Senior Brand Product Development & Quality Manager (FTC)

Bring world-class creative ideas into the real world, and lead the team that makes it happen.

Salary: £75,000 per annum

Contract Type: FTC, 12-Month Maternity Cover

Start Date: ASAP

Location: West London

Working type: Hybrid (3 days in the office)

The Opportunity

Behind every memorable brand experience is someone who knows how to make great ideas happen, and a team who trusts them to lead the way.

Working as an integral part of the brand and activation function, and reporting directly to its Global Director, you'll partner closely with designers from the earliest stages of a project, helping transform creative concepts into beautifully crafted physical products and experiences.

From packaging and branded merchandise to retail displays, point of sale, and campaign activations, you'll own the full cycle of sourcing, product development, and production, delivering premium brand assets across global markets. You'll lead the team that delivers this work, and you'll be the person who makes sure everything that leaves the door is safe, compliant, and made to the standard this brand is known for.

This is a rare opportunity to sit at the intersection of creativity, product development, and production, leading a talented team and playing a pivotal role in how a globally recognised premium consumer brand comes to life.

The Role

This role has three equal parts: new product development, leading people, and owning quality and compliance.

• You'll work alongside the creative team from day one, helping shape ideas as they're developed rather than simply delivering them once they're finished.
• You'll challenge, refine, and guide concepts through development, balancing creative ambition with manufacturing expertise, commercial thinking, and exceptional execution.
• You'll lead branded product development across packaging, retail displays, POS, branded merchandise, and activation assets, owning the full cycle from sourcing and supplier relationships through sampling, production, quality, compliance, and global delivery.
• You'll manage and develop a team spanning product development, production, quality, and compliance, setting direction, agreeing priorities, and giving people the clarity and support they need to do their best work.
• You'll own quality assurance and compliance across everything the team produces, making sure every product meets the safety, regulatory, and quality standards required in each market it's sold in.
• You'll protect creative integrity at every stage, making sure what arrives in market is what the design team imagined, made to the right standard and to the right specification.
• You'll become the person who gives designers the confidence that their ideas can be realised without compromise, and the person your team looks to for leadership.

Day to day, you'll be...

• Leading the end-to-end development of branded products, packaging, and in-store materials, from concept through to global launch.
• Translating creative concepts into commercially viable, high-quality products while protecting brand standards.
• Managing, coaching, and developing a team across product development, production, quality, and compliance, including setting objectives, running 1:1s, and supporting people's growth.
• Owning the QA and compliance framework for branded products and packaging, including product safety testing, material and supplier compliance, technical documentation, and regulatory requirements across international markets.
• Working with suppliers and testing partners to make sure every product is fully compliant before it ships, and resolving issues quickly when they arise.
• Managing sourcing, sampling, prototyping, and product refinement to achieve exceptional quality and finish.
• Building and maintaining strong relationships with global suppliers and manufacturing partners, and negotiating to deliver value, quality, and long-term partnership success.
• Overseeing production planning, purchase orders, delivery schedules, and critical path management.
• Collaborating closely with design, marketing, logistics, and finance teams to ensure seamless delivery.

What Success Looks Like

• You'll become a trusted partner to the creative team, involved from the earliest conversations through to final delivery.
• Your team will feel led, supported, and clear on what good looks like, and they'll keep delivering at the same standard throughout the cover period.
• Designers will rely on your expertise to solve problems before they arise.
• Suppliers will trust your judgement and clarity.
• Nothing will reach market that isn't safe, compliant, and properly documented, and stakeholders will trust that without needing to check.
• Stakeholders across the business will know that when a project is in your hands, it will be delivered beautifully, on time, compliantly, and to the highest possible standard.
• Ultimately, your success is measured by how seamlessly creative ideas become exceptional physical experiences, and by how well your team performs along the way.

About You

• You'll already have significant experience leading branded product development and production within premium consumer products, branded goods, retail, lifestyle, or brand-led environments.
• You'll have managed people before, and you'll enjoy it. You know how to get the best from a team, how to keep people motivated through busy periods, and how to step into an established team and earn their trust quickly.
• You'll have hands-on, current knowledge of quality assurance and compliance for consumer products, and you're comfortable being the person accountable for it.
• You understand sourcing, manufacturing, supply chains, and product lifecycle management, but just as importantly, you understand designers.
• You know how to protect an idea while making it manufacturable, compliant, commercially viable, and deliverable at scale.
• You're available to start as soon as possible.

You'll bring

• Significant experience across sourcing, branded product development, production, supply chain, and product lifecycle management
• Proven experience managing and developing a team, ideally across product development, production, quality, or compliance functions
• Strong, working knowledge of quality assurance and compliance for consumer products sold globally, including product safety standards, testing, technical files, and supplier and material compliance
• Strong understanding of packaging, POS, retail displays, branded merchandise, and physical marketing assets
• Excellent understanding of manufacturing processes and of taking products from idea to market
• Experience managing global supplier networks and manufacturing partners, and delivering into multiple international markets
• Excellent commercial judgement, negotiation, and project leadership
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to run multiple projects at once in a fast-paced environment
• A strong appreciation for materials, craftsmanship, and product quality
• A collaborative, proactive, and solutions-focused approach, with excellent communication skills
• The ability to build trusted relationships across creative, production, and operational teams

Why This Role Stands Out

• Few roles sit this close to the creative process while owning such a significant part of bringing a brand to life.
• You'll work alongside talented designers every day, helping shape ideas rather than simply execute them, while leading the team responsible for the sourcing, development, and production of the physical products and assets that customers experience around the world.
• It's a role with genuine ownership, a team to lead, global reach, and the opportunity to influence how a globally recognised brand is experienced far beyond its core range.