Head of Food (Product Development & Nutrition), Marro

We’re looking for a Head of Food who knows what makes exceptional cat food, and who’ll decide where ours goes next. You’ll be our go-to expert on feline nutrition, formulation, palatability and sensory science. You’ll own Marro’s product development strategy end-to-end, from the long-term vision and shape of our range to the roadmap that gets us there. Then you’ll get into the kitchen and make it happen.

Responsibilities

Own Marro's product development strategy end-to-end, from long-term vision and shape of the range to the roadmap; get into the kitchen and make it happen; focus on retention by reducing customer pauses because of the food using pause reasons, customer feedback and cat response data; own palatability performance by defining winning, measuring rigorously and raising the bar against own recipes and best in market; use retention and palatability metrics as the lens for every product decision; own product development strategy and longer-term vision including where the range goes, what to stop and what 'the best cat food' means; turn strategy into a prioritised multi-year roadmap grounded in customer insights, scientific evidence and commercial goals; make trade-offs between nutrition, palatability, quality, cost and manufacturability and stand behind them; own the Marro budget for trials, palatability and sensory testing, external specialists and research; build business cases for product changes covering recipe cost, margin, savings and customer benefit and make the call; be the leading expert on feline nutrition, ingredients, formulation, processing, palatability and sensory; set benchmarks for what good looks like at Marro and work with Operations to fix quality issues at the root; decide what needs to be learned through research, work with external specialists and turn evidence into better recipes and processes; sign off product quality and claims; work with Brand and Marketing to turn the food's real strengths into reasons to choose Marro; lead the charge, own the Marro budget, have final say on what goes in the bowl, and bring Operations, Commercial, Brand, Marketing and external partners along; report to the Product Development Director and work in partnership with them

Requirements

Obsessed with outcomes and judging success by whether cats love the food and customers stay, not just by projects shipped; deep expertise in feline nutrition, ingredients, formulation, processing, sensory and palatability and being the person others turn to; great product judgment balancing nutrition, palatability, quality, customer expectations, manufacturing realities and cost while pushing for better; setting direction through shaping product strategy, not just delivering against a roadmap; bringing people along by leading cross-functional work with confidence and influencing senior stakeholders without needing someone to clear the path; being hands-on with the food, tasting in the kitchen, running trials and evaluating product personally; being scientifically curious, getting into evidence, working with specialists and turning new thinking into practical change; raising the bar, being generous with expertise, enjoying coaching others and being comfortable challenging the status quo; being a startup person comfortable with ambiguity, moving quickly and taking ownership

Nice to have

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

Benefits

Equity option package; 25 days holiday (plus 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