Supplier Compliance Manager

Zest Food Jobs; West Midlands; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Travel opportunities

Job summary

Zest Food Jobs is seeking an experienced supplier assurance and compliance professional to join their team, delivering retailer-aligned supplier standards across ethical, quality and food safety requirements.

Based in the UK, the role involves auditing, gap analysis and driving improvement plans with suppliers, plus direct liaison with major retail accounts and travel across Europe.

Qualifications

• Solid experience in supplier quality, compliance or technical management within the food industry.
• Auditing experience, able to conduct and be auditee in audits.
• Ability to influence without strict compliance pressure; relationship-first supplier management.

Responsibilities

• Build strong, trust-based relationships with suppliers, agents and brokers.
• Conduct supplier audits (ethical/social compliance) and manage corrective action to resolution.
• Act as primary contact for major retail accounts, representing the business in meetings.
• Balance commercial priorities with quality and compliance with cross-functional teams.
• Travel across Europe to visit and audit suppliers.

Skills

Supplier quality

Compliance

Auditing

Retailer relationships

Gap analysis

Improvement planning

Stakeholder management

Job description

A new opportunity with an established UK food business, working directly with a number of major national retailers.

As part of continued investment in their technical and quality function, they are looking to appoint an experienced supplier assurance and compliance professional to join their team.

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone with a strong background in supplier quality and compliance to take on a role with genuine retailer exposure, real influence over supplier standards and retailer relationships.

About the Role

This role brings together supplier quality and retailer account management — you'll be the glue between the business, its customers and its suppliers.

You'll be responsible for managing supplier compliance across a varied supply base as well as direct relationships, ensuring standards are consistently met across ethical, quality and food safety requirements.

You'll represent the business directly with major retail accounts, including regular review meetings, and will be hands‑on in auditing, gap analysis and driving improvement plans with suppliers when standards slip.

Key responsibilities include:

• Building strong, trust‑based relationships with suppliers, agents and brokers
• Conducting supplier audits (including ethical/social compliance audits) and managing corrective action through to resolution
• Acting as the key point of contact for major retail accounts, representing the business in regular customer meetings
• Balancing commercial priorities with quality and compliance requirements, working closely with commercial and technical teams
• Regular travel, primarily across Europe, to visit and audit suppliers

About You

• Solid experience in supplier quality, compliance or technical management within the food industry
• Confident conducting and being on the receiving end of audits — comfortable as both auditor and auditee
• A relationship-first approach to supplier management, with the ability to influence without always relying on a hard compliance line
• Comfortable representing a business directly with major retail customers
• Willing and able to travel regularly, including multi‑day trips in Europe