Senior Product Developer – Candy & Confectionery (All Genders)

YOU & AHEAD

At ahead, we are on a mission to clean up the world’s candy drawers. We make the snacks everyone actually craves: chocolate bars, protein bars, wafers, cookies, gummies and more. Our products contain up to 90% less sugar with zero compromise on taste. We are a 130-person team based in Hamburg, with our own lab, a portfolio of more than 170 SKUs and ambitious growth plans across D2C, retail, Amazon and Europe.

We are looking for a Senior Product Developer for Candy & Confectionery to own the technical development of our portfolio from the first brief through formulation, sensory validation, scale-up and launch.

As our Senior Product Developer, you will bring technical depth to one of our most important categories and make sure every decision works in the real world: in the recipe, in the factory and in the customer’s hands.

Are you a food developer who knows how to turn a great idea into a product people genuinely love? Someone who can balance taste, texture, stability, cost, compliance and timing while getting the product over the line? If you like taking ownership and enjoy solving real product problems, we would love to hear from you!

YOUR TASKS

• End-to-End Product Development: You own candy and confectionery projects from brief to launch. You translate requirements into clear technical targets, develop and optimise formulations, oversee trials, sensory validation and technical decisions.
• Sugar Reduction & Product Performance: You develop reduced-sugar and no-added-sugar products without compromising on taste. You understand how ingredients affect texture, processing, stability and shelf life, and make clear trade-offs between quality, cost, compliance and speed.
• Sensory, Shelf Life & Scale-Up: You plan and coordinate sensory, shelf-life and stability testing. You prepare for pilot and industrial trials, work closely with co-manufacturers, troubleshoot issues and follow solutions through to production.
• Specifications, Suppliers & Compliance: You manage formulations, specifications, technical documentation, ingredients and samples. Together with our Quality team, you ensure that food law, labelling, allergen, nutritional and claims requirements are considered from the start.
• Cross-Functional Ownership: You work closely with Product, Quality, Operations, Procurement, Brand, Retail and Marketing. You communicate clearly, flag risks early, challenge assumptions and keep projects moving.
• Building Better NPD Processes: You document decisions and learnings, create clear handovers and help make product development more structured and predictable as ahead grows.

YOUR PROFILE

• You bring 5+ years of experience in food product development, R&D, or NPD, with a track record from brief through formulation, sensory validation, scale-up, and launch. Hands-on experience in gummies, candy, chocolate, confectionery, or a related sweet-goods category is mandatory.
• You understand how taste, texture, processing, stability, shelf life, ingredients and production realities come together in a successful product. You have experience with sugar-reduction or no-added-sugar systems and know how to balance product performance with consumer expectations.
• You have worked with ingredient suppliers and co-manufacturers and have been involved in pilot or industrial-scale production. You are comfortable with specifications, technical documentation, and food-law requirements.
• You take ownership and follow through. You are structured without being bureaucratic, comfortable with ambiguity and willing to challenge a brief, assumption or timeline when needed. You communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical stakeholders and enjoy working as a senior individual contributor without direct reports initially.
• You hold a degree or equivalent training in food science, food technology, chemistry, nutrition science, ecotrophology, or a comparable field. You communicate confidently in German and English.

WHAT MAKES YOUR PROFILE COMPLETE

• Experience launching 10+ food products, ideally across multiple markets.
• Experience working with gummies, candy, chocolate bars, cookies, filled confectionery or similar products.
• Strong knowledge of sugar reduction, sweetener systems, fibres and texture management.
• Experience planning, conducting or interpreting sensory tests, shelf-life studies and stability testing.
• Background in better-for-you food, functional food, private-label NPD, or a fast-growing consumer brand.
• Experience delivering products into D2C and retail channels across DACH or Europe.

AND WHY AHEAD?

Working at ahead is more than just a job - it’s your opportunity to develop as a professional and as a person, while shaping the future of snacking. Our mission is to make low sugar the new standard, and we pour that ambition into every product we create. You’ll become part of a team where international talent, startup drive, real impact, and true ownership come together.

• Hypergrowth Environment: If you're looking for greenfield, creative freedom, and real impact, you're in the right place. We're a team that is scaling fast - with purpose
• Great Workspace: A central office in the heart of Hamburg near the Alster, top equipment (MacBook), snacks, drinks, plenty of ahead products - and yes, a ping-pong table. We’re also pet-friendly, so you can always bring your furry friend along
• Amazing Team: Young, international, ambitious - inspiring colleagues who collaborate, support each other, and genuinely enjoy working together
• Career Growth: Develop through cross-functional projects, structured feedback cycles, and a steep learning curve in a dynamic, high growth environment. We offer a fair, attractive salary with role-dependent bonus opportunities
• Great Benefits: Fuel yourself with ahead snacks, drinks, and merch - we’ve got you covered. On top: a €50 monthly allowance to spend as you like - Urban Sports Club, mobility options, or vouchers from your favorite brands (IKEA, Rewe, Rossmann and more)
• Vacation Days: Enjoy 28 vacation days plus two extra days off on December 24 (Christmas Eve) and December 31 (New Year’s Eve)
• Events & Offsites:  Regular after-work hangouts and legendary annual team offsites you won’t forget

This role is based in Hamburg, with the flexibility of up to 2 home office days per week and the option to work from abroad for agreed upon periods. If this resonates with you, we're excited to go ahead with you!

Disclaimer

ahead GmbH is an equal opportunity workplace and is devoted to providing equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, or gender identity.

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