Private Label Innovation Manager

At Pet Circle, we want to create a world where pets and their families are healthy, happy and spend more time together - and we are looking for fantastic people to help us do that!

Over the past ten years, we’ve scaled to become one of Australia's Top 5 eCommerce companies and the No.1 player in the Online Pet industry. We will accelerate our growth as we continue on our mission to disrupt the way that pet parents discover & shop for the products they love. 

The pet industry is booming (it’s a $15billion dollar industry!) and pets are holding bigger spaces in our hearts and homes than ever before. Online penetration of the pet industry is going to grow exponentially in the next 5 years. This is a unique opportunity in your career to be part of our exceptional growth story!

Founded and headquartered in Sydney, our team is now over 700 people strong and are based across Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines.

The Opportunity

As a Private Label & Innovation Manager within our Merchandising function, you will effectively support the expansion of Pet Circle’s private label offering leading to increased revenue and customer loyalty to our brands. This is a crucial role in the team executing NPD category strategy across consumables and non-consumables and bringing innovative products to market.

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.

• Lead the product development process within your portfolio that aligns with the private label strategy, ensuring quality and innovation are at the heart of what we do at Pet Circle. All new products introduced have clear customer and business rationale and land with maximum impact.
• Ensure all EPD and NPD are formulated in line with brand guidelines and corporate initiatives. 
• Owning and managing the critical path and artwork process with effective supplier management and communication ensuring all projects land right first time. 
• Ability to identify key global trends and translate into the pet industry across consumables and non consumables. 
• Ensure that the requirements of stage & gate are adhered to from a product development perspective from concept to launch. Lead NPD and EPD projects within Pet Circle across consumables and non-consumables from clear NPD briefs and management of sample submissions through to commercial sign off and approval. 
• Regular benchmarking and gap analysis of competitive set to influence key decisions around product design and recipe formulation.
• Collaborative team working across all key stakeholders to actively develop private label products and increase customer participation. Work closely with our expert Vet team to ensure all EPD and NPD is Vet approved. 
• Visit suppliers to understand manufacturing capabilities and future roadmap opportunities.
• Manage pre production trials, first production runs and always ensure the product meets our expected standard. 
• Attend industry pet trade shows and supplier visits when relevant to your portfolio and product roadmaps.

• 5+ years of working within a product development role (ideally pet food or human food) developing innovative products across food or non-food categories.
• Bachelor’s degree in food science, animal nutrition or related discipline
• Experience of working through a stage and gate process from concept to launch. 
• Creative flair and a passion for product development to exceed customer expectations. 
• Knowledge of manufacturing & supplier processes. 
• Experience of taking projects from idea generation to sample submission and through to “scale up” and launch.
• A level of commercial acumen that enables commerciality within product development
• Fast-paced and detail-oriented with excellent accuracy. 
• Strong team player and influencer with effective communication skills

• A focus on you and your development - think learning tools, stretch projects, focus groups, secondments and other internal mobility opportunities!
• We’re committed to flexibility and understand that it means different things to different people.
• Your wellbeing is non-negotiable. We seek to provide a collaborative, caring and safe environment, allowing you to present your full self each day.
• Pet Better with up to 50% employee discount, product sample giveaways and Pawrental leave.
• Join us on our animal welfare mission: we donate 10,000kg of pet food and supplies per month to pet shelters and support our communities through team charity volunteer days.

Role Location

At Pet Circle we believe that collaboration and team connection is key for success. This role will be based in Sydney with a blended working arrangement of up to 4 days per week in our pet friendly offices and the remainder working from home (or the office, if you prefer!) Our working arrangements and your required office day are subject to change in line with business requirements.

Why Join?

We’re passionate about what we do and our love for pets is the centre of our why. Becoming a pawsome Pet Circler means you’re committed to help shape an entire industry - pretty exciting stuff! We’re a stable, innovative and low-ego group of people who relish challenges and aren’t afraid to do what’s right.

Here’s what we stand for; 

We’re Better Together

We operate with Humble Hearts and Hungry Minds

We truly believe that Pets Matter; pets and pet parents always have a seat at our table

We’re Instinctively Curious. Always

Belong at Pet Circle

Our unique expertise unites us to achieve our goal of helping pet parents, pet better. We value diversity in all forms and perspectives, always. No matter your background, please apply if our roles ignite an excitement in you to bring your full self to work each day.