Technical Manager

Job Title: Technical Manager

As part of the senior leadership team, this role holds the overall responsibility for the day-to-day management of the Quality management system, food safety obligations and legality requirements. Lead and manage a team of capable individuals, some of whom will sit on the site management team.
As a key member of the Senior Leadership Team, the Site Technical Manager holds strategic accountability for the site’s Food Safety, Quality and Legality performance, ensuring compliance with NESI policy, UK/EU food legislation, and retailer/customer requirements.
This role provides technical governance, risk management, and directional leadership across the site, shaping culture, building capability, and ensuring operational excellence through a proactive and prevention focused approach.
The Site Technical Manager leads a high performing technical function to ensure consistent delivery of robust technical standards, best practice, and customer confidence.
What is this role accountable for?

• The facilitation and management of the Personal Development Reports for all direct reports. Working with the other technical leads and onsite technical team, devise departmental KPIs to continuously challenge the food safety, quality, and culture performance.
• Being the food safety culture custodian for the site. Lead and facilitate any food safety culture initiatives and raise as an agenda item at the Senior Leaderships forum.
• Ensure Food safety rationale is understood at all levels and embedded in daily working practises.
• Lead the site HACCP team
• Facilitate and lead compulsory site technical meetings, audits, or visits such as third party or customer audits or visits, annual management reviews, HACCP or TACCP, annual validation.
• Conduct and maintain risk assessments, i.e. HACCP, Allergen, speciation and Service providers, where a risk is present, implement mitigating measures.
• Control of site audits by external bodies (EHO, TSO, GFSI). Ensure the timely completion of audits and follow up of non-conformances, including written responses
• The management and deliver of all required customer or site KPI’s at a frequency determined by the customer or site.
• Attend and lead site and customer consistency panels. Address any issues through confirmation and completion of corrective action
• Customer contact for site for all general food safety, legal and quality standards
• Own the internal auditing process. Report all findings via the Tier 4 Senior Leadership team.
• Confirm compliance in the end-to-end traceability process.
• Where serious breaches in traceability have occurred, lead the site management team through the corrective action process by facilitating the investigation through root cause analysis
• As and when required to lead thorough investigation and root cause identification of quality and safety issues. Corrective action plans identified and implemented to prevent reoccurrence
• Ensure corrective and preventative actions plans supported by root cause analysis are In place for all out of specification results and that subsequent testing regimes demonstrate their effectiveness.
• Document control shall be maintained. Recognise where policies, procedures and SOP’s are failing and lead the discussion for the necessary updates. Communicate via Senior Leadership and site management teams the amendments made or new documents.
• As subject matter experts, own and delegate (as required) the internal deliverance of food safety training i.e., metal detection, HACCP, Internal auditing.
• Ensuring adherence to customer and third-party certification codes of practice.
• Escalating to the Technical Director or designated deputy, any serious breach that could potentially lead to a recall or withdrawal
• Managing the technical budget for the site. Propose and deliver cost improvement practices through continuous improvement
• Attend senior leadership forums, providing updates on technical KPI’s, serious breaches, corrective action requirements, identified continuous improvement
• Influencing the senior leadership team and site management by challenging process, procedures, and practices.
• Support the new or existing product development process, delivering successful launches on time and in full. Attend meetings as required and drive the action holders to complete the requirements before launch.
• Ad-hoc project work as gaps are identified

Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities
1. Technical Governance & Food Safety Leadership

• Act as site technical governance owner, ensuring the Quality Management System (QMS) remains compliant, current, and strategically aligned with NESI Group policies.
• Provide subject matter leadership on Food Safety, Legality, Integrity and Quality, ensuring risk based decision making across the site.
• Serve as Food Safety Culture champion, embedding best practice behaviours, influencing site leadership, and driving continuous improvement in culture metrics.
• Lead the site HACCP and TACCP/VACCP teams, ensuring rigorous risk assessments, validation, and verification activities.

2. Strategic Risk Management & Audit Performance

• Oversee the Compliance and Quality departments, ensuring internal audits, factory standards, pre requisites, traceability and due diligence activities are delivered consistently, effectively, and on time.
• Own the site’s performance in third party, GFSI, regulatory (EHO/TSO), retailer, and customer audits, ensuring strong preparation, professional hosting, and timely closure of non conformances.
• Act as the escalation point for significant food safety or legal risks, ensuring senior leadership (Technical Director or designated deputy) is informed and appropriate mitigation is executed promptly.
• As and when required to lead thorough investigation and root cause identification of quality and safety issues. Corrective action plans identified and implemented to prevent reoccurrence

3. Customer & Stakeholder Leadership

• Act as the primary technical contact for all customers (retail and food service), demonstrating credibility, transparency, and strong relationship management.
• Lead customer panels, site visits, consistency sessions, and technical KPI’s reviews, ensuring NESI’s technical reputation is upheld at all times.
• Influence customer decision making through data driven insights, proactive risk management, and delivery of accurate technical information.

4. Technical Strategy, Continuous Improvement & Performance

• Lead the development and delivery of site level technical KPIs, aligned with NESI’s strategic goals, ensuring strong performance monitoring and continuous improvement.
• Drive improvements in microbiology, environmental monitoring, traceability, allergen management, and product quality, using trend analysis and root cause tools.
• Provide strategic input into site masterplans, capacity programmes, and operational change initiatives, ensuring technical risks are fully understood and mitigated.

5. People Leadership & Capability Development

• Lead, coach, and develop the Technical team, including the Compliance & Quality Managers and technical specialists, building a function with strong capability, resilience, and succession.
• Ensure training programmes (HACCP, metal detection, internal audits, allergen management, authenticity, etc.) are delivered effectively and meet legal and NESI competency requirements.
• Conduct objective performance management, personal development plans, and succession planning for all direct reports.

6. Budget Management & Resource Planning

• Own and manage the site technical budget, ensuring spend is aligned to business needs and value creation.
• Identify cost improvement opportunities through smarter testing regimes, process enhancements, and waste reduction while maintaining robust risk controls.

7. Cross Functional Leadership & Influence

• Influence operational, engineering, NPD, procurement, and supply functions to ensure food safety and quality considerations are embedded into decision making.
• Support NPD and commercial functions in successful launches and trials, ensuring compliance and timely delivery of technical requirements.
• Drive collaboration across NESI sites, contributing to group strategy, harmonisation of systems, and adoption of best practice.

8. Ad-hoc project work as gaps are identified
What skills, experience and knowledge is required for this role?

• A degree or equivalent in a Food Science or related discipline
• Experience within the food industry, must include high risk RRTE practices, food safety, food safety culture
• Experience with managing a skilled team built of subject matter experts
• Experience in delivering training
• Strong knowledge of UK/EU food law, retailer Codes of Practice, HACCP, TACCP/VACCP, and food safety systems.
• Audit experience with major UK retailers and certification bodies.
• Skilled in influencing, stakeholder management, and cross functional collaboration.
• A strong communicator with a conscientious and diligent attitude
• Can interpret the technical agenda
• The ability to be flexible, multitask and work well under pressure
• An understanding of technical systems including HACCP
• Competency in Microsoft Word/Excel
• Budget management
• Data driven, commercially aware, and capable of balancing risk with business priorities.

Salary Range: $65,000.00 - $75,000.00

---

---

Apply for this job