About Swiggy Instamart
Swiggy Instamart, is building the convenience grocery segment in India. We offer more than 40000 items to our customers within 10-15 mins. We are striving to augment our consumer promise of enabling unparalleled convenience by making grocery delivery instant and delightful. Instamart has been operating in 120+ cities across India and plan to expand to a few more soon. We have seen immense love from the customers till now and are excited to redefine how India shops
Job Description: Sr. Manager – New Product Development (NPD) & Quality
Role: Senior Manager - Subject Matter Expert for Munchies & Snacks, Traditional Foods, Sweets, Chocolates-Confectionary, Breakfast cereals & Emerging Categories
Role Objective
We are looking for a highly skilled Senior Manager – Product Development & Quality to lead end-to-end development and quality assurance across Snacking, Traditional Foods, Sweets, Breakfast Cereals, and Emerging Categories within our private label portfolio.
As the Sr. Manager – NPD & Quality, This role will serve as the technical backbone for product range expansion, transforming traditional flavors into scalable, high-quality offerings. This role bridges culinary expertise with food science, ensuring every product meets our highest standards of quality, safety, and consistency. Drive trend-led innovation while upholding world-class product quality and robust food safety standards across all categories.
Key Responsibilities
- Product Development & Innovation
End-to-End Development: Lead the formulation of a diverse portfolio including Namkeen, Extruded Snacks, Energy Bars, and Confectionary.
Traditional Modernization: Adapt Indian Sweets, Chikki, and Traditional Foods for modern retail without losing authentic homemade soul.
Clean Label Initiative: Work to reduce artificial additives, moving toward natural preservatives in Chutneys and Spreads.
Health & Wellness: Drive innovation in Emerging Categories like high-protein Energy Bars, Clean-Label Spreads, and Whole-Grain Breakfast Cereals.
Develop and optimize recipes/formulations aligned to target cost, quality, and shelf-life
Drive innovation based on market trends, competitor benchmarking, and consumer insights
Conduct trials (lab & plant scale) and ensure successful commercialization
- Quality Assurance & Standardization
Define product specifications, SOPs, and quality benchmarks for all SKUs
Establish sensory, physical, and microbiological quality parameters
Conduct supplier audits, product evaluations, and ensure batch-to-batch consistency
Implement quality improvement initiatives and root cause analysis for deviations
- Supplier Management & Capability Building
Identify, Audit, onboard, and develop suppliers/vendors
Work closely with manufacturers to ensure adherence to product specs and process controls
Drive vendor performance through audits, scorecards, and continuous improvement plans
Ensure compliance with FSSAI and other applicable food safety standards
Validate label claims, nutritional information, and ingredient declarations
Support regulatory documentation and approvals for new product launches
- Cost Optimization & Productivity
Drive value engineering initiatives without compromising quality
Optimize formulations, ingredients, and processes to meet cost targets
Support scale-up efficiency and wastage reduction initiatives
- Cross-functional Collaboration
Collaborate with Procurement, Supply Chain, Marketing, and Operations for seamless launches
Align with packaging and logistics teams for shelf-life and stability considerations
Support customer feedback analysis and continuous product improvement.
Key Skills & Competencies
Strategic Product Development: Ability to build and drive NPD pipeline across categories, translating consumer insights and traditional recipes into scalable, commercially viable products.
Food Science & Technical Expertise: Strong understanding of ingredients, processing technologies, shelf-life, and formulation across snacks, sweets, and cereals.
Quality & Food Safety Leadership: Deep knowledge of FSSAI, HACCP, GMP/GHP with the ability to establish robust quality systems and ensure compliance across vendors.
Scale-up & Commercialization: Proven capability in moving products from lab to plant scale, ensuring consistency, efficiency, and speed-to-market.
Supplier & Stakeholder Management: Strong experience in vendor development, audits, and cross-functional collaboration (Procurement, Ops, Marketing, Supply Chain).
Cost Optimization & Value Engineering: Ability to balance cost, quality, and performance through formulation and process optimization.
Analytical Thinking & Problem Solving: Strong root cause analysis, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement mindset.
Innovation & Market Orientation: Ability to identify trends, benchmark competition, and drive differentiated product offerings.
Leadership & Team Management: Capability to lead teams, influence stakeholders, and drive accountability across functions and partners.
Execution Excellence: High ownership with the ability to manage multiple projects, timelines, and priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Travel requirement
This role requires extensive travel (20–30%) across multiple cities and supplier locations.
Travel will be primarily for product development trials, plant validations, supplier onboarding, audits, and quality alignment.
The candidate should be comfortable working closely with manufacturing partners on-site to drive faster commercialization and consistent quality execution.
Qualifications & Experience
B.Tech / M.Tech in Food Technology/ Food Science with 10 years in R&D/NPD and Quality Assurance within the FMCG or Food Retail sector.
Experience In FMCG, QSR, Or Private Label Business Preferred
Ability to balance the best recipe with the best COGS (Cost of Goods Sold).
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, colour, religion, sex, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by the law'
