Butternut Box - Head of Food (Product Development & Nutrition), Marro

• We’re looking for a Head of Food who knows what makes exceptional cat food, and who’ll decide where ours goes next. • You’ll be our go-to expert on feline nutrition, formulation, palatability and sensory science. You’ll own Marro’s product development strategy end-to-end, from the long-term vision and shape of our range to the roadmap that gets us there. Then you’ll get into the kitchen and make it happen. • You’ll own the two things that matter most to us: • Retention: Fewer customers pausing because of the food. • Retention: • Palatability: Cats choosing Marro, every time. • Palatability: • This isn’t just an NPD process role. You’ll be the business’s go-to expert on feline nutrition, formulation, palatability and sensory science. You’ll own the Marro product development strategy end-to-end, setting a long-term vision and architecture for our range and turning it into a roadmap. Then you’ll get into the kitchen and make it happen.You’ll lead the charge, own the Marro budget and have the final say on what goes in the bowl. You’ll bring Operations, Commercial, Brand, Marketing and external partners with you to make it happen. You’ll report to our Product Development Director and work in partnership with them, not under day-to-day direction. • The Team • We’re the foundation of what the business builds: great food, strong nutrition and products that genuinely improve pets’ health. We own what the physical product looks like and how it delivers real benefits for dogs and cats. We’re deliberately lean and close-knit, so everyone gets stuck in, takes real ownership, and has plenty of opportunity to develop and progress. What brings us together is a deep belief in our products, our category and the power of fresh food to improve pets’ lives. • Location & Travel • Location & Travel • Our team thrives on collaboration. We spend 3 days a week in our West London office (Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday) and 2 days working from wherever you’re most productive. Because being together is a big part of our culture, we’re looking for someone within a comfortable commutable distance to London. • 3 days a week in our West London office • What you’ll own • Keep cats eating and customers staying • Be obsessive about why customers pause because of the food, and relentlessly reduce it, using pause reasons, customer feedback and cat response data. • Own palatability performance. Define what winning looks like, measure it rigorously, and keep raising the bar against our own recipes and the best in the market. • Make these two metrics the lens for every product decision. • Set the direction and make the calls • Own the product development strategy and its longer-term vision: where the range goes, what we stop, and what “the best cat food” means for us. • Turn it into a prioritised multi-year roadmap grounded in customer insights, scientific evidence, and commercial goals. • Make the call on trade-offs between nutrition, palatability, quality, cost and manufacturability, and stand behind them. • Own the budget • Own the Marro budget for trials, palatability and sensory testing, external specialists and research. Put money where it will most help cats eat and customers stay. • Build the business case for product changes, covering recipe cost, margin, savings and customer benefit, and make the call. • Be the expert in the room • Be our leading expert on feline nutrition, ingredients, formulation, processing, palatability and sensory. • Set the benchmarks for what good looks like at Marro, and work with Operations to fix quality issues at the root. • Decide what we need to learn through research, work with external specialists, and turn the evidence into better recipes and processes.