Interim Technical Account Manager - Food Manufacture

Interim Technical Account Manager (6 Month Fixed Term Contract) Reports into Head of Technical Based in Surrey ASAP Start Circa £50,000 / May be able to pay more DOE Travel in the UK and across Europe will be required. Responsible for General technical account management for high profile retail, B2B and food service customers. Ensuring the selection, monitoring and management of the right supplier partners to produce safe, legal, and high-quality products. Implementation of technical strategy based on customer requirements and the wider business strategy for all supplying sites and the wider business. Driving continuous improvement across all supplying sites against agreed KPI’s, customer requirements and legislation. Responsible for extending ring fenced / vertically integrated supply chains into new product categories, ensuring all technical criteria is achieved. Purpose Delivering the business and technical strategy for each customer, whilst driving quality and food safety through a collaborative approach, utilising quality improvement plans involving all key stakeholders (supply base, factory, farm, customer etc). Authority and accountability Day to day technical management of the nominated account/s. Accountable for technical performance of the associated supply base and customer. Key duties Delivering excellence in technical customer management and ensuring compliance with client expectations and management. Customer facing: operate at Technical Manager and Senior Technical or Category Development Manager at customer, manage relationship and continue to demonstrate the added value the technical team delivers to customer. Formulate and deliver strategic technical plans for the account relating to product quality & safety, producer, and product compliance. Working cross functionally with development, quality, production, and commercial functions to deliver new products on time, to plan and to specification. To provide technical and/or novel solutions to business and product challenges. Data analysis to manage customer performance data and enabling continuous improvement. Develop customer quality plans. Manage and orchestrate customer visits/audits/launches. Technical services management (to include but not exhaustive): raw material specifications, Authenticate, finished product specifications, supplier approval, micro testing, product sampling, shelf-life determination and testing, formulation, and finalisation of QAS, supplier on-boarding, customer complaints, food safety & stability, customer COP review and compliance checks, artwork and packaging generation and hygiene audits. Support in product process and design from a technical perspective. Any additional reasonable technical requests. Business KPIs Complaint reduction Technical compliance Customer scorecard compliance Process adherence Continuous professional development Person specification Qualifications Degree qualified (Food background). HACCP level 3. Food Safety level 3. Full UK driving licence. Experience Proven track record of technical/quality management in a challenging fast paced environment. Proven ability to communicate and negotiate effectively in reactive and flexible situations. Experience in complex raw material supply chains. UK retailer experience. Key skills and knowledge Strong technical acumen. Previous technical management experience (or equivalent discipline). Strong organisational skills. Strong people management skills. Exceptionally well developed interpersonal skills. Specification and product management, to ensure successful and timely launches. Excellent communication skills both verbal and written including strong influencing skills. Sound knowledge of food science and good understanding of UK and European regulation and legislation. Knowledge of retailer COP’s. Commercial awareness. Proficient in the use of MS Office applications, specifications systems and raw material management systems. Personal qualities Ability to develop an excellent relationship with customer, supply base and internal stakeholders based on integrity, trust, and technical expertise. Thrives in a fast-paced challenging environment. Can multi-task effectively. Ability to work methodically and find appropriate solutions where challenges occur. Able to drive technical performance of the supply base and in line with business and customer requirements. Able to work independently and without close direction. For further details please contact Scott Ballantine at D R Newitt Recruitment