Technical Development Manager

Morepeople 01780; Epping Forest; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading fresh produce company in the UK is seeking a Technical Development Manager to act as the technical liaison between customers and suppliers. The role involves managing technical queries, leading specification development, and driving improvements in product quality and compliance. The ideal candidate will have excellent communication and analytical skills, alongside a strong background in customer-facing technical roles in the produce sector. This position promises a significant impact on supplier performance and customer satisfaction.

Qualifications

• Natural relationship-builder with a passion for produce.
• Experience in a customer-facing technical role, ideally fresh or prepared produce.
• Ability to build trust and long-lasting relationships.

Responsibilities

• Act as the technical liaison between customers and suppliers.
• Own technical queries and drive root-cause fixes.
• Lead spec development and customer-specific initiatives.

Skills

Strong communication

Analytical skills

Influencing and negotiating

Organizational skills

Job description

Technical Development Manager - Fresh Produce

Where innovation meets impeccable quality.

Do you speak fluent retailer? Can you balance crop plans, costs, complaints and customer love?

If you're a natural relationship-builder with a sharp technical mind and a passion for produce, this is your chance to join a business that's growing fast, thinking big, and delivering excellence from field to fork.

What You'll Be Doing

You’ll be the beating technical heart between customers and suppliers, making sure products are safe, legal, ethical and always retailer-ready.

Expect to:

• Be the first point of contact for customer technical managers
• Translate customer requirements into clear actions for internal teams and suppliers
• Own technical queries, complaints, rejections and audits – driving root‑cause fixes that stick
• Lead spec development, artwork projects and customer‑specific initiatives
• Build and deliver robust supplier development plans across crop quality, safety, legality, integrity and ethical standards
• Support NPD/EPD with clear technical direction and commercial awareness
• Use data, trends and insights to identify improvement and cost‑saving opportunities
• Help simplify specs, streamline processes and unlock end‑to‑end efficiencies

Make an Impact

In this role, you’ll drive profitability and growth, ensuring:

• Technical decisions align with costed goods and margin expectations
• Quality and operational teams optimise product usage
• Customer strategies land smoothly, including NPD, EPD and QIPs
• Performance is reported clearly, confidently and on time

Collaborate, Influence, Deliver

You’ll work closely with:

• Commercial, Procurement, Supply Chain & Quality teams
• Site Technical Manager & Head of Technical
• Suppliers and growers
• Retailer technical managers across key UK customers

You’ll also support internal audits, BRC compliance, ethical/sustainability initiatives – and the business across the UK and overseas.

What You Bring

• Strong communicator with a collaborative mindset
• Analytical, detail‑driven and solutions‑focused
• Confident presenting, influencing and negotiating
• Excellent organisational skills
• Ability to build trust and long‑lasting relationships
• Experience in a customer‑facing technical role – ideally fresh or prepared produce
• A "win‑win" mentality: balancing customer needs with business goals

Why Join?

You’ll play a pivotal role in shaping supplier performance and customer satisfaction, It’s technical. It’s commercial. It’s developmental. It’s produce – but with impact.

For further information, please contact Luan at MorePeople on 01780 480530