Senior Technical Manager

TN United Kingdom; Long Sutton; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the food manufacturing sector is seeking a Senior Technical Manager to drive quality, compliance, and technical performance across their Long Sutton site. This role requires strategic leadership, team management, and a commitment to food safety and customer satisfaction. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in food technology and experience in managing high-performing teams.

Benefits

Cash Car Allowance

25 Days Annual Leave + Birthday off

14.5% Pension (employee opt-in / employer contribution)

Flexible Holiday Option - Buy 5 Days

Enhanced Family & Carers Policies

Life Assurance

Private Medical Insurance

Critical Illness Cover

Learning & Development Opportunities

Potential Incentive Scheme (performance-based)

Qualifications

• Experience managing high-performing teams.
• Technical expertise across food manufacturing operations.
• Experience managing customer technical relationships within UK retail.

Responsibilities

• Drive site delivery and technical teams for quality and compliance.
• Develop and manage technical strategy plans for continuous improvement.
• Lead and manage the technical function to ensure compliance and standards.

Skills

Team Management

Technical Expertise in Food Manufacturing

Project Management

Customer Relationship Management

Compliance Knowledge

Education

Degree or postgraduate qualification in science or food technology

Level 4 HACCP and lead auditor qualifications

Tools

SAP

MES

Job description

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Vacancy: Senior Technical Manager

Employment Type: Permanent

Country: United Kingdom

Location: Long Sutton

Business Area: Corporate

Workplace Type: Onsite

About Princes

The Princes Group has over 7,000 employees with offices and production sites in the UK, Netherlands, Italy, Poland, France, and Mauritius. Princes manufactures different food and drink products responsibly sourced and enjoyed by consumers every day. None of this would be possible without striving to be an employer of choice, where our colleagues are proud to represent our business.

Role Description

This role drives the overall site delivery and technical teams to ensure quality, legal, food safety, compliance, brand integrity, and culture are driven and compliant. This role supports environmental, sustainability, and health and safety management across the site.

To provide strategic leadership and direction through continuous advancement of technical performance aligned to the functional activity, the business goals, keeping our sites safe, legally compliant, and quality at the forefront.

Maintain a strategic relationship, alignment in direction, and standard ways of working through collaboration, shared learnings, and compliance with the Princes’ group strategy and the central technical function.

Demonstrate leadership, engagement, and active participation in all aspects of the business improvement plans and strategies with all site and business functional operational teams, to ensure the technical governance is maintained, improved, and considered with all site improvements.

Ensuring customer and consumer remains at the centre of technical strategy activity. Active development and identification of opportunities to drive site cultures, customer joint improvement plans, and site initiatives to maximize Princes’ customer satisfaction and relationships.

To provide leadership and direction, to ensure that across the technical team’s people are engaged, focused, developed, and delivering their full potential, providing high-performance capability. Build capability centrally through a combination of coaching and training to build and directly sustain the technical function in line with the business needs and growth requirements.

To fully own all aspects of the technical management for the Princes Manufacturing sites and technical teams within your remit.

To ensure strong and proactive relationships are in place within and between site technical and operations teams, divisionally, central technical, and site leadership and director level.

To develop, drive, manage, and deliver the Princes and customers' strategic technical agenda and plan within your cohort of manufacturing sites.

To work closely with operations, supply chain, and other manufacturing leadership teams and colleagues to ensure that business objectives and plans are fully supported and delivered.

Support, drive, and project manage pre-FIRM’s, crisis incidents, as and when required, in line with food alerts, industry-wide incidents, recalls, and business impacts to maintain, manage, and develop protection and prevention strategies.

Dissemination and improvement of technical performance and compliance through best practice adoption and active PDCA tools for communication of internal and external workstreams.

Provide senior interface with customers and joint business planning activity to deliver exceptional standards to meet customer service and adherence to customer and consumer requirements.

Find and provide solutions to solve technical site issues, maintaining consideration of group, customer, business, and manufacturing strategies.

To manage and develop your team(s) within the business area technical function responsibly.

To deputise for the technical controller (manufacturing) as appropriate.

Principal Responsibilities

1. Work with the Technical Controller Manufacturing to set strategic category technical plans ensuring alignment with site strategies including Operations, Commercial, and wider technical plans.
2. Develop 3, 6, 9-month technical strategy plans for active and continuous improvement.
3. Full site technical ownership including raw material management, thermal processing, governance, compliance, quality management, and customer service.
4. Ensure site plans address culture, food safety, brand integrity, continuous improvement, and industry-wide standards.
5. Deputise for the Technical Controller (Manufacturing).
6. Lead and manage the technical function to ensure compliance, continuous improvement, and standards development.
7. Collaborate with technical directors and group technical teams to share best practices.
8. Develop strong relationships with technical and operations counterparts and internal colleagues.
9. Manage team performance, objectives, and reviews.
10. Lead and develop your team, ensuring development and succession planning.
11. Implement regular technical reviews and update projects and improvement activities.
12. Maintain work plans, reviews, and oversight for your teams.
13. Own and analyze monthly KPIs reports.
14. Develop technical plans to meet business objectives with clear targets.
15. Support site compliance with retailer/certification policies and codes of practice.
16. Prepare sites for customer audits and visits, addressing issues and opportunities.
17. Promote best practice sharing across sites and group operations.
18. Manage quality/food safety issues, liaising with technical teams for resolution.
19. Lead relevant projects for your teams and sites.

Role Requirements: Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Experience managing high-performing teams.
• Degree or postgraduate qualification in science or food technology (or equivalent experience).
• Experience managing customer technical relationships within UK retail.
• Technical expertise across food manufacturing operations.
• Senior technical management experience across food supply businesses.
• Knowledge of UK retailer codes of practice and implementation.
• Level 4 HACCP and lead auditor qualifications.
• Project management skills.
• SAP/MES knowledge.
• Experience with third-party audits (BRC, IFS, etc.).
• Commitment to maintaining food safety, legality, integrity, authenticity, and quality standards.

Benefits

• Cash Car Allowance
• 25 Days Annual Leave + Birthday off
• 14.5% Pension (employee opt-in / employer contribution)
• Flexible Holiday Option - Buy 5 Days
• Enhanced Family & Carers Policies
• Life Assurance
• Private Medical Insurance
• Critical Illness Cover
• Learning & Development Opportunities
• Potential Incentive Scheme (performance-based)