Product Development Specialist

• BACKGROUND

The Product Development Specialist (PDS) is a short-term assignment and will be commissioned by Small Enterprise Center (SEC) to help in developing new agro-food products in Ethiopia. The PDS will be required to conduct orientation, conduct testlab, recipe development, evalaute new products, collaborate with cross-fucntional team, engage with ponteital clietns and other stakeholders, provide feedback and revision on product development ideas, as well as help in integrated teams prepare for product launches.

• ABOUT SEC AND THE PROJECT

The Small Enterprise Center (SEC) Association is recognized as a leading international non-profit organization based in Palestine founded in 2002 with a mission to promote growth of regional and international MSMEs and social enterprises. SEC focuses its work to render MSMEs and social enterprises as main contributors to economic growth, alleviating poverty, and attaining gender equality. It focuses on enabling policies for the establishment and growth of MSMEs and social enterprises adopted by relevant stakeholders. Moreover, SEC focuses to improve the MSMEs and social enterprises competitiveness in the local and international markets. Finally, SEC promotes the engagement of youth and women entrepreneurs in MSMEs.

Within the framework of “Job Partnership Promotion of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Project in Ethiopia: Agro-food Sector / GIZ, SEC and GIZ are working together in Ethiopia to deliver innovative solutions needed to overcome the challenges of unemployment in Ethiopia. The Project is designed to improve economic competitiveness of Ethiopian agro-food processors in the local and international markets through building technical capacities of MSMEs on export promotion. The project aims to increase unemployed, interested, committed and dedicated MSMEs access to technical skills, product development, and business network and market linkages with international investors and traders.

Therefore, SEC is seeking qualified expert to help in developing new agro-food products for the Ethiopian companies.

3.0 PRIMARY OBJECTIVES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Product Development Specialist will be responsible for the development of three agro-food products based on the SEC team recommendations.

The Product Development Specialist will work closely with the SEC’s marketing department to obtain feedback and make due changes on the newly developed products, and he/she will report directly to the Project Manager.  

Specifically, the Product Development Specialist will work closely with SEC team in Palestine and Ethiopia to:

• Agree and follow up on the new agro-food products to be developed with SEC team in terms of the products specification, feature, characteristics, etc.

• Lead Product Development functions for specific categories/sub-categories. Work independently to move projects through the process to meet the assigned goals. Include using his /her own faciliaties and equipment and raw materials to work on agro-food product development (lab work).
• Responsible for identifying, creating and refining specifications for line extensions by developing multiple profiles/options for the concept and using a methodical approach to narrow down to the best alternatives.

• Develop the initial recipe (documented) of the three new products includes proper documentation.
• Be responsbile for conducting all labtest needed for the new products developed
• Communiate with clients, sakeholders in Ethioipia and SEC staff in Ramallah to get their feedback on the new developed product

• Revise formulation based on customer and associate feedback from sensory events, in-store tests, and sales and profitability data in order to improve customer satisfaction.

• Integrate the comments and feedback by stakeholders and partners and develop the recipe of the new products
• Develop a prototype of the new products

• Compare and communicate sample feedback based on ingredient attributes from the manufacturing process to team & vendor partners.
• Collaborate cross-functionally through each stage of the Product Development Process.
• Maintain all project details for assigned categories including quality control checks, portioning, spec development and product specifications.

• The shelf-life of the new product has to be at least 12 months.
• Submit the datebase recipe document include all ingrediatnes and spcficiation.

4.0 DELIVERBALES:

• Product development plan
• Two days orientation on the importance product development for the target groups.
• Lab testing and recipe development for three products
• Stakeholder engagement & feedback collection
• Prototype finalization & quality control
• Technical report and product specifications document
• Submission of a final technical report
• Conducting a final presentation for SEC and key stakeholders, summarizing the product development journey, challenges, findings, and recommendations.

5.0 PROFILE – QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE

The Product Development Specialist is expected to be a professionally mature individual, with a strong service orientation and the ability to function with considerable independent initiative, managerial skill, and sound judgment.

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Basic Requirements:

• Degree in Food Science or Culinary Arts, Certified Research Chef, or related field preferred.
• At least 5 years of experience using a formal product development process or equivalent master’s degree field.
• Experience with beverage development preferred
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite.
• Willing and able to work virtually and to travel on official business when required.
• Must be flexible to work irregular schedules in order to accommodate coordination with global partners and team members across varying time zones.

            Essential Functions:

• Ability to work well individually as well as in a team environment
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Excellent customer service skills
• Ability to work with little or no supervision
• Detail oriented and strong organizational skills
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills
• Ability to handle multiple projects
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Proven self-starter with demonstrated ability to make decisions
• Solid leadership skills
• Ability to evaluate and make recommendations on products or processes based on their sensorial attributes

6.0 LOCATION, DURATION AND EXPECTED LEVEL OF EFFORT:

• Location: at least 3 days in Ethiopia, and the rest of the assignment could be from country home
• Duration: The contract period will be for a period of four months.
• Level of effort: The expected level of effort is 20 working days.

7.0 DEADLINES FOR SUBMITTING CVs AND TECHNICAL& FINANCIAL PROPOSALS

Please send your technical & financial proposal and CV to the following email:

[email protected]

No later than January 18th, 2025.