Little Moons are frozen and chilled mochi, a fusion of Eastern and Western cuisine – soft and chewy rice flour dough wrapped around balls of ice cream, cheesecake, or chocolate ganache to create a distinctive, bite-sized, and delicious dessert that’s bursting with flavour.
Their rollout across Europe has been pioneered by sister and brother duo Vivien and Howard Wong, who founded Little Moons in 2010. The product’s roots are in high-end restaurants, but over the last five years retail packs have swept the ice cream category in grocery and food service.
The business has rapidly established mochi, and snacking ice cream across Europe. In FY22 we generated more than £50m in revenue, and in FY23 we are targeting +50% YoY growth. Based on experience in the USA, mochi ice cream is likely to make up 2-3% of the total ice cream category within 1-2 years.
We are very proud of the culture that we have built at Little Moons. Not to stroke our own egos, but we are a great bunch of people—smart, passionate, interesting, and funny—who work hard to support and live our values, all the while keeping our mission in our forethoughts.
The role
To help us pioneer a revolution in frozen and chilled sweet treats, we’re looking for a Head of Product Development to join our Innovation & Sustainability team. This role will be responsible for leading the delivery of the innovation pipeline, developing new, original ideas and taking them from concept through to launch, directly and through their team.
The perfect candidate will be a creative and experienced deliverer of great tasting products to market. They will be passionate about taste and motivated by the challenge of making their creations fit for market by balancing commercial, technical and manufacturing requirements. They will have a solid understanding of critical path management, able to forecast what’s required to deliver a brief in full and on time, as well as have the scientific technical nous to tackle recipe and process challenges that may occur along the way. They love creating new products, but also love guiding others to deliver the same.
Key Responsibilities
- Oversee the delivery of all live innovation projects, developing the end-to-end solution in terms of product, packaging and process.
- Lead product and packaging development; know the functionality of the ingredients used, ensure recipes and packaging are fit for purpose, using food science to solve problems and challenge industry norms.
- Lead process development; design, trial and implement the process flows for product and packaging innovation (to include the assessment of new equipment). Ensuring the parameters that require control to manufacture quality products repeatably and efficiently are known and implemented.
- Lead feasibility assessments for the project portfolio, proactively flag risks which could hinder the delivery of solutions that meet brand, consumer, technical, operational and commercial requirements.
- Forge collaborative cross-functional and supplier relationships, as well as constantly improve product development ways of working to ensure the creative and effective delivery of innovation.
- Contribute to the creation of the innovation pipeline with ideas, trends and assessments on feasibility.
- Develop and support the development team (product, process and packaging) to deliver and grow in their careers.
Essential requirements:
- A depth of industry experience, in a cross-functional food/drink product development role (experience of ice cream, dairy, fresh desserts and/or bakery is preferable
- An impressive track record delivering successful innovation to market
- BSc degree, preferably in either food science, technology or nutrition
- An inspirational manager who knows how to get the best from people
- Flair for food and innovation
- Proven portfolio management skills
- Experience working within brand guidelines
- Recipe and process development experience in equal measure
- Understanding of HACCP and site technical standards
To be engaged, you must feel included and valued, so we have built, and nurtured, a culture where inclusiveness is not a buzzword, but a way of being.
Our approach to diversity is simple —it’s about embracing everyone, and everyone is welcome at Little Moons. We are committed to welcoming everyone, regardless of gender identity, orientation or expression. We are diverse in age, race, physical or mental ability, ethnicity, and perspective. Our diversity fuels our innovation, bring diversity of thought, and connects us closer to our customers and the communities we serve.
All applicants must have the right to work in the United Kingdom.
To make your application, please send your CV to careers@littlemoons.co.uk
We look forward to hearing from you!
