Spinneys — one of the UAE’s most trusted and beloved premium retail grocery brands — is actively seeking a talented, food-passionate Product Development Specialist based in Dubai. This full-time role presents a genuinely exciting opportunity for a chef or food innovation professional to shape the future of Spinneys’ own-label food offering — creating, testing and refining innovative products across retail ranges, fresh counters and Spinneys Kitchen Café. Reporting to the New Product Development Manager and working collaboratively with Category Managers, commercial teams, suppliers and production facilities, this specialist will lead food product concepts from initial idea through to customer launch. Applications close Sunday, 30 August 2026 via the Spinneys Career Portal.
Application Deadline — Sunday, 30 August 2026All applications must be submitted via the Spinneys Career Portal before 30 August 2026. Applications received after this date will not be considered. Apply now to avoid missing this opportunity.
About Spinneys — Dubai’s Premium Own-Label Retail Grocery Brand
Company: Spinneys — one of the UAE’s leading premium retail grocery chains, renowned for quality, freshness and own-label food excellence
Scope: Retail ranges, fresh counters and Spinneys Kitchen Café — spanning the complete own-label food product portfolio from ambient to fresh and food service
Reporting: This role reports directly to the New Product Development Manager
Collaboration: Category Managers, Commercial teams, internal production, factories and suppliers — a genuinely cross-functional food innovation role
Equal Opportunity: Spinneys is an equal opportunity employer — valuing diversity and offering competitive salary and benefits for this role
Why This Product Development Specialist Role at Spinneys Is a Premier Dubai Career Opportunity in 2026
Iconic UAE Retail Brand: Spinneys is one of the most recognized and trusted grocery brands in the UAE — NPD experience here carries exceptional career credibility across the regional food and retail sector
Full NPD Lifecycle: End-to-end product development ownership — from initial concept and recipe testing through supplier collaboration, trials and full retail launch
Multi-Channel Innovation: Work across retail ranges, fresh counters and Spinneys Kitchen Café — a uniquely broad NPD canvas spanning ambient, chilled and food service applications
Culinary + Commercial: A rare role that blends genuine culinary creativity with commercial product strategy — ideal for food professionals ready to move beyond the kitchen into food business innovation
Position Overview
The Product Development Specialist at Spinneys Dubai is a full-time, creative and commercially focused role responsible for developing, testing and refining innovative food products across Spinneys’ retail ranges, fresh food counters and Spinneys Kitchen Café. Working closely with the New Product Development Manager and cross-functional teams, this professional creates innovative product concepts aligned with category strategies and customer demand, ensures recipes can be scaled for retail or production environments while maintaining quality and consistency, monitors food trends and benchmarks against competitor offerings, and supports product launches from trial stage through to shelf-ready execution — all while ensuring full compliance with UAE food safety and quality standards.
Why This Role Matters: At Spinneys, the Product Development Specialist is the creative engine behind one of the UAE’s most trusted own-label food portfolios. Every recipe you develop, every product trial you conduct and every innovative concept you bring to life shapes what Spinneys’ customers find on shelves, at fresh counters and in the Kitchen Café every day. In a UAE food market that is increasingly sophisticated, trend-aware and demanding of genuine quality and culinary creativity, your work directly determines whether Spinneys continues to lead — or follows — in the own-label food innovation that millions of UAE consumers genuinely care about.
Key Responsibilities
Recipe Development & Product Innovation
- Develop, test and refine recipes for Spinneys’ retail products, fresh food counters and Spinneys Kitchen Café offerings — ensuring every recipe delivers on taste, quality, visual appeal and commercial viability.
- Create innovative product concepts aligned with category strategies and customer demand — bringing genuine culinary creativity and food trend awareness to every new product brief.
- Ensure recipes can be scaled from development-level production to full retail or manufacturing environments — maintaining product quality, consistency and specification compliance at scale.
- Conduct product trials and tastings to evaluate quality, consistency and commercial readiness — iterating formulations based on tasting feedback, supplier inputs and category team requirements.
Market Intelligence & Competitive Benchmarking
- Monitor and analyze food trends, emerging ingredients and lifestyle changes continuously — identifying product development opportunities that keep Spinneys’ own-label range at the forefront of UAE consumer food preferences.
