QA Lead: Food Safety & Continuous Improvement

Natures Way Foods; Crawley; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 46,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Profit sharing

Pension (employer matched 5%)

Health cash plan

Flexible benefits

Online GP & life assurance

Job summary

Nature's Way Foods is seeking a Quality Assurance Manager to lead a capable QA team in our Chichester site. You will drive food safety, HACCP compliance and continuous improvement, working with Operations to meet internal procedures and customer expectations.

You’ll develop monitoring systems, investigate non-conformances, manage audits and KPIs, and help build a right-first-time culture across the site. This role offers a strong benefits package and a salary up to £42,000.

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant discipline.
• HACCP Level 3 qualification (desirable).
• Food Hygiene/Food Safety Level 3 qualification.
• Experience in FMCG or food manufacturing.
• Strong knowledge of food safety, quality systems, and audit requirements.
• Experience investigating non-conformances, complaints, and corrective actions.
• Confident analysing data, reporting on KPIs, and driving continuous improvement.
• Excellent organisational, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Able to build effective relationships across technical, operational, and customer-facing teams.

Responsibilities

• Manage internal and external audit programmes, ensuring ongoing compliance with regulatory, customer, and company standards.
• Ensure food safety, quality standards, and COPs are effectively implemented and adhered to across the factory.
• Investigate non-conformances and deviations, conducting root cause analysis and implementing corrective and preventative actions.
• Lead traceability and product withdrawal exercises, including investigations and reporting.
• Develop, monitor, and report on KPIs and technical performance metrics.
• Coordinate and prepare for customer audits, ensuring successful outcomes and timely closure of actions.
• Manage invoicing processes and support site budget reconciliation activities.
• Maintain factory technical and quality standards, driving continuous improvement against established KPIs.
• Manage quality assurance systems and oversee internal audit programmes.
• Validate and verify new and existing processes to ensure compliance, effectiveness, and continuous improvement.
• Manage site Due Diligence Assurance (DQA) activities, including reporting and compliance monitoring.
• Investigate customer complaints, identifying root causes and implementing corrective actions.
• Produce technical reports and analyse data to support internal stakeholders and customer requirements.
• Lead cross-functional teams and improvement initiatives to enhance quality, compliance, and operational performance.
• Manage site pest control programmes, ensuring compliance with food safety standards.
• Oversee the control, maintenance, and calibration of equipment to ensure accuracy and operational effectiveness.

Skills

Food safety

Quality systems

Audit experience

Data analysis

Communication

Problem solving

Organisational skills

Relationship building

Education

Degree or HNC

Job description

Nature's Way Foods is seeking a Quality Assurance Manager to lead a capable QA team in our Chichester site. You will drive food safety, HACCP compliance and continuous improvement, working with Operations to meet internal procedures and customer expectations.

You’ll develop monitoring systems, investigate non-conformances, manage audits and KPIs, and help build a right-first-time culture across the site. This role offers a strong benefits package and a salary up to £42,000.