Specialist work, real ownership, senior thinking from day one
FIS Group runs the integrated insight and innovation model for food and drink. Strategic insight, innovation and product consultancy as one operational team rather than three separate departments. Dedicated fieldwork through our NOTED Fieldwork sub-brand at Bury St Edmunds and Birmingham. Mission Kitchen London as the headquarters where the senior team is based. Food and drink as the only sector we serve.
Working at FIS Group means working on food and drink projects exclusively, with senior team members who have lived inside the businesses we now advise. It means being named on the work you contribute to rather than disappearing into an anonymous delivery pool. It means having real ownership of project decisions appropriate to your seniority, regardless of whether you are starting out as a Junior Consultant or running major engagements as a Senior Insight Director
The senior staffing commitment we make to clients applies internally too: the senior judgement we expect our team to bring is the same senior judgement we develop and trust at every level of the firm.
The cross-pollination methodology that produces the work we deliver to clients also shapes the work environment. Working across grocery, foodservice, QSR, hospitality, retail, out-of-home and challenger brands means you see the full breadth of UK food and drink commercial reality in a way that is impossible from inside any single brand. The integrated model means insight, innovation and product specialists work together on projects rather than passing briefs between departments, so you see how each capability area connects to the others rather than being siloed in one.
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Beyond the category interest, the people who thrive here tend to share a few characteristics:
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Commercially minded as well as analytically capable.
Research and innovation skills matter. So does the ability to think about what the work means for the client commercially. We are not in the business of producing 90-page decks of observations for clients to mine themselves. The work has to connect to commercial decisions, and the team has to think commercially about how the work lands.
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Plain-spoken rather than jargon-led.
We say it straight. The research agency tendency to hide behind framework language and methodology speak does not survive long here. If you can explain what you mean clearly, you will be in the right environment. If you default to jargon, you will be coached out of it quickly.
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Curious about the broader sector, not just your specific brief.
The cross-pollination methodology depends on team members who pay attention to what is happening across channels and categories rather than just inside their current project. The senior team members who developed the integrated insight and innovation model are people who have spent years following the broader food and drink commercial landscape. That habit starts at every level of the firm.
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Client-side thinking, even from research backgrounds.
Most of our senior team have worked client-side in food and drink. We value team members who can think from the client perspective even if they have not held a client-side role yet. The judgement to know what a client needs to do with the work, not just what the work technically shows, is structurally important to how we deliver.
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Comfortable owning work and being named on it.
The senior staffing commitment means team members at every level are named on their work and accountable for it. Some people thrive on that ownership; others prefer to work inside larger delivery teams without the named visibility. We hire for the first.
What we offer in return
The benefits package below is the practical layer of the FIS Group hire proposition. The work and the team are the structural reasons people stay; the benefits are the reasons people can join confidently and build their career here long term.
Compensation
- Competitive salary calibrated against UK food and drink consultancy benchmarks [TO CONFIRM: specific salary structure or banding approach]
- Annual bonus or profit share scheme [TO CONFIRM: structure and eligibility]
- Pension contribution above statutory minimum [TO CONFIRM: contribution rate]
Time and flexibility
- [TO CONFIRM: annual leave entitlement, typically 25 days plus bank holidays for UK consultancies]
- Hybrid working between Mission Kitchen London and home [TO CONFIRM: hybrid policy specifics]
- Flexible working hours where the project allows
- [TO CONFIRM: extended leave provisions including maternity, paternity, adoption, sabbatical]
Health and wellbeing
- Private medical insurance [TO CONFIRM: provider and cover detail]
- [TO CONFIRM: mental health support, employee assistance programme, wellbeing benefits]
- Eye care and dental [TO CONFIRM]
Development
- Structured learning and development budget per team member
- Senior team mentorship across capability areas
- Industry conference and event attendance (relevant to your role)
- Internal cross-capability development to deepen the integrated model thinking
Food and drink specific
- Working at Mission Kitchen London, a dedicated food and drink innovation hub in central London
- Access to product tastings, sensory work and food and drink innovation activity as part of regular project work
- Attendance at major UK food and drink industry events as part of the role (Speciality and Fine Food Fair, IFE, HRC, Food Matters Live and others)
- Direct exposure to UK food and drink commercial reality across grocery, foodservice, QSR, hospitality, retail and challenger brand channels
What working here actually looks like
Most consultancy careers pages stop at job listings and benefits. We carry on into the operational reality because the practical experience of working at FIS Group matters more than the abstract proposition. A few specifics worth knowing:
Where you will work
Most roles are based at Mission Kitchen London, our central London headquarters where the senior team is based and where strategic insight, innovation and product consultancy work runs from. NOTED Fieldwork roles are based at our Bury St Edmunds (East of England) or Birmingham (Midlands) facilities. Hybrid working between office and home is standard across the firm, with the specific pattern set by the team and the work the role does
Who you will work with
You will work directly with the senior leadership team and the wider team across capability areas. The Leadership Team page documents the seven senior leaders who run the firm; The Team page documents the wider team across all areas. The integrated insight and innovation model means most projects involve team members from multiple capability areas working together, so the people you collaborate with day to day will vary by project rather than being a fixed account team.
