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Valeo Foods

## Head of R&D - Interim

- Location: Low Poppleton Ln, Acomb, York, UK
- Employment Type: Full-time

**Note:** This job posting has expired.

Group Head of Talent, Valeo Foods Group

Louisa Conway

Valeo Foods Group

Group Head of Talent

HR Business Partner

Katja Meinhardt

HR Director Germany

Valeo Foods Head of R&D - Interim  | SmartRecruiters

We are a leading producer and innovator of high quality, category-defining branded food products that have a proud history that dates back to 1845.

At Valeo Foods, we are passionate about food and our portfolio of over 20 iconic food brands, which includes Jacobs, Batchelors, Kettle, Rowse Honey, Balconi, Schluckwerder, are tried and trusted by consumers across Ireland, UK and Europe for their quality, wholesomeness, nutrition and fun. 

We are a diverse business that combines food production, brand development and innovation, distribution and sales. We are Ireland's largest ambient food supplier to the grocery trade, a major supplier to the food service market through Valeo Professional, and an increasingly prominent supplier to the UK market and a range of European Markets now.

We are focused on the continued development of our excellent portfolio of category defining food brands as we look to expand our footprint across Ireland, UK, Europe and beyond with our latest acquisition in Canada. We are committed to delivering quality food products through continued innovation and excellence in manufacturing. This commitment ensures that our brands retain a market leading position in each of their respective categories.

We continue to recruit people with the best skills and expertise across a range of areas including manufacturing, food science, research and development, nutrition, distribution, sales, operations, marketing, human resources and finance, and aspire to be a best in class employer, focused on developing and empowering our people.

Valeo Foods Group has a portfolio of category leading brands Jacobs, Rowse and Balconi.

At Valeo Foods UK we bring together a family of much-loved UK food brands supported by the scale and ambition of a global investment partner. From Kettle’s bold crunch to Rowse’s natural sweetness, through to Matthew Walker and Barratt Sweets, our portfolio blends heritage, craft and category-leading innovation.

Alongside our branded portfolio, we are also one of the UK’s largest suppliers of private label products, partnering with major retailers to deliver quality and category expertise that meets the needs of millions of households every week.

As a business, we’re on a journey of transformation. We’re strengthening our operations, driving quality and investing in our people. It’s an exciting, fast-moving environment where heritage meets new thinking, and where every colleague contributes to shaping the future of food across the UK.

Join us and play your part in building the next chapter of some of Britain’s most loved brands.

We are looking for a **Interim Head of R&D – Sweets** to lead, inspire and elevate our innovation and delivery across the portfolio for a minimum of 3 months ( looking for somebody to start asap )

This is a high-impact, highly visible leadership role, one that blends strategy, delivery, and people leadership. If you thrive in a fast-paced environment and love turning ideas into products that consumers love, you’ll feel right at home here.

This is a broad, high-impact leadership rol**e** across all confectionery R&D, covering both Valeo brands and retailer brands, in the UK and CEE.

At its heart, your role is simple: set the standard, drive delivery, lead innovation, and build a brilliant team**.**

In practice, that means you’ll:

- Set the tone for R&D – bringing the right balance of creativity, rigour and discipline
- Keep the pipeline moving – ensuring innovation, renovation and productivity projects land on time and with pace
- Own the innovation agenda – shaping the sweets strategy and weaving ESG into everything we do
- Lead and grow the team – building capability, coaching talent, and creating a high-performing environment

Alongside that, you’ll:

- Work closely with Brand, Marketing and Commercial teams to bring great ideas to life
- Partner with customers and stakeholders to stay ahead of changing needs
- Strengthen how we deliver projects through clear, structured governance
- Make sure new launches work not just on paper, but in our factories
- Stay plugged into the outside world, spotting trends, technologies and new ideas worth exploring

We’re looking for someone who combines technical depth, commercial thinking and inspiring leadership.

