Part-Time Taste Tester

Part-Time Taste Tester (known internally as Sensory Panellist)

Ashby de la Zouch (Home of Hula Hoops, Space Raiders, Nik Naks and more)

9 hours a week across 3 days (3 hours each) Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 9:30am to 12:30pm

Salary: £12.98 per hour

Join our snack-loving team
We’re looking for a Sensory Panellist to join us at KP Snacks. If you’re ready to bring your ideas to the table, grow your skills and be part of a team that values what makes you, you – this could be your next big move.

Who are we?
We’re KP Snacks, part of the Intersnack family. Across more than 30 countries, over 15,000 of us work together to make the snacks people love – from Hula Hoops to McCoy’s. In the UK, we’re a team of around 2,400 colleagues, based across seven sites and our Slough HQ. We’re proud of our close-knit culture, where we speak up, celebrate differences and push boundaries together.

About the role
As a Sensory Panellist at KP Snacks, you will play a key part in shaping the future of snacking. Using your senses of taste and smell, you will help guide the development and improvement of our products. Working closely with a supportive team, you will assess snacks for appearance, flavour, aroma, texture, and more. Your input will support decisions on new recipes, shelf life, and quality. You will receive full training and be encouraged to build your sensory knowledge while making a meaningful contribution to our innovative R&D function. This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a welcoming and passionate team at KP Snacks.

Please be advised that as a sensory panellist the essential functions of your position will be to taste products made with ingredients that include, but are not limited to, nuts, dairy products, wheat products, sugar, soy, eggs, meats and salt.

Shortlisted candidates will first be invited to complete a screening questionnaire. If selected, you will then be invited to attend a sensory screening session at our Sensory Lab in Ashby.

These sessions will last up to 90 minutes and involve tasting a range of food samples and providing feedback using computer-based questionnaires.

What’s in it for you?
We believe in rewarding our colleagues and helping them thrive. Here’s a flavour of what we offer:

- KP Pension Plan with up to 7% matched contributions
- Comprehensive healthcare support including Health Cash Plan, Digital GP and Employee Assistance Programme
- KP4ME benefits platform with discounts, cashback, wellbeing tools and everyday savings
- Enhanced family-friendly policies to support colleagues at every stage of life

What will you be doing?

- Participate actively in product testing, assessing sensory attributes with precision
- Embrace the exciting challenge of helping develop new snack products and improve existing ones
- Collaborate closely with fellow panellists in discussions to describe product characteristics
- Provide accurate, reliable data that supports business decisions and impacts product success
- Take part in sensory training and apply learning to enhance your expertise

Requirements

We’d love to hear from you if you can bring:

- A keen sense of taste and smell, helping ensure the best snack quality for our consumers
- Strong teamwork and communication skills that contribute to collaborative testing sessions
- No specific experience required – transferable skills from food, hospitality, or similar settings are valued
- We welcome applications even if not all desirable criteria are met – full training is provided
- A willingness to work in line with KP values, including teamwork, respect, and integrity

Our purpose
At KP Snacks, we're passionate about creating happy snacking moments through our great tasting snacks and iconic brands. Every day, millions of people enjoy our products, including Hula Hoops, McCoy's, KP Nuts, Tyrrells, Skips, POM-BEAR and Butterkist, making us one of the UK's leading snack manufacturers.

For decades, we've been delighting consumers by combining well-loved favourites with exciting innovations that reflect changing tastes and expectations. We're equally passionate about our people and committed to creating a workplace where everyone can grow, develop and make a real impact.

As part of the Intersnack Group, one of the world's leading snack manufacturers, we combine global expertise with a shared commitment to creating happy snacking moments every day.

We’re committed to inclusion
We’re building a workplace where everyone belongs. If you don’t tick every box, we’d still love to hear from you – your unique perspective could be just what we need. And if there’s anything we can do to make the process easier for you, just let us know.

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