Tech Stack
Job Description, Responsibilities & Requirements
About the Position
Flavourist I
Location: Southampton, United Kingdom
Employment Type: Permanent
Company: British American Tobacco
Why Join BAT?
At BAT, we’re committed to more than just jobs, we’re dedicated to purposeful careers. It's one of the many reasons we have been named as a Global Top Employer for the eighth consecutive year.
We believe that Leadership shouldn’t be confined to titles. It’s a mindset and through our leading Learning and Development programmes, you’ll continuously develop your skills and experience. With our unwavering support, you’ll work in cross-functional teams connecting with industry leaders and expanding your professional network.
Join us at BAT, where purpose meets possibility, and your career story unfolds.
Why Operations?
We intelligently connect our teams globally enabling thinking beyond conventional boundaries. We share knowledge at an unfathomable pace, facilitate cross-functional collaboration and transform processes to create the world’s best operational network. Our work enables our experts to feel in control of their ability to explore New Categories, acquire fresh expertise and accelerate the rate at which they can deliver results.
About the Role
BAT is evolving at pace into a global multi-category business. Our purpose is to create A Better Tomorrow™ by Building a Smokeless World. To achieve our ambition, we are looking for colleagues who are ready to join us on this journey! Tomorrow can’t wait, let’s shape it together!
British American Tobacco UK has an exciting opportunity for a Flavourist I in Southampton.
What are the key objectives and expectations from this role?
This role applies flavour science, sensory expertise, and data-driven approaches to design and deliver differentiated flavour systems that create competitive advantage within BAT’s product portfolio.
The Flavourist I operates with a strong focus on speed, quality, and consumer preference, delivering flavours that are optimised for specific product platforms and capable of rapid scale-up.
The role is expected to integrate digital tools, supplier innovation, and structured ways of working to accelerate flavour development, improve efficiency, and enable reuse of knowledge and systems.
What is the direct impact of this role on the team or organization?
Contributes directly to BAT’s product success by delivering flavour solutions that:
- Enhance consumer appeal and product superiority
- Enable faster product development cycles
- Build distinctive, proprietary flavour capability
Supports the development of internal capability and contributes to the evolution of flavour development as a data-driven, digitally enabled discipline.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, co-create, and deliver differentiated flavour solutions that achieve clear consumer preference and align with product, brand, and business requirements.
- Lead flavour development projects from concept to scale-up, ensuring robustness, consistency, manufacturability, and delivery against timelines.
- Accelerate innovation through rapid prototyping, test-and-learn methodologies, and efficient decision-making, balancing speed, quality, and risk.
- Leverage data-driven, digital, and AI-enabled tools to accelerate ideation, optimise flavour formulations, improve outcomes, and enhance knowledge generation.
- Maintain high-quality data capture, documentation, and knowledge management practices to ensure traceability, continuous learning, and effective reuse of flavour solutions and building blocks.
- Collaborate effectively with internal collaborators and external flavour partners, applying expertise and innovation capabilities to deliver superior flavour solutions.
- Ensure compliance with all regulatory, quality, and intellectual property requirements, protecting BAT’s proprietary flavour technologies and competitive advantage across global markets.
- Continuously develop technical expertise and contribute to capability building, driving personal growth while enhancing the uniqueness, consistency, and excellence of BAT product flavours.
Requirements
- Relevant flavour development expertise with a proven track record of delivering consumer-relevant flavour solutions within a defined product category and working effectively with external flavour suppliers and partners.
- Strong cross-functional collaboration and project delivery skills, with experience operating in fast-paced product development environments, managing competing priorities, and delivering results within challenging timelines.
- Proficiency in digital tools and project management practices, including formulation management, data capture, project tracking, and the application of strong organizational, time management, and teamwork skills to drive successful outcomes.
- Technical expertise in flavour science, supported by a background in food science, flavours, perfumery, scents, or a related field, with a strong understanding of flavour chemistry and flavour development principles.
- Strong sensory and analytical capabilities, with the ability to evaluate and optimise flavour profiles, solve complex problems, and make data-informed decisions in a fast-paced environment.
- Digital and continuous improvement approach, including the ability to leverage data, modelling, and AI-enabled tools, while finding opportunities to simplify processes and improve ways of working.
- Effective collaboration and execution skills, demonstrated through strong cross-functional and external stakeholder management, alongside excellent organisational, time management, and delivery-focused capabilities.
- Degree-level qualification in a relevant scientific field (e.g. chemistry, food science, or related discipline)
What We Offer
- We offer a market leading annual performance bonus (subject to eligibility)
- Our range of benefits varies by country and includes diverse health plans, initiatives for work-life balance, transportation support, and a flexible holiday plan with additional incentives.
- Your journey with us isn't limited by boundaries; it's propelled by your aspirations. Join us at BAT and become a part of an environment that thrives on internal advancement, where your career progression isn't just a statement – it's a reality we're eager to build together. Seize the opportunity and own your development; your next chapter starts here.
- You'll have access to online learning platforms and personalized growth programs to nurture your leadership skills.
- We prioritise continuous improvement within a transformative environment, preparing for ongoing changes.
About the Company
At BAT, we’re committed to more than just jobs, we’re dedicated to purposeful careers. We believe that everyone has a place in our organization. Whether you are seeking mentorship, diversifying your experience through international assignments or embracing innovative work methods, we’re here to propel your career aspirations and unleash your full potential.
We believe in you. Join us at BAT, where purpose meets possibility, and your career story unfolds.
Values
At BAT, our values show us the way to bring our purpose to life. Serving as our compass, they navigate every aspect of our path towards A Better Tomorrow™ defining how we innovate, grow, and achieve success while setting high standards for individual achievement and collective progress. Rooted in integrity and collaboration, they empower us as pioneers of change in a world that never stands still ensuring we shape BAT's legacy with confidence and purpose.
- Truly inclusive
- Do the right thing
- Love for our consumer
- Passion to win
- Empowered through trust
- Stronger together
Apply Now
Ready to take the next step in your career? Apply now and be part of a team that is shaping a better tomorrow.