You’ll likely bring:

- A degree in Food Science or a related discipline
- Strong experience across the full R&D lifecycle, from insight to delivery and measurement
- A proven track record of leading teams and delivering tangible business results
- Experience working cross-functionally and influencing senior stakeholders
- A background in food or confectionery R&D, ideally within a fast-paced environment

And just as importantly, you are:

- A leader who can align, motivate and challenge
- Commercially minded, able to connect data with real-world business impact
- Comfortable operating at both strategic and hands-on levels
- A natural collaborator who can say what needs to be said—and bring people with you
- Someone who thrives on change, pace and continuous improvement
- Passionate about building teams that are better tomorrow than today

This is a chance to step into a **true leadership role with breadth, visibility and influence**—where you’ll shape not just products, but how we work as a business.

You’ll join a company that’s **growing, evolving, and full of opportunity**, with the backing to bring big ideas to life.

Head of R&D - Interim

York

Interim Head of R&D role at Valeo Foods in York, UK. The position is full-time and in-office.

Interim Head of R&D

Operations

## Interim Group Head of Legal

- High Holborn, London, UK
- Full-time
- Hybrid mode (3 days in office)

Valeo Foods Interim Group Head of Legal  | SmartRecruiters

General Counsel

Valeo Foods Group is one of Europe’s fastest-growing food companies, specialising in sweets, snacks and treats. At Valeo Foods, we love to make everyday moments taste better and we are home to over 90 brands including Balconi, Pedro, Horalky, Rowse, Bernard, Barratts and Kettle Chips.

We operate in over 100 countries serving major retailers, discounters, e-commerce, convenience stores, wholesalers, and foodservice operators. With revenues exceeding €1.8 billion, we employ over 5,400 people across more than 30 facilities in the UK, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovakia, Czech, and Canada. Valeo Foods Group is owned by Bain Capital.

To bring our purpose to life, we uphold five core behaviours that define how we work and what we stand for:

• Accountability • Agility • Disciplined • Transparency • Teamwork.

These behaviours shape our culture and drive us towards excellence.

We are committed to building a sustainable future for our people, clients, communities, and the planet. We drive efforts to reduce environmental impact, invest in health and safety initiatives, enhance training and development, and nurture an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.

We’re looking for an experienced, commercially minded legal leader to join Valeo Foods on an interim basis, stepping into a key Group role during a period of maternity cover.

This isn’t a “care and maintenance” role, it’s an opportunity to come in, provide continuity, and keep momentum across a fast-moving, entrepreneurial business. You’ll be a trusted partner to the Group CFO and senior leadership team, helping the business navigate risk while continuing to deliver at pace.

What you’ll be doing

- Acting as the principal legal adviser to the executive and senior leadership team
- Leading the legal function across the UK, CEE and Bulgaria, providing direction, clarity and support to a well-established team
- Supporting a range of corporate activity, including M&A, strategic projects and commercial initiatives
- Ensuring pragmatic, solutions-focused legal advice that enables delivery rather than slows it down
- Maintaining strong governance and risk management, with clear visibility of key issues and decisions
- Managing external advisors effectively, ensuring high-quality, commercial advice delivered efficiently
- Keeping a close pulse on emerging risks across the group and proactively managing them

- A senior qualified lawyer with broad commercial experience, ideally within an international, FMCG business
- Strong track record across corporate and commercial law, including M&A
- Someone who can hit the ground running, get up to speed quickly and operate with limited ambiguity
- A commercial thinker, pragmatic, solutions-led and focused on enabling the business
- Experience working closely with senior stakeholders and influencing at leadership level
- Comfortable operating hands-on, from strategic input through to delivery

This is a fantastic opportunity to step into a visible, high-impact Group role, where you’ll play a key part in ensuring the business continues to deliver against its ambitions.

Interim Group Head of Legal

London

Interim Group Head of Legal role at Valeo Foods in London, UK, requiring hybrid work with 3 days in office.

Valeo Foods

Jobs

Interim Head of R&D

Interim Group Head of Legal

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