Food Technologist

Costa Limited; St Albans; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

SIP share plan

Discretionary bonus scheme

Pension (tax-advantaged)

Financial Support Fund

Store discount

Private medical cover

Job summary

Costa Coffee is seeking a Food Technologist to protect quality, safety and integrity of Costa products globally. You’ll monitor supplier performance, analyse trends, support specifications and testing, and drive improvements with Technical, Supply Chain and regional teams.

You’ll turn data into insight, manage root causes of issues, and ensure compliance with Costa’s standards. Flexible hybrid work in a growing, dynamic environment supports career development.

Qualifications

• A Food Science, Food Technology or related qualification, with a good understanding of food safety, quality and technical standards.
• Experience working in a Technical, Quality or Food Safety environment, ideally within food manufacturing, retail, hospitality or a complex supply chain.

Responsibilities

• Monitor supplier and product performance, using technical data, KPIs and trends to identify risks and opportunities for improvement.
• Manage product quality and food safety activity, investigating complaints and issues to identify root causes and drive effective corrective actions.
• Support product specifications, testing and technical documentation, ensuring products continue to meet Costa’s quality, safety and compliance standards.
• Work closely with suppliers and internal teams to resolve technical challenges, improve performance and maintain consistently high standards.
• Turn technical data into meaningful insight, spotting emerging trends, escalating risks and helping drive continuous improvement across our products and supply base.

Skills

Analytical skills

Problem-solving

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Food Science qualification

Job description

At Costa Coffee, we are what we craft.We’rereimagining coffee experiences in over 50 countries and counting, as a key part of the Coca-Cola System. Whether you get your coffee in a store, from a machine, at home, or on the go –we’vegot you covered.

As a Food Technologist, you’ll play an important role in protecting the quality, safety and integrity of Costa products across our global business. You’ll monitor supplier and technical performance, analyse quality and complaint trends, support product specifications and testing, and help ensure our suppliers and products meet Costa’s quality and food safety standards. Working closely with Technical, Supply Chain and regional teams, you’ll turn data into meaningful insight, identify and escalation risks, and help drive continuous improvement so we can consistently deliver safe, high-quality products to our customers.

Our teams make a difference. Whetherthat’sworking on new tech for the perfect pour, helping our teams grow, creating award-winning campaigns, crunching the numbers, or developing the latest exciting menu item; together, we stir up success.

We may be a global brand, but wehaven’tforgotten our roots.That’swhere the Costa Foundation and our fantastic community agenda come in. Whatever your role, you can help us change lives in coffee growingcommunities andhelp your local community too.

We also want to help you grow in your career through amazing experiences, our apprenticeship scheme, and development programmes. At Costa, you can go beyond the day-to-day.

And as aTechnologist,there’snever been a better time to join.

So, why Costa?

Wedidn’tbecome a global coffee brand by sitting back. When you work here, you join a community that values passion,progressionand integrity, with somepretty brilliantperksto sweeten the deal:

• Own a piece of Costa’s success by becoming a share owner in Coca-Cola with our Share Investment Plan (SIP)
• An annual discretionary bonus scheme, based on business results and individual contribution.

• A smart pension that saves you money on tax and national insurance, and matches your contributions up to 10%

• The Costa Financial Support Fund, supporting team members who find themselves in unexpected financial pressure

• 50% discount in all Costa-owned stores, and 25% off in other participating stores

• Private medical cover thanks to our Private Healthcare scheme

• Andthat’snot all. Explore even more of ourperkshere: https://bit.ly/costaperks

We’repassionate about beinga great placeto work, where you can bring your unique self into our mix. Wefirmly supportdiversity,equityand inclusion, and continue to work with our teams to shape the future of our culture and values: Disciplined to Deliver, Passion for Progress, Win with Warmth, Courage to Challenge and Trusted Team Players.

What you’ll do:

Being a Technologist is about so much more than bringing our coffee to the world. It’s your chance to turn technical insight into action, champion quality and food safety, and help ensure our products and suppliers meet the high standards our customers expect. Which means you’ll:

• Monitor supplier and product performance, using technical data, KPIs and trends to identify risks and opportunities for improvement.
• Manage product quality and food safety activity, investigating complaints and issues to identify root causes and drive effective corrective actions.
• Support product specifications, testing and technical documentation, ensuring products continue to meet Costa’s quality, safety and compliance standards.
• Work closely with suppliers and internal teams to resolve technical challenges, improve performance and maintain consistently high standards.
• Turn technical data into meaningful insight, spotting emerging trends, escalating risks and helping drive continuous improvement across our products and supply base.

Who you are:

It’syour unique ingredientswe’reinterested in:

• A Food Science, Food Technology or related qualification, with a good understanding of food safety, quality and technical standards.
• Experience working in a Technical, Quality or Food Safety environment, ideally within food manufacturing, retail, hospitality or a complex supply chain.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret technical data, spot trends and identify root causes.
• Confident working with suppliers and cross-functional stakeholders, building strong relationships and influencing improvements in quality and performance.
• A proactive, organised and detail-focused approach, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, elevate risks appropriately and support continuous improvement.

Where you’ll work:

Right now, our Support Centre teams work flexibly, blending home working with in-person time whenever it matters most – whether that’s a team moment, a creative session, or simply coming together to share ideas.

We’re excited to be moving into anew home for our brand in St Albans in January 2027 – an inspiring space from which our Support Centre teams will work three days a week to connect and collaborate in-person to bring our bold ambition to life.

For any reasonable adjustments and general queries, pleaseget in touch withthe recruitment team.