NPD Technologist (SEA)

We are Fonterra, one of the world's largest dairy nutrition companies.

At Fonterra, you'll be inspired by purpose and guided by principles. Whether you're based in New Zealand or anywhere else around the world, you'll be part of a team that creates goodness for generations and delivers global impact through local action. Our brands are trusted by families and individuals alike, delivering high-quality dairy nutrition to millions of people globally.

As a Co-operative created and owned by New Zealand dairy farmers, our collaboration, innovation, and passion have enabled us to share the goodness of our dairy with the world. We're committed to caring for the land, our animals, and every drop of milk, producing nutritious food with safe, quality ingredients loved in New Zealand and around the world.

As part of the Fonterra Co-op, you'll be solving for a better future alongside a team connected by solid values as we strive to be a leader in dairy sustainability, dairy innovation and science, with a focus on New Zealand milk.

When you join Fonterra, you'll open yourself to a career of opportunities where you can grow with us by developing your skills, sharing your knowledge, and exploring diverse career paths that ignite your passions.

About the role

Reporting to the Senior Product Development Manager (SEA), the NPD Technologist (SEA) is responsible for delivering New Product Development (NPD) initiatives across Southeast Asia. You will play a key role in ensuring the timely and effective technical execution of innovation projects, supporting business growth across multiple SEA markets.

This is a hands-on role, combining strong technical capability with effective stakeholder collaboration to bring new dairy products successfully from concept through to commercialisation.

Key Accountabilities

• Lead the development of new products through formulation work, prototyping, functional and sensory testing, and shelf-life studies to deliver fit-for-market NPDs across Southeast Asia.
• Support and lead NPD scale-up trials at pilot and production scale, including trials at third-party manufacturers, ensuring formulations and processing conditions meet commercial and manufacturing requirements.
• Work closely with regulatory and quality teams to ensure all NPDs meet food safety, quality, and regulatory requirements across different SEA markets, maintaining accurate technical documentation and proactively managing compliance risks.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Marketing, Chefs, Supply Chain, Quality, Operations, and other internal stakeholders to align on project objectives, deliverables, and timelines.
• Prepare clear and timely technical reports to support effective decision-making and ensure smooth project execution.
• Build and manage relationships with external stakeholders including suppliers, co-manufacturers, and technical service providers to enable successful NPD delivery.
• Coordinate activities to ensure timely availability of materials, technical support, and production capabilities required for product launches.
• Support technical capability building and training for newly developed local products to enable effective sales activation and execution.

Critical Skills & Experience

You would possess:

• A Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Food Technology, Food Science & Engineering, Dairy Science, or Chemical Science.
• 3-5 years experience in product development, with demonstrated NPD experience in dairy categories (e.g. butter blends, processed cheese, powdered beverage premixes, or UHT creams).
• Strong dairy knowledge, with formulation and/or processing capabilities.
• Good understanding of food functional requirements, particularly within Foodservice environments across SEA markets.
• Strong project execution skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Action-oriented with a critical thinking mindset; able to turn ideas into practical, scalable solutions.
• Proven ability to collaborate and build strong working relationships across diverse, multi-market stakeholder groups.

Are you excited about this opportunity but may only meet some requirements

At Fonterra, we are committed to building a diverse workplace and, therefore, open to looking at applicants with excellent transferable skills. If that's you, we encourage you to apply as you may be the right candidate for this role or one of our other opportunities.

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The benefits of life at Fonterra

Our people and what they bring to our Co-op shape our success. We have a collaborative culture, inspiring leaders, and passionate people, making Fonterra a great place to work. We also offer competitive remuneration and a range of benefits, regardless of your role or location.

Fonterra is a place where everyone can be themselves, feel empowered to do their best, and are empowered to create goodness for generations.

Sound good to you Come and join us, and let's solve for better, together. You, me, us together.