Technical Manager - Pet Food Manufacturing

The Role

We're excited to be recruiting for a Technical Manager for a leading pet food manufacturer. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced food technical leader, perfect for someone passionate about food safety, quality and building a strong technical culture.

You'll be responsible for leading and developing the site's Technical and Quality team, making sure everything is authentic, safe and meets legal, quality and customer standards. As part of the site leadership team, you'll lead the site through external audits and deliver a year-on-year reduction in customer non-conformances.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop the site's Technical and Quality team, so everyone is safe, engaged and clear on their objectives.
• Represent Technical on the site leadership team, contributing to strategic and operational decisions, continuous improvement and business continuity.
• Act as the site's technical lead with customers during site visits, external audits and business reviews.
• Manage and maintain the site's Quality Management System (QMS), keeping it effective, up to date and aligned with group standards.
• Make sure food safety and quality governance, including HACCP, BRCGS and customer audits, keeps the site compliant and audit-ready.
• Build a culture of proactive problem-solving and root cause analysis, with right-first-time quality, open communication and recognition of technical excellence.
• Support the New Product Development (NPD) team with new product introductions, making sure they meet legal food safety and internal quality requirements.
• Develop robust technical data, reporting and horizon scanning to support evidence-based decisions and plan for emerging risks.
• Maintain hygiene standards across production, storage and ancillary areas.
• Manage the site Technical budget, including labour and agreed capital projects.

About you

• A degree in food science, food technology, microbiology or a related subject, or equivalent experience.
• Level 4 HACCP and Level 2 Health and Safety.
• Experience of leading a technical or quality team in food manufacturing.
• Experience of BRCGS audit standards and internal audit management.
• Knowledge of food labelling legislation, writing specifications and web-based customer specification systems.
• Clear communication and the confidence to build strong relationships with customers, colleagues and auditors.

Don't meet every point? Some of these can be trained or developed, so we'd still love to hear from you.

Total Reward Benefits include:

• Annual bonus 15%, related to personal and company performance
• Enhanced pension, life assurance, and enhanced maternity, paternity, sick pay, and holiday buy options
• People and Pets First benefits, including paw-reavement and paw-ternity leave and bring your dog to work
• Healthcare cashback plan and Hertility at-home fertility testing and Private Medical Insurance
• Heavily discounted pet food and lifestyle benefits (Netflix, Spotify, or breakdown cover)
• Retail and gym discounts, electric car scheme, and free onsite parking and electric car charging

If this job sounds like your next role, get in touch!