Technical Services Manager

Hours: 8.a.m to 4.p.m, Monday to Friday. Must be flexible in hours and days of work to meet the demands of the business

Salary: up to £45,000 per year

About Us

Haywood and Padgett are a leading food manufacturer located in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. We are an established, family-run business specialising in the production of scones and other baked goods. Due to an ever-increasing demand for our delicious product ranges, we require a technical services manager.

The Role

Our technical department plays a crucial role in maintaining and monitoring compliance, hygiene, quality, retail and product specifications, auditing, and much more.

We are specifically looking for someone with very strong experience and extensive exposure to retailer codes of practice, product authenticity requirements, and compliance within food manufacturing. This is essential for success in this role.

The technical services manager will have the overall responsibility for all technical services relating to new production development, liaising with customers, suppliers, and internal teams to ensure a smooth transition.

The technical service manager will work predominantly, and very closely with the technical manager, new product development manager, commercial and production teams, as well as liaising with team colleagues and other essential departments.

Key Responsibilities

Customers

• Preparing and attending customer meetings, providing technical support for new product submissions
• Interpreting customer codes of practice, ensuring that all new products comply with all legal, safety, authenticity, quality, and customer requirements
• Supporting the customer, supplying information to ensure their supplier checks, questionnaires and audits can be completed
• For all new products, supplying the retailer with the full product specification, such as ingredient lists, nutritional, storage requirements, allergens, etc
• Creating detailed Quality Assurance Standards (QAS) documentation, listing relevant product characteristics and organoleptic properties, such as colour, aroma, taste and texture. Ensuring the customer has a full understanding of how to conduct and undertake a quality check of our products
• Updating and reviewing retailer product specifications as and when required
• Raising derogations and concessions
• Responding to customer enquiries responsively, in a timely manner
• Creating and approving customer packaging requirements
• Liaising with designer, ensuring artwork is correct to customer requirements

Suppliers

• Manage and maintain the raw material, packaging, and services supplier approval system
• Review and approve supplier raw materials and packaging specifications
• Protecting the business using TACCP (Threat Assessment Critical Control Point), preventing malicious threats to food, such as sabotage, extortion, or terrorism
• Protecting the business using VACCP (Vulnerability Assessment Critical Control Point), preventing economically motivated food fraud

Other

• Liaising with operations management, with customer feedback
• Completing customer KPI/Reports relating to quality and technical planning
• Attending routine sampling tasting sessions and taking charge in the technical manager’s absence
• Devising, reviewing, and updating technical policies and procedures
• Managing and editing the company’s newsletter, as part of the food safety culture initiative
• Providing temporary cover for holidays and sickness, covering team colleagues’ roles, such as technical manager, technical administrator
• Assisting in internal audits

Qualifications and Experience

Experience of working within a food manufacturing environment essential

Degree level qualification in science or food related technology (or equivalent experience)

Experience of working as a technical services manager or equivalent essential

Food Safety Level 2 essential (Level 3 preferred)

Level 2 HACCP essential (Level 3 preferred)

Understanding of the British Retailer Consortium Global Standard (BRCGS) for Food Safety preferred

Comprehensive knowledge of retailer codes of practice and how to implement these within a food manufacturing and supply business preferred

Project management experience preferred

Experience of writing technical policies and procedures and strong writing ability essential

Experience of raw material and supplier approval essential

Experience in completing finished product specifications including web-based retailer systems essential

Fully conversant with Microsoft; Outlook, Word, Excel, and Power Point essential

Knowledge of PDO, geographical raw materials and authenticity

Skills

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills

Highly motivated and enthusiastic

Excellent organisational skills

Good attention to detail

Ability to work under pressure, meeting deadlines

Ability to work unsupervised or as part of a team

Benefits

Pension

33 Days Annual Leave

Medical Insurance

Bike to work scheme

Discounted gym membership

Company Shop membership