Lead Food Safety & Compliance Manager

ZipRecruiter; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading high-street retailer is seeking a Lead Food Safety & Compliance Manager in Paddington, London with hybrid working options. This role involves overseeing all safety and compliance activities within the organization, ensuring adherence to legal requirements, and responding to food safety incidents. Qualified candidates should have extensive knowledge of food safety and compliance processes and strong leadership skills. The contract is for 3 months with negotiable pay rates.

Qualifications

• Experience in planning, project and programme management.
• Ability to prioritize business-critical activities in crisis situations.
• Self-motivated and proactive to deliver progress.

Responsibilities

• Support & lead response to Food Safety & Compliance emergencies.
• Ensure compliance with legal & regulatory obligations.
• Maintain Group Food Safety Strategy & Policy.

Skills

Qualified in Food Safety Level 3 & 4

Qualified in HACCP Level 3 & 4

Qualified in Allergens Level 3

Strong stakeholder relationships and awareness

Strong leadership across all areas

Effective communication and influencing skills

Job description

Job Description

Lead Food Safety & Compliance Manager

Lead Food Safety & Compliance Manager

The location of the role is Paddington, London (hybrid working).

The duration of the contract is 3 months initially.

The pay rate on offer is £negotiable (open to market rates - contract day rate via Umbrella agency).

The client is a multinational high-street retailer.

Key accountabilities of the role

• Be available always to support & lead the response to a Serious Food Safety & Compliance Incident or Crisis
• Ensure that all legal & regulatory obligations are met in full ensuring that the organization has a defensible position
• Maintain the Group Food Safety Strategy & Policy in line with significant Threat, Risk & Organisational changes
• Engage and involve Senior Stakeholders in the Group Food Safety & Compliance
• Ensure that Group Food Safety & Compliance operational processes procedures & plans are effective, up to date and meet Governance requirements in full
• Manage our Primary Authority Partner (PAP) to provide guidance and support on continuous improvement across Food Safety and Trading Standards
• Plan and respond successfully to foreseeable Food Safety & Compliance incidents that could significantly interrupt trade and operations across our business e.g. Allergens
• Identify, assess and categorise the Food Safety & Compliance risks/threats and report them to the Audit Committee via the Group Food Safety Risk Register
• Assess & improve our Group Food Safety capability through an ongoing independent Inspection Programme our Stores & Supply Chain
• Ensure that our Convenience Partners, Divisional, Regional & Store Management teams are provided with appropriate training and support tools
• Deliver a robust support visit strategy, with a clear question set, monitoring results, and reporting so we are legally compliant across Group Food Safety & Compliance
• Identify areas for improvement relating to Food Safety and Legal & Compliance – continually reviewing policies and arrangements in place to drive simplification and improved understanding
• Manage external enforcement enquiries/formal enforcement matters with support from legal.
• Identify efficiency opportunities to move to more digital ways of working, linking in with M&S Tech team to deliver. Support in designing content, testing and launch to stores
• Maintain close strategic and operational working relationships with Government Departments and Industry Working Groups e.g. the Supermarket Safety Group
• Demonstrate leadership and benchmarking for Food Safety in the Retail Sector
• Provide insight & foresight through industry benchmarking and thought leadership
• Provide accurate Food Safety and Legal & Compliance Management information and insights data to inform the stores leadership team of performance/ potential risk

Key skills and experience

• Qualified in Food Safety Level 3 & 4
• Qualified in HACCP Level 3 & 4
• Qualified in Allergens Level 3
• APLH Qualified
• In-depth and detailed knowledge of how the business operates
• In-depth understanding of all aspects of Food Safety & Compliance e.g. HACCP
• Strong stakeholder relationships and awareness
• Strong leadership across all areas of the business
• Strong and effective engagement, communication and influencing skills
• Ability to ruthlessly prioritise business-critical activities in crisis situations
• Ability to focus a team and manage through significant change and ambiguity
• Experience in planning, project and programme management
• Self-motivated and proactively acts without guidance to deliver progress
• Ability to act with integrity and provide leadership under pressure in complex, difficult and demanding situations
• Strong organizational, communication, influencing and coaching skills
• Experience of managing a large remote and central team