Quality Assurance Manager, Produce & Fresh

Zapp; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Lunch provided

Private health insurance

Zapp credit

Extended sick pay + parental leave

25 days holiday

Job summary

Zapp, London-based premium convenience platform, seeks a Quality Assurance Manager for Produce and Fresh. You’ll own end-to-end quality across the supply chain, from supplier to fulfilment centers, ensuring the highest standards before products reach customers.

You’ll work on the ground in FCs and DCs, assess quality with suppliers at source, and drive improvements across the network to keep Zapp's produce at peak. This role combines field visibility with cross-functional collaboration.

Qualifications

• Experience in quality assurance, quality control or technical/produce buying, ideally in fresh produce, grocery or FMCG.
• Comfortable spending real time on the ground: in FCs, at the DC and at supplier sites, not just reviewing reports.
• Track record of managing supplier quality relationships, from setting specifications to holding suppliers to them.
• Strong analytical skills: using data to spot where quality issues are coming from and prove fixes.
• Genuine curiosity about produce and food quality with the palate and eye to tell the difference between good and best.
• Tenacious communicator who gets things done with suppliers, FC teams and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Own quality standards for Produce and Fresh end to end: define what 'best in London' looks like for each product, and ensure every stage of the chain is held to it.
• Visit FCs and the DC regularly to check produce on the ground, spot issues early, and coach site teams on handling, rotation and presentation standards.
• Build and manage quality relationships with suppliers, setting clear specifications and holding them to them when produce falls short.
• Visit supplier sites and markets to see produce at source, building relationships and first-hand knowledge to back the best quality.
• Investigate quality complaints and waste at root cause, tracing back through FC to DC to supplier to change what needs to change.
• Partner with Category Management and Supply Chain so quality standards influence what we buy and how it’s forecast.
• Stay customer-obsessed: every inspection, spec and supplier conversation should tie back to a customer opening a pack and finding what they expected.

Skills

Quality assurance

Produce & fresh

Supplier relationships

Ground presence

Data analytics

Stakeholder management

Job description

Quality Assurance Manager, Produce & Fresh

About Zapp

Zapp is London's leading premium convenience retail platform. Founded in 2020, our vision is to disrupt the multi-trillion dollar convenience retail market, currently dominated by major players, by developing best-in-class customer-centric technology and fulfilment solutions. Zapp partners with some of the world's leading brands to deliver an exclusive range of hand-picked products 24/7, delivered in minutes.

The Role

We are looking for a Quality Assurance Manager to own quality across Zapp's Produce and Fresh categories, from the supplier and market floor through our DC and into every fulfilment centre. You will be the person suppliers, FC teams and category managers turn to when quality is the question, setting the standard for what 'the best produce in London' actually means and holding the whole chain to it.

This isn't a desk-based quality role. You will be out in FCs and at the DC checking product on the ground, and out at supplier sites and markets building the relationships that let you catch a quality issue before it reaches a customer, not after.

Here's What You'd Be Doing

• Own quality standards for Produce and Fresh end to end: define what 'best in London' looks like for each product, and make sure every stage of the chain is held to it.
• Get out to FCs and the DC regularly to check produce on the ground, spot emerging issues early, and coach site teams on handling, rotation and presentation standards.
• Build and manage quality relationships with suppliers, setting clear specifications and holding them accountable when produce falls short.
• Visit supplier sites and markets to see produce at source, building the relationships and first‑hand knowledge that let you back the best quality before anyone else does.
• Investigate quality complaints and waste at root cause, working back through the chain from FC to DC to supplier until you find what actually needs to change.
• Partner with Category Management and Supply Chain so quality standards shape what we buy and how it's forecast, not just how it's checked on arrival.
• Stay customer obsessed in everything you do: every inspection, spec and supplier conversation should trace back to a customer opening a pack of fruit or veg and finding exactly what they expected.

What We're Looking For

• Experience in quality assurance, quality control or technical/produce buying, ideally in fresh produce, grocery or FMCG.
• Comfortable spending real time on the ground: in FCs, at the DC and at supplier sites, not just reviewing reports.
• A track record of managing supplier quality relationships, from setting specifications to holding suppliers to them.
• Strong analytical skills: confident using data to spot where quality issues are coming from and to prove a fix has worked.
• A genuine curiosity about produce and food quality, with the palate and eye to tell the difference between good and the best.
• A tenacious communicator who gets things done with suppliers, FC teams and stakeholders alike.
• Enjoy 25 days of holiday per year (plus all bank holidays).
• Private Health Insurance.
• Zapp Credit for testing the Zapp service and experience
• Lunch provided 4 days of a week at HQ
• Extended sick pay and maternity/paternity leave pay.