What the work looks like
Food and drink projects across grocery, foodservice, QSR, hospitality, retail, out-of-home and challenger brand channels. Strategic insight programmes that inform major brand and category decisions. Innovation work that produces propositions clients commercialise. Product testing that validates new propositions before market entry. Fieldwork at scale through NOTED Fieldwork. Trend foresight in partnership with The Food People. Continuous insight infrastructure including the Appetite Shift syndicated programme. Real food and drink work that lands on real commercial decisions.
How careers progress
[TO CONFIRM: career progression framework at FIS Group, including typical progression timelines between levels, promotion criteria, and the senior development paths into capability leadership and director roles. The current draft places this section as a structural placeholder because the career progression detail varies by capability area and by individual; the team can populate this with the actual progression model used at the firm]
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Meet the Team
The senior people who lead the FIS Group end of each partnership. Kelly Dowson leads the TFP partnership; Danny Butt leads the G Force partnership. Real backgrounds, direct contact for each.
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Our Approach
The integrated insight and innovation model that the partnerships extend. How the core team and the partner specialisms work together within one operational framework.
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Our Story
Four decades of food and drink specialism, plus the strategic partnership relationships that have developed alongside the firm's growth.
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Locations
FIS Group headquarters at Mission Kitchen, London, plus dedicated NOTED Fieldwork facilities at Bury St Edmunds and Birmingham. The operational footprint behind the partnerships.
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Partnerships
Where specialist expertise sits outside the core FIS Group team, we work through a curated set of strategic partners.
FAQ
What does FIS Group do?
FIS Group is a specialist food and drink consultancy headquartered at Mission Kitchen, London. We run the integrated insight and innovation model across strategic insight, innovation and product consultancy work, with dedicated fieldwork operations through our NOTED Fieldwork sub-brand at Bury St Edmunds and Birmingham. Food and drink is the only sector we serve. The About Us index and Our Approach pages cover the firm in more depth.
Where are the roles based?
Most FIS Group roles are based at Mission Kitchen London, our central London headquarters. NOTED Fieldwork roles are based at our Bury St Edmunds (East of England) or Birmingham (Midlands) facilities. Hybrid working between office and home is standard across the firm. Each role advertised above carries the specific location in the role card.
Do you hire across all capability areas?
Yes. We hire across strategic insight, innovation, product consultancy, fieldwork operations, commercial and support functions. Open roles are advertised in the Open Roles section above when they are live. The speculative application route lets you register interest in a specific capability area even if no role is open today.
How long does the hiring process take?
Typically four to six weeks from application to offer for most roles, longer for senior roles where multiple interview stages and a brief project task are involved. We respond to every application within ten working days of receipt, and we keep candidates informed throughout the process rather than leaving applications without response.
Do I need food and drink industry experience to apply?
Not always. We hire on a combination of category interest, commercial thinking and capability fit. Some roles (particularly senior roles) require existing food and drink industry experience; others (particularly junior and mid-level roles) prioritise the underlying skills and curiosity that translate well into food and drink work. The role description for each open position covers the specific experience profile we are looking for.
Can I work flexibly or part-time?
Hybrid working is standard. [TO CONFIRM: specifics on part-time, compressed hours, job share and other flexible working arrangements. Worth confirming what flexibility options the firm offers in practice, particularly around senior roles where the senior staffing commitment to clients shapes the flexibility realistically available]
What is the difference between FIS Group roles and NOTED Fieldwork roles?
FIS Group roles based at Mission Kitchen London cover the strategic insight, innovation and product consultancy work. NOTED Fieldwork roles based at Bury St Edmunds or Birmingham cover the dedicated fieldwork operations: recruit, viewing facilities, kitchen space, group infrastructure and the operational specialism of running consumer fieldwork at scale. NOTED Fieldwork is the dedicated fieldwork sub-brand within FIS Group rather than a separate company, so the wider career and benefits structure is consistent across both operational halves.
Can I speak to someone before applying?
Yes. For specific role questions, the careers email above is the direct contact. For broader conversations about whether FIS Group might be the right firm for your career, send a speculative application explaining what you are interested in and we will arrange a conversation with the right senior team member.