Senior Technical Manager

Co-op Group; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 73,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading retail organization in Manchester is seeking a Senior Technical Manager to ensure technical excellence and protect brand quality. In this hybrid role, you'll lead a team, engage with suppliers, and drive improvements in food safety. The ideal candidate has a BSc in Food Science and significant experience in food technical roles. You'll enjoy a salary of £60,000 to £72,500, alongside a range of benefits, including a pension contribution and private healthcare.

Benefits

Annual bonus based on performance

28 days holiday plus bank holidays

10% employer pension contributions

Private healthcare

Onsite gym access

Career development coaching

Wagestream for pay access

Qualifications

• Experience in food safety or a food technical role.
• Proven ability to manage teams in high-pressure scenarios.
• Up-to-date with food safety regulations.

Responsibilities

• Work with supplier partners to ensure technical excellence.
• Prioritize food safety for the category team.
• Engage with the food industry for insights.
• Coach team during high-pressure situations.
• Manage supply base through nationwide visits.

Skills

Food safety knowledge

Technical excellence in food products

Relationship building

Leadership in collaborative environments

Education

BSc qualification in Food Science or related subjects

HACCP / GMP qualification

Job description

Senior Technical Manager

£60,000 to £72,500 plus great benefits including 10% employer pension contribution, and private healthcare (Work Level 5).

Manchester City Centre – in this role you'll work in a hybrid way, splitting your time between home, the office (at least once a week), and at least two days a week travelling nationwide to our supplier base.

This role also involves one out of every eight weeks on‑call, as well as some occasional overseas travel.

9‑month secondment/fixed‑term contract.

We're looking for a Senior Technical Manager to join our GCL (Group Commercial and Logistics) team here at Co‑op. In this role you'll lead a category team who will deliver technical excellence, protecting Co‑op's brand quality and reputation. We'll look to you to be connected to any external industry discussions, making sure that Co‑op are at the cutting edge of sustainable and resilient food systems and supply chains. This role provides an exciting opportunity to trial new ways of working and to be part of the fastest growing own brand in the current market.

What you’ll do

• Work with supplier partners to make sure Co‑op products are made with technical excellence at the heart.
• Prioritise workload for your category team, making sure that food safety and technical excellence are at the heart of this.
• Engage with the wider food industry, making sure we are at the forefront of insight for the category you lead.
• Be engaged and up to date with any regulation changes, making sure that everything we do is safe, legal and compliant.
• Appropriately coach your team through high‑pressure situations, making sure regulations are followed and strategically plan to negate future risk to our company and brand.
• Look for opportunities to help the team continuously improve from a food safety perspective.
• Actively manage our supply base, making visits nationwide.

This role would suit people who have

• BSc qualification in Food Science or related subjects.
• Experience working in food safety or a food technical role.
• A qualification in HACCP / GMP.
• The ability to network and build relationships within the food industry and supplier base whilst also managing manufacturing sites.
• Previous experience of leading a team in a fast‑moving and collaborative environment.

Why Co‑op?

At Co‑op, we're owned by our members. And because we're owned by you, we can do right by you. So when you join us, you're not just taking a job, you're joining a movement. We're an organisation that puts people and communities first, and we're powered by purpose. We want this to be a place where you can thrive, so you'll also receive:

• An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance).
• 28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays.
• A pension with up to 10% employer contributions.
• Private healthcare for you and your family.
• Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ).
• Coaching and training to support your career development.
• Wagestream app – giving you access to a percentage of your pay as you earn.

Building a diverse environment

We're actively building diverse teams and we welcome applications from everyone. If you have a disability, we can make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process according to your needs. We're also part of the Disability Confident scheme, meaning we'll always offer an interview to disabled candidates who apply through the scheme if they meet the minimum criteria for a job.

We’ll ask whether you’d like to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme when you apply.

If we invite you to take part in the recruitment process for any of our jobs, we’ll ask you if you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to participate.

You can find out more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process.

You can find out more about the Disability Confident scheme at Disability Confident Scheme – Co‑op Colleagues and more about our commitments to diversity and inclusion at Diversity and Inclusion.

Please note that we may close applications for this role early.

As part of your application, you'll need to complete an online assessment. This assessment typically takes up to 50 minutes. If you're a current Co‑op colleague, this does not need to be completed.