Feed Safety & Compliance Manager in Blackburn

Company Overview: Pets Choice is a leading pet food manufacturer whose industry knowledge spans over 135 years. Based in Blackburn, Lancashire, the Pets Choice portfolio of brands offers a variety of products for pets and wild animals under its brands; Webbox, Bob Martin, TastyBone, Meatiful, Spike's, Hatchwells, aniMate, WildThings, Feathers & Beaky and Vitakraft. Each brand offers a unique insight into animals from dogs to ducks and produces high-quality products that cater to a wide variety of consumer needs.

As a trusted partner, Pets Choice provides private label goods including extruded food, wet food and retorted trays, and baked fresh meat treats. The business also offers additional services such as packaging design, fulfilment and logistics. With a broad range of capabilities and distribution channels worldwide, Pets Choice is proud to be a major supplier to the UK grocery, independents and pet speciality sectors.

Overview of Role: Reporting to the Head of Quality & NPD, the Feed Safety & Compliance Manager will hold responsibility for the implementation, adherence and continuous improvement of the site's feed safety standards. They will be responsible for developing and implementing feed safety protocols, conducting regular inspections and audits and ensuring all safety procedures are followed at all times. The Feed Safety & Compliance Manager is responsible for ensuring that all operations meet or exceed regulatory, safety and quality standards. This role leads the development, implementation, and maintenance of feed safety programs, including HACCP, GMPs and internal quality systems. The manager oversees audits and works cross-functionally to ensure consistency and compliance across facilities. The Feed Safety & Compliance Manager plays a critical role in risk management implementation, verification of hygiene standards and incident response. They champion a culture of safety and regulatory excellence, ensuring the company delivers safe, high-quality pet food that meets consumer expectations and legal requirements.

Main Responsibilities:

• Monitor changes in feed regulations and proactively update internal policies to maintain compliance.
• Ensure compliance to relevant feed safety and hygiene regulatory standards and guidelines.
• Maintain and update all feed safety programs including HACCP, recall procedures and GMPs.
• Develop and implement feed safety protocols and procedures throughout the full end-to-end manufacturing process.
• Lead hazard analyses, preventive control reviews and validation of process controls.
• Oversee environmental monitoring, allergen control and cross-contamination prevention programs where applicable.
• Work closely with the Quality & Systems Manager to develop and manage Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Work Instructions and quality manuals.
• Oversee the integrity of documentation and records required for regulatory and certification compliance.
• Support implementation of quality management systems (QMS) and ensure continuous improvement.
• Lead internal audits and oversee third-party audits for ISO, GMP, Trading Standards and GFSI schemes (BRC) and customer requirements.
• Prepare reports on feed safety audits, incidents and inspections.
• Serve as the primary contact for regulatory inspections and follow-up actions.
• Develop and execute corrective and preventive action (CAPA) plans.
• Manage feed safety related product investigations, deviations, non-conformances and consumer complaints.
• Lead product recall or withdrawal processes when needed.
• Conduct root cause analyses and implement preventive measures.
• Establish emergency procedures and protocols for handling feed safety breaches.
• Lead and manage an effective HACCP team.
• Develop and deliver feed safety and GMP training programs to colleagues.
• Promote a proactive feed safety culture across all departments.
• Ensure cross-functional teams understand and follow compliance expectations.
• Collaborate with management and colleagues to identify potential feed safety risks and solutions.
• Create internal reporting metrics to drive feed safety standards.
• Maintain audit ready standards at all times, working to BRC requirements.

People / Team: The Feed Safety & Compliance Manager will be part of the Operations function of the business, working within the Quality & NPD team. They will hold responsibility for one direct report who will be the Quality & Specifications Implementation Manager.

Skills, Experience and Qualifications Required:

Essential:

• Must have excellent organisational and communication skills.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to analyse data and identify trends or areas for improvement.
• 5+ years of experience in food or feed safety, quality assurance or regulatory compliance, preferably with pet food or animal feed.
• Strong knowledge of HACCP, GMPs and related feed safety regulations and standards.
• Experience with audits (regulatory, third party, internal) and CAPA management.
• Auditing experience or lead auditor qualification.
• Strong understanding of ingredient safety, traceability and supplier verification.
• Ability to interpret and apply feed laws.
• Proficiency with technical documentation and QMS.
• Good IT skills including PowerPoint, Excel and Word.
• Dedicated to promoting a culture of feed safety.
• Ability to train staff in feed safety procedures.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Working collaboratively with the ability to work cross-functionally and influence without authority.
• Strategic thinker with attention to detail and execution focus.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic manufacturing environment.
• Strong ethical judgment and commitment to food safety and quality.
• Detail-oriented with excellent problem-solving and analytical abilities.
• Sound judgment under pressure, especially during audit or recall situations.

Desirable:

• Experience in driving effective system and process changes.
• Understanding of pet food manufacturing would be advantageous.
• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Animal Science, Microbiology, Chemistry, Biology or related field is preferred.
• GFSI certification audit experience (e.g., SQF, BRC, FSSC).
• Lead Auditor Certification (e.g., HACCP, ISO 22000, GMP).
• Experience in extrusion, rendering, thermal processing or other pet food manufacturing technologies.

Health and Safety: All employees must abide by the company's Health and Safety policy and comply with the responsibilities for their job as detailed within the policy. All employees must take reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and anyone else that may be affected by their acts or omissions and cooperate with their employer or anyone else in the performance of their statutory duties. All employees shall not intentionally or recklessly interfere with or misuse anything provided in the interests of health, safety or welfare.

Our Values and Behaviours:

• Pride: we take pride in the work that we do, value everyone’s contribution and celebrate each other's achievements.
• Passion: we encourage creativity and love what we do – and we are passionate about pets.
• Teamwork: we achieve more when we collaborate, support each other and work together, we empower each other and value each other's work.
• Integrity: we do what is right, we are honest and ethical, we follow through on the commitments we make.
• Success: we aim to succeed in everything that we do by working to the best of our abilities, all goals are important, no matter how big or small.
• Respect: we have respect for our colleagues, customers and the environment, we embrace diversity and have a positive work environment.

The above is not an exhaustive list of duties and you will be expected to perform different tasks as necessitated by your role within the organisation and the overall business objectives of the organisation.

The content of this job description reflects the main duties and responsibilities of the job and are not intended to form part of the contract of employment. Pets Choice Ltd may revise the content of this job description at its discretion.