Senior Food Technologist

Individual Restaurants; Manchester; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

Join Cucina as a Senior Food Technologist and lead the food safety function at our Trafford Park site. In this role, you'll support compliance and quality standards while contributing to strategy and project development in a vibrant food environment. We're looking for someone passionate about food safety with the skills to ensure the highest quality in our food offerings.

Benefits

25 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays

Bupa Healthcare Cash Plan Scheme

Free parking onsite

Length of Service Awards

Life Assurance

Employee Assistance Programme

50% off Restaurant Discount

15% off Iceland Store Discount

Qualifications

• Food science degree or relevant background in food safety.
• Experience in Food Safety/Technical role within the food industry.
• Experience working in a food manufacturing environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead food safety function ensuring compliance across all business areas.
• Investigate complaints and implement corrective actions.
• Maintain technical systems and drive compliance in new product development.

Skills

Attention to detail

Organisational skills

Communication skills

IT skills

Education

Food science degree

Food safety level 3

HACCP level 3

Job description

Join Cucina

Are you looking for a fresh, exciting opportunity to develop in the Technical sector? We are seeking a hands-on, driven and dedicated Senior Food Technologist to join us at our Trafford Park site.

This role acts as the on-site, lead representative for the food safety function at Cucina, supporting across all areas of the business to ensure our food safety and quality standards are met. The role requires proactive handling of complaints, accurate completion of finished product specifications and maintenance of technical systems. This role requires a passion for food safety and quality, a keen eye for detail, excellent communication skills and adaptability.

If you’re looking for a new challenge to apply your knowledge and organisational skillset within the Technical sector, and are passionate about food safety, then this could be the perfect role for you!

Who Are We?

Based in Trafford Park, Manchester, we are striving towards our vision to be the world's best centralised kitchen, achieving this through creating high quality, consistent food, delivered with passion, pride and confidence.

We're proud to supply one of the UK’s leading privately-owned restaurant groups, Individual Restaurants, with their upmarket Italian and Grill restaurants, including Piccolino, Riva Blu, Piccolo, Bank, Bar & Grills restaurants and Forbici.

With a recent investment of £6.5M and working within the Iceland Foods umbrella, we now look towards an exciting period of growth, with fresh prospects for our expansion.

Role Details

Role: Senior Food Technologist

Salary: between £32,000 - £38,000 (dependent on experience)

Hours: 40 hours per week

Shift Pattern: Monday to Friday, typically 8:00AM/9:00AM – 16:00/17:00PM

Contract: Permanent

Job Description

Some of the Senior Food Technologist’s responsibilities will include (but are not limited to):

• Act as the on-site, leading support across Cucina’s Technical activities to ensure company and customer compliance in relation to Food Safety, Legality, Authenticity, Integrity and Quality, collaborating with internal and external stakeholders when needed.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of the site’s long-term strategy regarding Cucina’s food safety and quality projects, including obtaining/retaining BRC, SALSA and FSA accreditations.
• Investigate complaints, find root causes and implement corrective actions, ensuring all complaint responses are completed thoroughly with minimal delay.
• Complete recipes and finished product specifications, meeting customer requirements and ensuring right first-time approach.
• Responsible for the maintenance of relevant technical systems e.g. Quality Management System, Supplier Approval, Raw material specifications and risk assessments.
• Maintain a proactive involvement in new product development practices, ensuring legislative compliance, quality, and scalability across Cucina’s critical path and new product/customer menu launches.

Skills and Experience:

• Food science degree or a background in a relevant food safety role
• Food safety level 3 and HACCP level 3 desired
• Previous experience within the food industry in a Food Safety/Technical role.
• Previous experience working within a food manufacturing environment.

Your Key Capabilities will include:

• Passionate about food safety and upholding quality standards.
• Excellent attention to detail, prioritisation and organisational skills.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal
• Strong IT skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office
• Confident working independently and collaboratively across teams, working on own initiative or across key stakeholders.
• Ability to work within a fast-paced environment, prioritising effectively

Benefits:

• We offer a wide range of benefits at Cucina, including:
• 25 days holiday, plus 8 days bank holiday
• Bupa Healthcare Cash Plan Scheme
• Free parking onsite
• Length of Service Awards
• Life Assurance
• Employee Assistance Programme
• 50% off Restaurant Discount with Club Individual Restaurant Group
• 15% off Iceland Store Discount, including double discount weeks

Your Application:

So, if you are up for the challenge and have the desired drive, determination and experience, please get in touch by applying now and sending over your CV.

The closing date for this role is Friday 20th June, 2025.

We look forward to hearing from you!