Head of Technical: Production and Supply Chain

Our Client, a well-known UK Restaurant Chain who believe in “People First,” is looking for a Head of Technical: Production & Supply Chain, based at their Central Facility in London. The purpose of this role is to lead, manage and develop the technical, legal, and quality assurance capabilities of the company’s supply base, as well as owning the technical and supplier quality assurance function within the facility.

Reporting to the Head of Risk and Compliance, key accountabilities for the role are:

• To implement, lead and control the quality management system to ensure compliance with all legislative, regulatory and brand requirements, BRC and Food Hygiene legislation.
• To set up, own and manage a supplier audit process for all suppliers; according to risk.
• To redesign the specification format to include all aspects that meet the brands aspirations regarding quality, safety & provenance.
• To regularly monitor and audit all aspects of the quality management system in production, ensuring non-conformances are addressed in a timely manner and a robust solution implemented to prevent recurrence.
• To define product and process specifications and to work with line management to ensure compliance with these.
• To lead the HACCP team, ensuring that HACCP is established, developed, implemented, and maintained to assure the safety and integrity of processes and products.
• To own and manage all aspects of nutrition and allergen management including supplier specifications & renewal of those, a database and all labelling.
• To support the NPD process in developing and launching products that meets brand and consumer expectations.
• To support the manufacturing and process development teams in resolving issues with process variability, raw material changes and other ad hoc projects.

Skills and experience include:

• Experience working in a complex Food Manufacturing site or within the Hospitality / Foodservice sector
• Food Science Degree or similar
• Strong leadership skills and people management experience
• Fully conversant with BRC accreditation
• Intermediate / advanced Food Hygiene certificate
• A sound understanding of HACCP principles
• Certified auditor training or solid experience in supplier auditing would be an advantage
• Strong analytical and administrative skills
• Passionate, self-driven and motivated
• Sound communication skills and confident representing the brand with suppliers

The Company:

• A well-known UK Restaurant Chain
• Driving sales and growth to become Market Leaders within their niche
• Committed to investment in Quality and Food Safety
• Non-Hierarchical, Sociable Brand – very People Focussed
• Award-winning Team Development programme

The working hours for this role are generally Monday – Friday, office hours, however there will be UK and overseas travel involved according to the needs of the business, so flexibility is needed. The role offers a Competitive salary plus benefits.

If you are interested in applying for this Head of Technical: Production & Supply Chain role then please apply AS SOON AS POSSIBLE quoting reference number JJ-P4506 with an updated CV, an indication of your current salary and your availability.