Entity:

Customers & Products

Job Family Group:

Retail Group

Job Description:

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced and forward‑thinking Senior Food Product & Technical Manager to lead the strategic development and governance of our food product portfolio across the retail network. This role plays a pivotal part in driving innovation, enhancing customer experience, ensuring high operational standards, and aligning product initiatives with broader business objectives. The ideal candidate will bring strong product leadership, commercial competence, agility, and data‑driven decision‑making, alongside the ability to oversee and handle technical and food‑safety standards through expert teams and partners.

Responsibilities

Product Leadership & Strategy

• Lead the full lifecycle of food product development—from concept through launch—ensuring solutions reflect customer needs, commercial priorities, and operational feasibility.
• Develop clear product roadmaps and arguments that articulate value, differentiation, and long‑term strategic direction.

Food Safety & Technical Governance

• Oversee the governance of food‑safety and quality standards across retail food operations.
• Ensure compliance with relevant legislation through effective oversight, processes, and team leadership.
• Provide high‑level guidance on food‑safety risks and operational controls, ensuring teams implement safe, consistent, and legally compliant practices.

Agility & Continuous Improvement

• Champion Agility practices within product teams, fostering rapid iteration, continuous improvement, and collaborative problem‑solving.
• Promote adaptive ways of working that accelerate delivery and enhance product quality.

Customer & Data Insight

• Analyse customer data and market trends to see opportunities, optimise offerings, and guide strategic decisions.
• Translate insights into actionable product strategies that strengthen customer engagement and drive performance.
• Communicate insights clearly through effective visualisation and interpretation.

Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Partner with retail operations, marketing, supply chain, and technical teams to ensure seamless integration and delivery of new food products and solutions.
• Promote digital collaboration tools to enhance communication, alignment, and cross‑functional efficiency.

Partnership & Commercial Management

• Build and maintain strong relationships with suppliers, vendors, and technology partners.
• Lead negotiation planning and preparation to secure favourable terms and support long‑term partnerships.
• Contribute to commercial decision‑making through strong analytical and strategic thinking.

Retail Category & Territory Development

• Drive innovation within food‑related Retail Category Management by identifying new product categories and optimising existing ones.
• Support retail territory development by understanding market dynamics and operational requirements for new and existing sites.

Training & Capability Building

• Oversee the design and delivery of food‑safety, product, and operational training programmes for frontline teams.
• Promote knowledge sharing and mentor junior colleagues to strengthen organisational capability.

Industry Expertise & Advocacy

• Stay informed on food‑industry trends, customer expectations, and regulatory changes.
• Advocate for standard processes and ensure the organisation remains competitive and forward‑looking within the retail food sector.

Essential Qualifications and experience

• Experience in senior product management or leadership within food service, hospitality, cafe and/or retail
• Excellent product development in both food and coffee - a real foodie!
• Demonstrated commercial competence with a history of driving business growth.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation abilities.
• Deep understanding of customer‑centric thinking and the ability to translate insights into product strategies.
• Strong industry knowledge within food retail or food manufacturing.
• Experience in food‑safety
• Degree or equivalent experience in Food Science, Nutrition, Biology, or a related field (desired but not essential).

Why join us?

At bp, we support our people to grow in a diverse and exciting environment. We believe our team is strengthened by diversity.

We offer benefits that help your work fit with your life, including flexible working options, generous paid parental leave, excellent retirement benefits, and more.

We ensure individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation throughout the hiring process and employment experience.

Travel Requirement

Up to 25% travel should be expected with this role

Relocation Assistance:

This role is not eligible for relocation

Remote Type:

This position is a hybrid of office/remote working

Skills:

Agility core practices, Agility core practices, Agreements and negotiations, Analytical Thinking, Business Acumen, Commercial Acumen, Communication, Continuous Improvement, Continuous Learning, Creativity and Innovation, customer and competitor understanding, Customer centric thinking, Customer data knowledge, Data Analysis, Data visualization and interpretation, Decision Making, Digital Collaboration, Digital Fluency, Industry knowledge and advocacy, Integrated pricing, Knowledge Sharing, Leading transformation, market, Negotiation planning and preparation, Offer and product knowledge {+ 13 more}

Legal Disclaimer:

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, socioeconomic status, neurodiversity/neurocognitive functioning, veteran status or disability status. Individuals with an accessibility need may request an adjustment/accommodation related to bp’s recruiting process (e.g., accessing the job application, completing required assessments, participating in telephone screenings or interviews, etc.). If you would like to request an adjustment/accommodation related to the recruitment process, please contact us.

If you are selected for a position and depending upon your role, your employment may be contingent upon adherence to local policy. This may include pre-placement drug screening, medical review of physical fitness for the role, and background checks.