Product Specialist

We are the leading provider of fresh prepared food in the UK, and our presence in the US and China positions the Group well in these high-growth markets. We leverage our consumer insight and scale to provide innovative food that offers quality, choice, convenience, and freshness. Around 18,500 colleagues operate from 44 sites across our three markets supplying a portfolio of over 2,900 products across meals, pizza & bread, salads and desserts to leading grocery retailers in the UK and US, and international food brands in China. . IT Product Specialist   Planning & Operational Excellence  Location: Spalding – Hybrid working  Contract Type: Permanent   Business Area: Bakkavor Ltd – Group IT  Salary: £40,000 - £45,000 plus bonus scheme and private healthcare A fantastic opportunity has arisen for an IT Product Specialist to join our IT team based in Spalding, Lincolnshire.  This is a senior role operating within Group IT - which will deliver subject matter expertise and undertake responsibility for the management, development, and implementation of products / services - through their full life cycle from inception, growth, maturity and decline to retirement.   The role scope relates to the Planning/OE product pillar within a specific sub-domain in Group IT, as specified above.    As an experienced technical specialist, the Product Specialist acts as a product champion, providing advice and direction in specialist areas within specific product of a wider domain. This specialism typically includes product development activities that include design, deployment of software product configurations into new or existing software environments / platforms, testing and user training.   In this busy and exciting role, you will work closely with key internal, business, and external stakeholders to understand business requirements for the delivery of ongoing value within your relevant products.  Maintaining a deep understanding of products and building awareness of emerging technologies and products available in the sector will be top of your agenda, as will contributing to planning processes to evolve products and ensure services are understood to inform the strategy for Business Systems and Group IT.  Essential Criteria:  A good understanding of business processes for which products are designed Excellent communication skills and attention to detail  Knowledge of IT and an excellent understanding of how the technical specialism relates to other areas of IT and how it impacts on business functions The ability to take a logical and analytical approach to problem solving Proficient in Business Written communication and requirement buildings A foundation understanding of Business analysis Stakeholder management A foundation understanding of project management UK wide travel is essential - Full UK driving licence A foundation understanding of change management Experience in the FMCG industry An understanding of the production planning process and planning theory   Preferred criteria: Experience in SQL  An understanding of the development tools used to produce the software products and their system interfaces Report writing (SSRS, Crystal, BI solutions)  Experience and knowledge in Preactor  Experience and knowledge in RedZone  Experience and knowledge in a CMMS  A good understanding of the development lifecycle and the role of software testing    What you’ll receive As an equal opportunity employer, we’re committed to providing a safe and rewarding environment for you to thrive in. This is why we work hard to deliver benefits, rewards and wellbeing offerings that are important to you. You’ll enjoy: A stakeholder pension scheme Bonus scheme Private healthcare Personal accident Insurance Free independent mortgage advice Employee assistance programme A range of voluntary benefits Holiday purchase scheme Additional life assurance Dental & hospital cash plans Discounted tutoring for children Access to financial learning tools Affordable loans via your salary Proud to be and loyal service awards Plus, a commitment to your wellbeing that includes emotional, physical and financial support services delivered by our fantastic team of wellbeing champions Proud to be Bakkavor We’re proud to be the market leader in the UK fresh prepared food industry. We’re proud to supply meals, salads, desserts, pizza and bread to leading grocery retailers including Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose. We’re driven by the hard work and passion of our people and are delighted to offer a wide range of careers across our business – come and join our dedicated Bakkavor team