Private Label Product Technologist
Pet Circle
Product
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Posted on Nov 6, 2024
Dogs, cats, budgies and everything in between - pets deserve the world. They make us want to be better humans. That’s why we’ve made it our mission to build the most engaged and passionate community of pets and pet parents across the world. And we’re looking for talented team mates who can help us do it.
Founded in Sydney, our team of 500+ pet obsessives span Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines. We’ve scaled to become one of Australia's top five eCommerce companies and the no.1 online pet store. But we’re just getting started. Like a whippet who’s spotted their mate across the dog park, our growth is only going to accelerate, as we continue to disrupt the way that pet parents shop.
Excitingly, the pet industry is booming (as in $15 billion kind of booming) and online pet retail is set to grow exponentially in the next five years. So this is a unique career opportunity to be part of our epic growth story.
The Opportunity
As a Private Label Product Technologist within our Merchandising function, you will play a vital role in ensuring we deliver safe, high quality products to our customers by working closely with our Product Developers and various teams across the business as well as our global suppliers.
Our vision is to develop and offer products and brands that we know our customers and their pets love that are exclusive to Pet Circle.
Your Responsibilities
- Work closely with product developers and suppliers to ensure products meet quality and safety standards.
- Support all EPD & NPD projects and work alongside Product Developers to drive quality improvements, implementing and challenging quality standards across the portfolio.
- Maintain accurate product information which includes raw material specifications, finished product specifications, factory trial reports and quality attribute sheets to ensure traceability.
- Ensure the consistent production of great quality products that meet our agreed specification, standards and policies.
- Support the manufacturing scale up process working closely with suppliers to manage product testing, shelf life validation, micro-testing, overall compliance and attend factory trials.
- Manage the pack copy process to support all EPD and NPD projects ensuring all packaging copy information is accurate and correct.
- Manage all palatability and digestibility testing working with our supplier partners to ensure we are developing great tasting, appropriate products.
- Work alongside Product Developers to manage the artwork sign off process ensuring all packaging copy information is accurate and correct.
- Review samples against product specification and set clear manufacturing, testing and packaging guidelines.
- Monitor supplier compliance through regular site visits and site audits.
- Attend supplier first productions to ensure compliance and release products for sale.
- Support the investigation of product complaints and work on continuous improvement initiatives to improve product, process efficiencies and reduce costs.
- Working collaboratively with internal stakeholders and directly with suppliers to launch product ranges in accordance with critical path timings highlighting and communicating risks appropriately. Proactively seek solutions for risk mitigation.
- Ensure that all products are sourced and produced ethically, complying with Australia's Modern Slavery Act and global labor standards.
- Conduct regular audits of suppliers to ensure adherence to ethical sourcing practices, with a focus on preventing modern slavery, forced labor, and human trafficking.
- Maintain thorough documentation to ensure full transparency and traceability within the supply chain, ensuring compliance with modern slavery regulations.
Your Ideal Skills and Experience
- 3+ years of working within a technical or QA role (ideally pet food or human food)
- Broad technical knowledge of products in terms of specification, performance and testing requirements.
- A good understanding of pet industry manufacturing methods and quality standards.
- Experience of working through a stage and gate process from concept to launch.
- Knowledge of manufacturing & supplier processes.
- Experience of taking projects from idea generation to sample submission and through to “scale up” and launch.
- Fast-paced and detail-oriented with excellent accuracy.
- Strong team player and influencer with effective communication skills
- Ideally a degree that relates to this role however this isn’t essential.
Juicy Perks
- Heaps of development opportunities - stretch projects, focus groups & secondments
- Flexible working environment
- Up to 50% employee discount
- Product sample giveaways
- Pawrental leave and wellbeing leave
- Team charity volunteer days
- Classpass subsidy
Role location
We believe that building connections and collaborating as Pet Circlers is super important. So this role is based in Sydney with a hybrid arrangement of 3 days per week in our pet friendly offices (your pet might love coming to the office even more than you). This is subject to change in line with business requirements.
Why Join?
We reckon our mission to help the world Pet Better is an important one, but also an incredibly fun and rewarding one. Becoming a Pet Circler means you’re committed to help shape an entire industry - it’s pretty exciting stuff. Here’s what we stand for:
We’re better together
We operate with humble hearts and hungry minds
Pets matter; so pets and pet parents always have a seat at our table
We’re instinctively curious. Always
Belong at Pet Circle
Our unique perspectives and expertise is our superpower - we value diversity in all forms. So, no matter your background, please apply if this role makes you excited to bring your full self to work each day.
