Technical Services Compliance Manager

Waitrose & Partners; Binfield; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK retailer is seeking a Technical Services Compliance Manager to oversee compliance for food and non-food products. This role involves leading technical and regulatory management for B2B customers, maintaining compliance databases, and ensuring product safety and legality. The ideal candidate will possess significant experience in cross-category sales and hold a degree in Food Science or a related field. This position supports hybrid working arrangements and offers flexibility for work-life balance.

Benefits

Flexible working hours

Employee ownership benefits

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of service provision and legality/safety in food retail.
• Experience in cross-category or international sales/export support roles.
• Ability to manage compliance with export legislation effectively.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day technical and regulatory management for B2B concessions.
• Maintain the accuracy of export regulatory database.
• Build and maintain stakeholder relationships internally and externally.

Skills

Collaborative problem-solving

Effective communication

Customer service experience

Change management

Cross-category sales expertise

Education

Degree in Food Science or similar field

HACCP L3/Allergen/Risk Assessment qualifications

Job description

As the Technical Services Compliance Manager, you will play a pivotal role in identifying and implementing the strategic procedures and programs required to deliver our Partnership objectives. Working within the Own Brand Directorate, you will collaborate closely with Quality & Technical, Product Innovation, and Regulation, Policy & Compliance teams to ensure our standards remain industry-leading.

Key Responsibilities: Technical & Regulatory Oversight: Supporting the Commercial Sales Technical Compliance Manager, you will lead the day‑to‑day food and non‑food technical and regulatory management for assigned B2B third‑party concessions, key customers, and non‑standard propositions across both UK and export markets. Data Integrity: You will be responsible for the ongoing maintenance and accuracy of our global export regulatory database, ensuring a seamless flow of information for international trade. Stakeholder Collaboration: You will build and maintain high‑level relationships both internally and externally, acting as a central coordinator and reporting against critical business KPIs and compliance data to facilitate smooth operations across the Own Brand Directorate. Safety & Legality: You will ensure all products supplied to our B2B customers and third‑party partners are safe, legal, and compliant with relevant standards, working cross‑functionally with Trading, Retail, Planning, and Category Proposition teams to uphold our brand reputation. Hybrid working is adopted; you will work a mixture between the office and home based on your needs while balancing the business's needs. You will also be required to travel within the UK and internationally and must have the relevant documentation to do so.

Key Tasks

• Support the day‑to‑day management, coordination and queries relating to your areas of responsibility as agreed with the Commercial Sales Technical Compliance Manager.
• Coordinate and maintain the Food & Non‑Food Technical management of any assigned B2B customers (e.g., Export, Welcome break, Shell and branded concessions such as Sushi).
• Develop and deliver training in your area of specialism either by yourself or third‑party suppliers to Waitrose Partners, ensuring all Partner knowledge and application is up‑to‑date.
• Manage and respond to export legislation enquiries within Waitrose, identifying means for legal compliance and safe, legal trading within areas of control.
• Act in accordance with the Partnership's purpose and democratic principles, constructively participating in co‑ownership, and demonstrating to customers and colleagues that it is a better way of doing business.

Qualifications and Skills

• Works collaboratively to achieve optimum and mutual agreements for a way forward for all parties.
• Resolves professional differences through active listening and appropriate assertive communication to reach win‑win outcomes.
• Adapts communication style to each situation, keeping the Partnership’s best interests at the forefront.
• Passionately establishes brand loyalty, projecting confidence in promoting and selling our complete Partnership brand.
• Has a deep understanding of all our services to offer the best customer experience.
• Proactively suggests and sells across both brands.
• Explores possibilities with enthusiasm, acts on instinct to generate well‑formed ideas, and understands how new concepts fit future direction and objectives, thereby developing new initiatives for the business.
• Appreciates and embraces change, addressing ambiguous or uncertain situations directly; adapts to changing circumstances and helps others accept the unknown.
• thinks for the long term while making sense of the current climate.
• Cuts through issues to reach defined goals, ensuring continued alignment to business objectives and creating a culture where everyone contributes.
• Export knowledge/experience.
• Experience leading or working in a cross‑category/international sales/export support role.
• Degree in Food Science or a similar field.
• HACCP L3/Allergens/Risk Assessment qualifications or significant experience.

Desirable skills and/or experience you may have

• HACCP L4/Food Safety L4, Lead auditor qualifications.
• Relevant experience within the Food Retail Industry as a technical manager or specialist with knowledge of service provision and legality/safety.

We're the largest employee‑owned business in the UK and the home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We're not just employees, we're Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there's never been a more exciting time to join us. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify, never knowingly undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food‑lovers in Waitrose. As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and, in its rewards, we use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect. We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong and thrive together, growing individually and as a collective.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work‑life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.