Head of Technical

Full-time | Permanent
Up to -75,000

The Role

Reporting to the Site General Manager, the Head of Technical is the guardian of technical excellence, ensuring products meet the highest standards of safety, legality, quality, and integrity.

Working closely with Production, Operations and Milling teams, you will embed robust technical governance into daily operations - balancing compliance, commercial priorities and artisan craft.

Through leadership, continuous improvement and a strong floor presence, you will ensure technical standards are a cultural norm, not a tick-box exercise.

Key Responsibilities

Food Safety & Quality Leadership

• Own and continuously develop the Food Safety & Product Integrity framework across all sites.
• Lead and maintain HACCP, including TACCP and VACCP, ensuring risk assessments are robust, current and operationally embedded.
• Provide expert oversight of allergen management, gluten control, traceability, raw material risk profiling, testing regimes and product verification.
• Act as the senior authority on food safety and legality, with the autonomy to stop production or dispatch where necessary.

Certification & Audit Management

• Lead technical strategy for BRCGS Food Safety, FEMAS, Organic, Biodynamic and Gluten-Free certification schemes.
• Act as senior technical representative during third-party audits, customer visits and regulatory inspections.
• Ensure audit findings drive meaningful improvements rather than reactive compliance.
• Oversee the Gluten-Free Management Programme, ensuring segregation, validation and verification remain rigorous.

Technical Governance

• Oversee supplier approval, raw material risk assessments and finished product specifications.
• Approve and technically sign off critical documentation and specifications.
• Lead investigations into significant food safety or quality incidents, ensuring root cause analysis and preventative actions are robust.
• Lead the annual Management Review for the Food Safety & Quality Management System.

Collaboration & Continuous Improvement

• Partner with Milling and Operations teams to ensure technical standards are integral to daily practice.
• Support process optimisation, grain performance analysis and product consistency improvement.
• Provide technical direction for NPD, reformulation and process changes.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen product performance and customer confidence.

People Leadership

• Line manage and develop Technical and Hygiene team members.
• Oversee hygiene contractors and ensure the effectiveness of hygiene systems.
• Define and maintain technical and food safety standards for induction and ongoing training.
• Foster a culture where technical discipline and artisan craft complement one another

Qualifications & Experience

Essential

• Degree (or equivalent experience) in Food Science, Food Technology, Microbiology or related field.
• Significant technical leadership experience within food manufacturing.
• Strong working knowledge of BRCGS Food Safety and food safety management systems.
• Practical HACCP experience, ideally as a leader or chairperson.
• Experience leading external audits and delivering strong audit outcomes.
• Hands-on experience in a production environment.