Technical Manager

Who Are Absolute Taste and What Do We Do? We are an innovative culinary and customer service provider, dedicated to delivering inspirational food and experiences that redefine customer satisfaction. With a commitment to excellence and a passion for pushing boundaries, we continue to grow from strength to strength. As a small, dynamic team of event professionals, we specialize in creating exciting, well-managed, and sustainable events, while fostering strong working relationships. We're looking for individuals who share our fun, resilient, and hardworking values to join our supportive, high-performing team. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a highly regarded organization dedicated to success and a positive, empowering culture.

About The Role: As a Technical Manager, you’ll play a pivotal leadership role in safeguarding product quality, food safety, and regulatory compliance across the business. This position oversees all technical functions, ensuring that standards are consistently met while driving a culture of continuous improvement. Working closely with Production, NPD, Travel, and Events teams, the Technical Manager provides expert guidance, supports operational excellence, and ensures the business is always audit-ready.

Location: Bicester, Oxfordshire

Your Key Responsibilities as a Technical Manager will be:

• Lead, mentor, and develop the technical team, ensuring all technical activities, processes, and standards are consistently delivered to a high level.
• Provide expert technical support across all departments, including upstairs and downstairs production, Travel, and Events, ensuring operational needs and compliance requirements are fully met.
• Prepare for and manage external audits and customer site visits, including BRCGS Food Standard and SALSA, ensuring documentation, systems, and procedures are fully maintained for seamless audit performance.
• Champion a culture of quality and continuous improvement, working closely with NPD and manufacturing teams to implement, monitor, and enhance quality systems and processes.
• Log, investigate, and resolve customer complaints, ensuring timely follow-up, root-cause analysis, and effective corrective actions both internally and externally.
• Conduct internal audits and manage verification activities, including environmental and listeria swabbing, water sampling, and shelf-life checks, ensuring product integrity and compliance.
• Oversee HACCP compliance and food safety management, ensuring all procedures, controls, and documentation meet regulatory and customer expectations.
• Deliver food safety and compliance training, ensuring all staff understand and follow required protocols, contributing to a safe and compliant working environment.

What We Are Looking For:

• Experience working in food manufacturing, specifically within High Care, High Risk, and Ready-to-Eat product environments, with a strong understanding of the controls and standards required.
• Proven background in technical or quality management, ideally with exposure to BRCGS, SALSA, and customer audit processes.
• Strong leadership and team-development skills, with the ability to mentor, guide, and motivate a technical team.
• Deep understanding of HACCP, food safety legislation, and quality management systems, with the ability to implement and continuously improve them.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, able to work effectively with Production, NPD, Travel, and Events teams.
• Analytical and investigative mindset, capable of identifying root causes, resolving issues, and driving corrective actions.
• Highly organized and audit-ready, with strong documentation, planning, and prioritisation abilities.
• A continuous improvement approach, promoting quality, compliance, and operational excellence across the business.
• Ability to deliver effective training, ensuring staff understand and follow food safety and compliance requirements.

Why Join Us at Absolute Taste? Join a fast-growing and innovative company that is redefining customer experiences in the culinary and event space. We offer an empowering team culture, the opportunity to work on exciting, well-managed events, and a supportive, resilient team environment. We are committed to supporting your career growth with thorough training and ongoing development. You can also enjoy benefits such as: 25 Days holiday + Bank Holiday, 3% Pension, Life Assurance.

If you're ready to make an impact in a fast-paced environment and contribute to the success of Absolute Taste, apply today and join our team! We are committed to being an equal opportunities employer.