Produce Technologist

The Co-operative Group; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking team as a Produce Technologist, where you'll ensure our products meet the highest quality standards while driving innovation and compliance. This role offers a unique opportunity to work in a hybrid environment, balancing time between home and our Manchester office, along with travel across the UK and seasonal visits to Spain. You'll collaborate closely with commercial teams to maintain our brand's reputation and deliver safe, sustainable supply chains. If you're passionate about food quality and eager to make a positive impact, this role is perfect for you.

Benefits

Company car

28 days holiday

Annual bonus

Pension with up to 10% employer contributions

Access to subsidised onsite gym

Coaching and training for career development

30% off Co-op branded products

Wagestream app access

Qualifications

• Degree in Food Tech or Food Science, or equivalent experience.
• Food Safety Qualification - HACCP/ GMP/ Hygiene.

Responsibilities

• Support Technical Manager for protected crops and frozen produce.
• Drive quality specification for Co-op products across defined categories.
• Manage supplier performance and grower relationships.

Skills

Food Safety Qualification - HACCP/ GMP/ Hygiene

Strong understanding of microbiology

Strong communication skills

Innovation in product development

Education

Food Tech or Food Science degree

Equivalent technical experience

Job description

Produce Technologist

Up to £45,000 plus great benefits, including a company car (Work Level 6A)

In this role you’ll work in a hybrid way splitting your time between home, the office in Manchester and weekly travel across our UK supplier and grower sites with seasonal visits to Spain (find out more about our hybrid working policy at jobs.coop.co.uk/hybrid-working-policy).

We’re looking for a Produce Technologist to join our Food Technical team during an exciting period of growth. You’ll work closely with our commercial team to ensure that our products are not only safe, legal, and compliant, but also look and taste amazing and consistently meet our rigorous quality standards.Your focus will be on maintaining the highest quality standards, protecting our brand’s reputation, and driving continuous improvement, innovation, and compliance.

You’ll support our team aim of ‘Delivering safe, authentic, sustainable supply chains, as we strive to make a positive impact for customers, the environment, and our Co-op’. Join a forward-thinking team at the forefront of industry innovation, with the opportunity to grow your career within a business that places people at the heart of everything we do.

What you’ll do

• Support the Technical Manager for protected crops, frozen produce and agronomy
• Drive quality specification for Co-op products across defined categories, ensuring measurable quality in partnership with suppliers and category colleagues
• Manage supplier performance & grower relationships for the vegetable category, ensuring compliance with quality, safety, legal, and ethical policies, and address under-performance within GSCOP guidelines
• Assess the supply base to ensure suppliers meet or exceed customer expectations in terms of competency, capability, capacity, and policy alignment
• Collaborate with category teams to support new product launches, from approval to specification and QAS signoff, following the Stage & Gate process
• Identify solutions to drive innovation, improve product quality, safety, and legality within the category
• Deliver shelf-life improvements, efficiencies, and value chain opportunities to support the category’s commercial strategy
• Build and maintain strong relationships with external partners, ensuring all Co-op brand products meet food safety and technical auditing requirements
• Stay up-to-date with legislation and Co-op policies, ensuring compliance and supporting iconic market-leading product launches

This role would suit people who have

• A Food Tech or Food Science degree, or equivalent technical experience with a retail, food services or manufacturing
• A Food Safety Qualification - HACCP/ GMP/ Hygiene
• Strong understanding of microbiology and nutrition and an understanding of the operational side of food retail
• Strong communication and networking skills with a co-operative and collaborative approach
• An eye for innovation and new product development

Why Co-op?

If you have the skills that we need, we can offer you a competitive salary and great benefits package which includes 30% off Co-op branded products in our food stores (as well as other discounts on Co-op products and services).

• An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance)
• 28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays
• A pension with up to 10% employer contributions
• Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ)
• Coaching and training to support your career development
• Wagestream app – giving you access to a percentage of your pay as you earn

At Co-op, we’re proud to do things a different way. As one of the world’s largest co-operatives, owned by millions of members, community is at the heart of what we do. Since our Co-op was founded in 1844, we’ve had a clear social purpose, and everything we do as a business helps to build a fairer world for our members, customers, colleagues, and communities.

Building a diverse environment

We’re actively building diverse teams and we welcome applications from everyone. If you have a disability, we can make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process according to your needs. We're also part of the Disability Confident scheme, meaning we'll always offer an interview to disabled candidates who apply through the scheme if they meet the minimum criteria for a job.

We'll ask whether you’d like to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme when you apply.

If we invite you to take part in the recruitment process for any of our jobs, we’ll ask you if you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to participate.

You can find out more about our recruitment process atjobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process

You can find out more about the Disability Confident scheme atDisability Confident Scheme - Co-op Colleaguesand more about our commitments to diversity and inclusion atDiversity and Inclusion

Please note that we may close applications for this role early.

As part of your application, you'll need to complete an online assessment. This assessment typically takes between 45-60 minutes.