QS Industrial Manager in Chelmsford

As a Quality System Industrial Manager, you will lead the delivery of high standards in Quality and Food Safety across the plant, ensuring full alignment with Group Quality policies and Ferrero standards. You will be responsible for embedding robust quality systems, safeguarding product excellence, and ensuring compliance with all relevant hygiene, food safety, and certification standards.

Working at the heart of manufacturing, you will act as a key leader, driving continuous improvement, ensuring effective risk management, and developing the plant's FSQ (Food Safety & Quality) capability. This role requires strong leadership, technical expertise, and the ability to influence both internal and external stakeholders across a multinational environment.

• Lead and manage all quality and food safety activities across manufacturing operations, ensuring high standards are maintained for raw materials, packaging, semi-finished, and finished products.
• Accountable for the implementation and ongoing compliance of Ferrero FSQ systems, ISO standards, HACCP, and all relevant legal and certification requirements.
• Continuously monitor quality performance, trends, and KPIs, driving corrective and preventive actions where needed to support continuous improvement.
• Manage, coach, and develop the Plant FSQ team, including Quality Inspectors, fostering a strong and proactive quality culture.
• Oversee sampling plans, audits, and inspections across all production stages to ensure compliance, while effectively managing non-conformities, deviations, and escalations.
• Support and lead internal and external audits, acting as a key contact for certification bodies and regulatory authorities.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams such as Production, R&D, Procurement, Commercial Quality, and Central FSQ teams, as well as engage with external stakeholders including suppliers, vendors, and third parties.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives and action plans aligned to business objectives, ensure plant personnel are appropriately trained in quality and food safety standards, and provide technical support to production to maintain consistency with product specifications and claims.

You bring proven experience in a management role within food quality, ideally within a multinational environment, and possess a strong understanding of food safety, food technology, and microbiological and chemical analysis. You have hands-on experience working with ISO standards such as ISO 9001 and FSSC 22000, as well as HACCP, GMP, and relevant certification schemes.

You are a results-driven professional with strong problem-solving skills and excellent attention to detail, capable of making sound decisions in a fast-paced manufacturing environment. You are a confident and effective leader who can coach, influence, and develop teams while fostering a culture of quality and accountability.

You demonstrate strong communication and stakeholder management skills, enabling you to collaborate effectively across functions and with external partners. You are fluent in English, with additional languages considered an advantage, and hold at least a GCSE/A-Level qualification, with a degree or MSc in a related field seen as beneficial.

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Ferrero began its journey in the small town of Alba in Piedmont, Italy, in 1946. Today, it is one of the world's largest sweet-packaged food companies, with many iconic brands sold in countries all over the world.

Ferrero is committed to building a diverse and inclusive culture in which all employees feel welcomed and appreciated and have the same opportunities. We believe all our people are equally talented in their own way. In nurturing the curiosity and natural abilities of our employees, we provide them, generation after generation, the means to succeed personally and professionally, enabling them to craft their journey at Ferrero. The diversity of our talents is what makes our work environment multicultural, innovative, and highly rewarding.