Supplier Technical Manager

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

Job summary

Zest Recruitment is seeking an experienced supplier assurance and compliance professional for a UK food business. You will manage supplier compliance across a varied base and maintain direct relationships with major retailers. Regular audits, improvement plans and retailer meetings are core aspects of the role.

You will travel across Europe to audit suppliers and support ethical, quality and food safety standards, acting as the liaison between business, customers, and suppliers.

Qualifications

• 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.

Responsibilities

• 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.

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

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