- Benchmark Spinneys’ products rigorously against competitor offerings and industry standards — ensuring the brand maintains and grows its leading market position in the UAE premium grocery sector.
- Work closely with Category Managers and Commercial teams to ensure all new products align with category strategies, range tiering plans and commercial margin requirements.
Cross-Functional Collaboration & Launch Support
- Collaborate with internal production teams, factories and ingredient suppliers to develop technically sound, commercially viable products that can be manufactured consistently to Spinneys’ quality specification.
- Support product launches from concept through to shelf — coordinating trials, refinements, packaging specification, regulatory compliance and handover to production within agreed timelines.
- Assist with product implementation and team training — ensuring production teams, counter staff and food service teams are properly guided on preparation methods, standards and presentation requirements.
- Maintain clear, accurate recipe documentation and product specifications to support manufacturing, production and quality control across all Spinneys own-label food product categories.
Food Safety, Quality & UAE Compliance
- Maintain strong awareness and thorough understanding of food safety and quality standards applicable in the UAE — ensuring all recipes, preparation methods and handling practices comply with local regulations and Spinneys’ company policies.
- Embed food safety principles into every stage of the product development process — from ingredient selection and recipe testing through to production specification and shelf-life validation.
Qualifications & Requirements
Educational Requirements
- Diploma or Degree in Culinary Arts, Food Science or a closely related field — the foundational educational requirement for this product development specialist role at Spinneys.
- Strong academic and practical knowledge of food ingredients, culinary techniques, food safety standards and product commercialization processes relevant to UAE retail food environments.
Experience Requirements
- Minimum 3–5 years of experience in product development within retail food, food manufacturing or hospitality — demonstrating a track record of taking food products successfully from concept through to commercial launch.
- Proven experience developing recipes that can be scaled for production or retail environments while maintaining product quality, consistency and specification compliance.
Key Skills & Competencies
Recipe DevelopmentFood Product InnovationNPD Lifecycle ManagementRecipe ScalingFood Trend AnalysisCompetitive BenchmarkingSupplier CollaborationProduct Trials & TastingsUAE Food Safety StandardsCulinary TechniquesCross-Functional TeamworkRecipe Documentation
About Spinneys
Spinneys is one of the UAE’s most trusted and recognized premium retail grocery chains — known for its commitment to freshness, quality and innovation across its store network, own-label food ranges, fresh counters and Spinneys Kitchen Café food service offer. As a brand that UAE consumers turn to for quality food experiences and exciting, well-crafted own-label products, Spinneys’ product development function is central to the business’s ability to stay relevant, competitive and genuinely inspiring in an increasingly sophisticated UAE grocery market.
The Product Development Specialist role at Spinneys Dubai represents a rare opportunity for a talented food professional to make a visible, tangible creative contribution to one of the UAE’s best-loved grocery brands — developing products that reach customers across Spinneys’ entire UAE store network every day.
Applications close Sunday, 30 August 2026. All applications must be submitted via the Spinneys Career Portal. Spinneys is an equal opportunity employer.
Who Should Apply?
- Food Product Development Specialists from UAE Retail or FMCG: With 3–5 years of NPD experience across retail own-label, food manufacturing or premium hospitality — ready to bring culinary innovation and commercial food development expertise to Spinneys’ product portfolio in Dubai.
- Chefs with Food Science or NPD Transition Experience: Who combine genuine culinary talent with the ability to translate creative kitchen concepts into commercially viable, scale-ready food products — understanding both the art of food and the science of retail production.
- Retail Food Innovation Professionals with UAE Market Knowledge: Experienced in the UAE food regulatory environment, consumer food trends and premium grocery market dynamics — able to develop products that genuinely resonate with Spinneys’ sophisticated, quality-conscious UAE customer base.
- Culinary Arts or Food Science Graduates with Industry NPD Track Record: Holding relevant qualifications and 3+ years of demonstrable own-label or retail NPD experience — with a portfolio of food products successfully launched through commercial retail or food service channels in the UAE or GCC.
- Creative, Commercially Minded Food Professionals: Who combine a genuine passion for food innovation and culinary trends with the organizational discipline to manage multiple product development projects simultaneously in a fast-paced, cross-functional Spinneys retail environment.
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