers and price negotiations
- Communicating clearly with various departments for successful and impactful launches.
- Delivering weekly project updates to inform key stakeholders of project status and potential risks.
- Responsible for the commercial elements of conceptual and live projects, ensuring all budgets are met or improved upon and ensuring key stakeholders are aware of any key changes.
- Production planning with various distillers, suppliers and co-packers / bottling partners to meet critical deadlines, and ensure goods are delivered to our 3PL on time
- Maintaining due diligence records and compliance for partners, suppliers & HMRC
- Proactive approach to continuous COGs improvement initiatives across all aspects of Spirit of the Month/NPD projects.
- Leading the global sourcing and procurement programme for Spirit of the Month/NPD projects with new and existing supply base.
- Ownership and sign-off of monthly P&Ls for spirit and NPD projects
Requirements
- Previous experience in a similar product development/project management role in the FMCG sector - spirits experience would be advantageous but not essential.
- Experience with developing products from concepts to production
- Excellent project manager who is able to work to agreed timescales to deliver projects on time and budget
- Able to work simultaneously on different projects with numerous actors
- Meticulous attention to detail
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Analytical ability to own a spreadsheet and cost products
- Ability to handle change and work well in cross-functional teams in a dynamic, start-up environment
- Capable of leading relationships and executing projects with external suppliers
- A proven operator who knows how to handle a manufacturing environment and to drive the right results, including having tough conversations
- Knows how to maintain good interpersonal relationships in order to negotiate and leverage the best costs.
- Able to keep up with market trends with a keen eye for where the market is and where it’s heading
- Passion for gin and rum is a plus!
Benefits
- Pension scheme
- 25 holiday days increasing to 30 with length of service
- Real career progression opportunities, with the chance to grow as we do
- Dynamic working environment in our small and dedicated team
- Flexible working hours
- Weekly gin tasting
- Generous staff discount on our online store