Concept Lead & Test Bakery Manager

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.

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