Head of Technical and Product Development

The Company.

An exciting opportunity has arisen with a rapidly growing dynamic food business who distribute delicious food products across the world! This truly global and award-winning food specialist work with a number of strategic co-manufacture to produce a range of a quality packaged products to many well-known business leading customers, including UK retail supply.

The Role.

The Head of Technical will play a key role in facilitating the achievement of the company’s targets and business plans, through developing and implementing a technical strategy, to drive best practices across the business and their supplier partners.

This role is pivotal to maintaining brand reputation and client product satisfaction, ensuring the business and their manufacturing partners operates efficiently and effectively.

Key Accountabilities.

• Part of the Senior Management Team, responsible for delivery of the business plan, with specific accountability for all technical development across the company’s product portfolio.
• Assess the viability of new supplier partners, including feasibility assessments of new sites, processes and technologies; and play a key role in onboarding manufacturers.
• Build and maintain relationships and strong technical partnerships with outsourced suppliers and internal colleagues.
• Work with new and existing suppliers to implement robust quality management systems to comply with the Global Standards for Food Safety standards.
• Undertake audits of suppliers to monitor adherence to quality, safety and legislative requirements, as well as brand and consumer expectations.
• Network and bring technical thought leadership and expertise to build key customer and supplier relationships.
• Responsible for facilitating the full product development cycle, working with internal teams, to meet customer needs.
• Maintain a close understanding of market, culinary and other developments and share these with colleagues, to inspire the organisation about new product opportunities.
• Own, protect, adapt and enhance our technical and quality control processes, and provide appropriate training and coaching to all colleagues.

Personal Profile.

• Able to operate at both a strategic and tactical level, with experience inputting to the longer-term plans of the business and implementing them.
• A food science degree, with significant experience in an entrepreneurial food environment.
• Proven negotiation skills at executive / senior leadership levels.
• Strong financial / commercial experience with knowledge of profit & loss, balance sheet and cashflow management, pricing models and overall general finance and budgeting.
• An understanding of outsourced environments and contract manufacturing.
• Project management experience and success in meeting operational and financial targets.
• Ability to build and develop strong, cooperative relationships with external partners at executive and operational management levels
• Skilled at presenting new technical solutions and product ideas to customers in the retail and food service space.

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To apply, please e-mail in strict confidence, with your CV, including salary details, quoting the above reference and for the attention of James Constable to jamesc@cparecruitment.com.

Due to a high volume of responses, we cannot reply to each application individually. If you have not had a response within one week, we are sorry to say your application has not been successful on this occasion.