Factory Technical Manager

Compleat Food Group; Barnsley; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Compleat Food Group in Barnsley is seeking an experienced Factory Technical Manager to lead the site technical team and own day-to-day technical performance. You will partner with the Head of Technical and site leadership to drive food safety, quality, retailer standards and compliance, while delivering continuous improvement across processes and products.

With strong HACCP and GMP knowledge, you’ll lead audits, supplier controls and technical visits, shaping plans that meet customer

Qualifications

• Experience leading a factory-facing technical/quality team in fast-paced food manufacturing.
• Strong knowledge of HACCP, food safety, quality systems, allergens and GMP.
• Experience working with UK retailers and Codes of Practice.
• Proven track record in driving technical KPIs, complaints reduction and continuous improvement.
• Ability to lead audits and certification processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the factory technical team with high standards.
• Own day-to-day technical performance and deputise for the Head of Technical.
• Drive improvements in food safety, quality and factory standards.
• Ensure products are safe, legal and manufactured to required quality standards.
• Build relationships with customers and manage technical responses.
• Lead customer visits and retailer audits.
• Close out actions from audits and non-conformances.
• Use KPIs and data to identify trends and drive improvement.
• Lead root cause investigations and corrective actions.

Skills

Technical leadership

Quality management

Stakeholder management

Root cause analysis

Audits & compliance

Education

Food-related degree

HACCP Level 3

Lead Auditor certification

Job description

We’re looking for an experienced Factory Technical Manager to join The Compleat Food Group at our Barnsley site on a 6-month fixed-term contract.

This is a key role within the site technical team, taking day-to-day responsibility for technical performance across the factory and working closely with the Head of Technical and wider site leadership team.

If you have a strong food manufacturing background, enjoy being factory-facing and know what great looks like when it comes to food safety, quality, retailer standards and technical compliance, we’d love to hear from you.

What you'll be doing

As Factory Technical Manager, you'll:

• Lead and manage the factory technical team, ensuring consistently high standards across the site.
• Take day-to-day ownership of the factory's technical performance and deputise for the Head of Technical when required.
• Drive continuous improvement across food safety, quality and factory standards.
• Ensure products are consistently safe, legal and manufactured to the required quality standards.
• Develop and deliver technical plans aligned with customer, retailer and business requirements.
• Build strong relationships with customers and provide excellent technical customer management.
• Lead and support customer visits, retailer audits and certification audits.
• Maintain strong audit standards and ensure actions and non-conformances are effectively closed out.
• Use technical KPIs, complaints and performance data to identify trends and drive improvements.
• Lead root cause investigations and ensure effective corrective and preventative actions are implemented.
• Work closely with Operations, NPD, Engineering, Supply Chain and the wider site leadership team.
• Support product launches and provide technical input into product and process development.
• Develop the technical team through clear objectives, coaching, feedback and performance management.

What we're looking for

We're looking for someone who has already operated in a Technical Manager, Factory Technical Manager or similar senior technical position within food manufacturing.

Ideally, you'll bring:

• Strong technical and quality management experience in a fast-paced food manufacturing environment, ideally chilled food.
• Previous responsibility for leading a factory-facing technical/quality team.
• Good experience working with major UK retailers and retailer Codes of Practice.
• Strong BRCGS knowledge and experience of leading retailer and certification audits.
• A strong understanding of HACCP, food safety, quality systems, allergens and GMP.
• Experience driving technical KPIs, complaints reduction and continuous improvement.
• The confidence to challenge standards and influence at all levels of a manufacturing operation.
• Strong people leadership and stakeholder-management skills.
• Ideally a food-related degree, HACCP Level 3, Food Safety Level 3 and Lead Auditor qualification.