QA Team Leader, QA Team Leader

Pilgrim's Europe; Bodmin; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 54,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay rates

Premium overtime rates

Free on-site parking

Weekly pay

Staff sales discounts

Refer a Friend Scheme

Discounts on retail, cinema, travel

Life assurance policy

Long service award

Job summary

Pilgrim’s Europe in Bodmin is seeking a QA Team Leader to oversee daily QA operations, champion food safety and quality, and drive continuous improvement across the site.

You will motivate and develop the QA team, support audit programmes, and collaborate with site functions to ensure compliance, operational excellence, and customer confidence.

Qualifications

• Experience in Technical/QA function.
• Experience in internal audits.
• Able to work to tight deadlines under pressure.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Ability to communicate with customers and external agencies.
• Influence internal and external stakeholders.
• Make agile decisions on food safety, legality and quality.
• Demonstrate GMP standards to ensure high quality products.
• RCA skills.
• Team player with strong IT skills and eye for detail.

Responsibilities

• Promote Food Safety and product quality.
• Support production team to meet specifications via audits and other methods.
• Manage factory issues with involvement from QA leadership.
• Communicate clearly with internal stakeholders about factory issues.
• Lead NCR and Concession processes and support investigations and improvements.
• Lead investigations of customer complaints and drive improvements.
• Use site KPIs to prompt improvement actions.
• Oversee swabbing and sampling schedules, ensure OTIF actions and handling OOS results.
• Ensure QA GMP audit program is completed.
• Identify and implement improvements in the team's ways of working.
• Support customer and third-party audits.
• Be flexible with hours to facilitate audits and visits as directed by Quality Manager.

Skills

Technical QA experience

Internal audits

Time management

Excellent communication

Stakeholder engagement

Agile decision making

GMP standards

RCA skills

Team player

IT skills

Attention to detail

Education

Level 3 Food Safety

Level 3 HACCP

Minimum 5 GCSEs (English, Maths, Science)

Food safety degree (desirable)

Train the trainer certificate (desirable)

Knowledge of microbiology (desirable)

Job description

Join Pilgrim’s Europe as a QA Team Leader in Bodmin. An exciting leadership opportunity for an experienced Quality professional to oversee daily QA operations, champion food safety and quality standards, and drive continuous improvement. You will motivate and develop the QA team, support audit programmes, and work collaboratively across site functions to ensure compliance and operational excellence.

Salary & Benefits

• Competitive pay rates
• Premium overtime rates
• Free on-site parking
• Weekly pay
• Access to occasional staff sales, offering discounted company products
• Refer a Friend Scheme
• Discount on retail, cinema, travel and much more
• Life assurance policy
• Long service award

Shift Pattern

• Monday to Friday
• 06:00am to 16:00pm

Responsibilities

• Actively promote Food Safety and product quality
• Through audits and other suitable means, support the production team in producing product that meets specification
• Involvement (and where appropriate management) of any relevant factory issues
• Clear communication with internal stakeholders with regards to issues within the factory
• Responsible for creation and completion of NCR and Concession processes on site including supporting investigations and improvement actions
• Responsible for leading investigations of customer complaints including supporting improvement actions
• Utilising the site Technical & Quality KPI’s to encourage appropriate improvement actions that may arise
• Assisting completion of any non-conformances arising from internal and external auditsEnsuring the site’s swabbing and sampling programme are completed as per schedules, all actions are completed OTIF and any Out of Specification results are actioned appropriately
• Ensure the QA allocated GMP audit program is completed
• Identify and implement improvement opportunities within the team’s ways of working to drive efficiencies and adapt to change
• Support customer and third party audits
• Demonstrate flexibility around working hours as required to facilitate customer audits and visits, holidays and other business needs as directed by the Quality Manager.

Other Key Accountabilities

• Actively promote and deliver good health and safety working conditions and practices
• Any other task as is reasonably requested to support the effective operation of the site

Requirements

• Working safely every day
• Experience in a Technical and/or QA related function
• Experience in internal audits
• Organised and able to work to tight deadlines and under pressure
• Excellent communication skills
• Ability to talk to customers and external agencies
• Able to influence internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to collate and process information rapidly and make agile decisions relating to food safety, legality and quality within remit
• Demonstrate exceptional GMP standards to achieve high quality products
• RCA skills
• Team player
• Strong IT Skills
• Eye for Detail

Qualifications

• Holding or working towards Level 3 Food Safety
• Holding or working towards level 3 HACCP
• Minimum 5 GCSE’s (or equivalent) including English, Maths and Science
• Desirable - Food safety degree or 3 years experience in the food industry
• Desirable - Train the trainer certificate
• Desirable - Knowledge of microbiology