Product Development Scientist - Functional Nutrition

Job description

Location: Twickenham, South West London (on-site)

Contract: Permanent, full-time (Monday to Friday)

Salary: £38,000–£45,000, plus performance bonus and up to £5,000 relocation support

Start date: Early October 2026

Reports to: Operations & Product Manager

KURK is a health and nutrition company making natural formulations to improve human health. We research, formulate, manufacture and sell our products — and we do it all from our own production facility and lab in West London. That means real science, real products, and full control from bench to shelf.

We're a small team at an inflection point: investing in new science and growing our product range. This hire will shape what comes next.

The role:

This is an experienced NPD role with genuine end-to-end ownership. You'll take new products from brief to launch — consumer and market research, formulation, bench trials, sensory work, costing, scale-up and commercial launch — and you'll help define how NPD is done at KURK, not just follow a process someone else wrote.

You'll work alongside our Operations & Product Manager, with direct access to the founder and real influence over the product pipeline.

What you'll do:

• Own NPD projects end to end: brief, research, formulation trials, sensory evaluation, costing and presentation to management
• Help design and embed KURK's stage-gate NPD process
• Manage external suppliers and manufacturers through development and scale-up: quotes, MOQs, purchase orders, lead times and factory trials
• Build the commercial case for new concepts — costing, pack formats, market and competitor analysis — ready for board-level sign-off
• Improve existing products — formulation, flavour and format — using customer feedback and market data
• Support production of KURK's product range: batch preparation, weighing to specification, quality documentation
• Help maintain the lab environment — hygiene, food safety and contamination protocols, stock and equipment

This is a hands-on role in a small company. Some days are formulation and strategy; some days are on your feet in the lab.

About you:

Essential

• Three to five years in a commercial NPD, R&D or product development role, with products you have personally taken from concept to launch. We will ask you to walk us through one of them in detail.
• Formulation and bench-trial experience, ideally across more than one format
• Experience coordinating external suppliers and manufacturers through scale-up
• Commercial instinct — you think about target price, cost of goods and manufacturing risk early, not at the end
• Working knowledge of food safety and quality systems (HACCP, GMP) and UK food regulation
• Self-directed: able to define the process, not only follow it
• A degree in food science, nutrition, chemistry or similar, or equivalent experience
• Able to work on-site in Twickenham, South West London

Desirable

• Liquids, emulsions, drinks or other functional formats
• Reformulation with measurable outcomes
• Nutritional labelling and claims under UK law
• Experience of a structured stage-gate process, or of building one

KURK is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all backgrounds.

Extra information

Status

Open

Education Level

Secondary School

Location

Twickenham

Type of Contract

Full-time jobs

Published at

20-08-2026

Full UK/EU driving license preferred

No

Car Preferred

No

Must be eligible to work in the EU

No

Cover Letter Required

No

Languages

English