Two opportunities available: Manchester and Banbury, Oxfordshire
Monday to Friday | 40 hours per week

The Oval Partnership has been retained to recruit two Technical Coordinators for a long established, family owned food manufacturing business. One position is based at its Manchester facility and the other at its Banbury site.

This is a particularly exciting time to join the organisation. With a history spanning approximately 100 years, the business is entering a new period of investment, modernisation and positive change.

Significant investment is being made across both manufacturing sites, including further automation and robotics, as the leadership team looks to strengthen performance and create a more progressive and forward thinking operation.

Producing bakery products in high volumes for some of the UK’s leading retailers, the sites manufacture millions of products every week across categories including bread, rolls, seasonal bakery and sourdough.

The position

Reporting to the Technical Manager, you will coordinate the daily Technical and Quality Assurance activities on site and take direct responsibility for the QA team.

This is a practical, factory focused position. You will provide a visible Technical presence across the manufacturing operation, ensuring that food safety, quality, legality and customer standards are consistently maintained.

You will work closely with Production, Hygiene, Engineering and other site functions to resolve issues, improve standards and support the continued development of a proactive food safety and quality culture.

Key responsibilities

• Lead, coordinate, coach and develop the site Quality Assurance team.

• Manage daily QA priorities, resources, shift coverage, holidays and absence.

• Ensure all inspections, testing, verification, product release and quality checks are completed correctly and on time.

• Maintain strong standards of GMP, hygiene, housekeeping, food safety and product quality.

• Support the implementation and verification of HACCP, TACCP, VACCP and allergen controls.

• Coordinate investigations into non conformances, process deviations and quality issues.

• Lead root cause analysis and help implement effective corrective and preventive actions.

• Monitor recurring issues, identify trends and recommend improvements.

• Support investigations into customer complaints and Technical incidents.

• Maintain daily audit readiness and support BRCGS, customer and third party audits.

• Coordinate actions arising from audits, inspections and Technical reviews.

• Support traceability exercises, mock recalls and internal auditing activity.

• Ensure Technical procedures, documentation and factory controls remain current and correctly implemented.

• Promote a right first time culture and identify opportunities to improve Technical efficiency and manufacturing standards.

About you

You will already have experience within a Technical or Quality Assurance function in food manufacturing, ideally in a supervisory, team leadership or senior QA position.

You may currently be working as a:

• QA Supervisor

• Quality Supervisor

• Technical Supervisor

• QA Team Leader

• Technical Team Leader

• Senior QA

• Lead QA

• Assistant Technical Manager

• Factory Technical Coordinator

• Quality Manager within a smaller manufacturing operation

You will need:

• Previous experience supervising, leading or coordinating a QA team within food manufacturing.

• Good working knowledge of food safety, HACCP, GMP and Quality Assurance controls.

• An understanding of BRCGS, customer standards and relevant UK food legislation.

• Experience investigating quality issues and conducting root cause analysis.

• The confidence to coach colleagues and challenge standards constructively.

• Strong factory awareness and an understanding of manufacturing processes.

• The ability to manage competing priorities in a fast paced, high volume environment.

• Strong communication, organisation and problem solving skills.

• Food Safety Level 2 and HACCP Level 2 qualifications as a minimum.

Bakery experience would be advantageous, particularly within a high volume or highly automated environment, although candidates from other fast paced food manufacturing categories are strongly encouraged to apply.

HACCP Level 3, Food Safety Level 3, internal auditing or root cause analysis qualifications would also be beneficial.

Why consider this opportunity?

This is an opportunity to join a highly established and financially secure, family owned organisation at an important stage in its development.

You will be joining a business that is investing in its sites, manufacturing capability and people, with a leadership team committed to driving meaningful and sustainable change.

For an experienced Senior QA or QA Team Leader, it could provide an excellent first step into formal Technical leadership. For an established QA or Technical Supervisor, it offers the opportunity to influence standards and play a visible role within a large scale manufacturing operation.

Please indicate whether you are interested in the Manchester or Banbury opportunity when applying.

To find out more, apply directly or contact Charlotte Liddiard Smith at The Oval Partnership for a confidential conversation.