Technical Manager

JR United Kingdom; Chelmsford; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading global food business is seeking a Technical Compliance Manager in Chelmsford. This role involves managing compliance, maintaining technical documentation, and preparing for audits to uphold food safety standards. You will lead the HACCP team and ensure all supplier relationships meet high regulatory standards while providing a vital link between the technical team and external stakeholders.

Benefits

25 days holiday + bank holidays

Excellent Company pension

Qualifications

• Degree-qualified in food science or equivalent professional experience.
• At least 5 years experience in compliance management in the food industry.
• Strong working knowledge of BRC and HACCP.

Responsibilities

• Support maintenance and continuous improvement of the site's Quality Management System.
• Lead HACCP team and manage internal audit system.
• Ensure compliance with supplier and customer requirements.

Skills

Compliance management

Attention to detail

Data management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Degree in food science or related subject

Job description

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Are you a seasoned food industry professional with a sharp eye for technical detail and a passion for quality?

Join a leading global food business that supplies to the UK’s major retailers. You’ll play a vital role in upholding high standards across products, systems, and supplier relationships.

Alexander Steele Recruitment is proud to be partnering exclusively with this business to appoint a Technical Compliance Manager. In this role, you'll support the Technical team by managing compliance, preparing for audits, maintaining technical documentation, and ensuring supplier and customer requirements are consistently met.

On offer:

• 25 days holiday + bank holidays
• Excellent Company pension

What You’ll Be Doing:

As Technical Compliance Manager, you’ll be responsible for supporting the maintenance and continuous improvement of the site’s Quality Management System. You'll take a hands-on approach to internal auditing, ensuring food safety and hygiene standards are upheld, and play a key role in preparing the site for third-party and customer audits including BRC (including unannounced audits), Organic, Fairtrade, RFA, and SMETA.

You’ll lead the site’s HACCP team as the designated HACCP lead, ensuring that food safety plans are current, robust, and effectively implemented. You'll manage and maintain the internal audit system, scheduling and conducting audits to ensure ongoing compliance and audit readiness.

You’ll manage and maintain accurate documentation, ensuring all supplier and grower due diligence is up-to-date and aligned with customer requirements. This includes overseeing third-party platforms such as SEDEX, Food Expert, and Fairtrade databases. You'll also be responsible for analysing supplier performance, managing traceability records, and overseeing risk assessments for product quality, pesticide use, and microbiology, with scheduled testing and trending analysis.

In addition, you’ll support customer onboarding by developing and managing specifications, labels, and ensuring compliance with technical requirements. You’ll maintain customer portals and profiles, respond to customer complaints and rejections, and ensure corrective actions are followed through effectively.

You’ll also be responsible for managing third-party service providers, including pest control and water management, ensuring contracts, documentation, and performance meet regulatory and site-specific standards. Your role will involve close cross-functional collaboration and supporting the Head of Technical with audit preparation and day-to-day technical operations.

Skills & Experience:

• Ideally degree-qualified in a food science or related subject (or equivalent professional experience).
• At least 5 years experience in compliance management with suppliers and customers within the food industry.
• Strong working knowledge of BRC and HACCP.
• Highly organised with excellent attention to detail and data management skills.
• Comfortable working across teams and with external stakeholders.