Head of Food (Product Development & Nutrition), Marro

The role

The Head of Food will own the Marro product development strategy, vision, and roadmap. You will act as the expert on feline nutrition, formulation, palatability, and sensory science while managing the product budget and conducting kitchen trials.

What you will do

• Reduce customer pauses using pause reasons, customer feedback and cat response data
• Own palatability performance and define measurement standards
• Own the product development strategy and long-term vision
• Turn strategy into a prioritised multi-year roadmap
• Make trade-off decisions between nutrition, palatability, quality, cost and manufacturability
• Own the Marro budget for trials, palatability, sensory testing, external specialists and research
• Build business cases for product changes covering cost, margin, savings and customer benefit
• Act as the leading expert on feline nutrition, ingredients, formulation, processing, palatability and sensory
• Work with Operations to fix quality issues at the root
• Sign off product quality and claims

Required qualifications

• Deep expertise in feline nutrition, ingredients, formulation, processing, sensory and palatability
• Experience shaping product strategy
• Ability to lead cross-functional work and influence senior stakeholders
• Hands-on experience in the kitchen tasting, running trials and evaluating product
• Comfortable with ambiguity and moving quickly in a startup environment

Nice to have

• Degree or postgraduate qualification in animal nutrition, food science, sensory science or a related field
• Depth of expertise built through hands-on pet food experience

Benefits

• Equity option package
• 25 days holiday (plus 8 bank holidays), 5 paws days and an additional day every year of service
• £500 personal learning & development budget
• Butternut Box / Marro employee discount
• Subsidised Private Medical Insurance with Vitality
• Cycle to work scheme
• Flexible working with hybrid remote working
• Team socials, plus company-wide summer and winter parties

Before you apply

• Skills interview in person including an interview task
• Leadership interview in person
• Unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role

About the company

Marro is the Fresh food brand for cats, described as Butternut's charming younger sister. The team focuses on building great food and strong nutrition to improve pets' health.