Product Assurance Technologist

We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. Here, everything in our stores starts in Sainsbury’s Commercial. From product, proposition, packaging and price, to whether it meets our sustainability commitments or simply tastes great, our team is responsible for all food, non-food and clothing items available in Sainsbury’s stores, online and on demand. It’s an incredibly fast-paced environment. People here are in it together and aren’t afraid to take risks. The knowledge and experience you gain here could set you up for career moves anywhere else in the business. So, if you’re passionate about your products and just as hungry to learn, you’ll fit in perfectly.

Why join us

Joining Sainsbury's as a Product Assurance Technologist offers the opportunity to play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and quality of products for millions of customers. As part of a supportive and collaborative team, you will have the chance to drive continuous improvement, reduce risks within our supply base, and provide valuable insights to enhance our product assurance framework. With a focus on technical excellence, compliance, and effective communication, this role allows you to make a meaningful impact while cultivating a work-life balance that aligns with your personal and professional aspirations.

What You’ll Do

As a Product Assurance Technologist, you will play a key role in the investigation and resolution of food-related customer complaints, ensuring all cases are assessed with a strong technical and regulatory lens. You will lead end-to-end complaint investigations, including root cause analysis, supplier and site engagement, and the interpretation of analytical and microbiological data. Working closely with internal teams, suppliers, and external bodies, you will ensure timely, consistent, and risk-based decision making to protect both customers and brand integrity. You will also support our Analytical Testing programme and the management of out-of-specification results, identify recurring issues or trends, and drive continuous improvement actions to strengthen product safety, quality, and compliance across the supply base. In addition, you will provide clear technical guidance to stakeholders, contribute to training where required, and use insight from complaints and analytical testing results data to enhance reporting, governance, and overall product assurance processes.

Who You Are

You are a dedicated and detail-oriented professional with a background in science and experience in compliance roles within the supply base, retail, or analytical laboratory settings. Your strong technical knowledge, understanding of manufacturing processes, and familiarity with industry standards such as HACCP and BRC enable you to effectively investigate customer complaints, analyse out-of-specification test results, and drive continuous improvement in product assurance processes. With excellent communication skills, a proactive approach to compliance, and a focus on delivering technical excellence, you play a pivotal role in ensuring product quality and safety while building strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Essential Criteria

• Degree level or equivalent in a science discipline or equivalent experience with food technical and manufacturing including HACCP and BRC.
• Experience in a food compliance role or food technical role either in the supply base, a retailer or at an analytical laboratory.
• Good judgement, drive and influence to deliver effective due diligence management across product complaint management and analytical testing results with excellent communication skills.
• Delivery of KPI’s and Sainsbury’s food technical strategy targets on time and demonstrating technical excellence and attention to detail in all tasks.
• Be a role model for accuracy and right first time in all aspects of product compliance.
• Solutions focussed with effective planning and prioritisation skills.

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer, so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new – whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business – and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits.

Here are some of them: Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to get 10% off at Sainsbury’s, Argos, TU and Habitat after 4 weeks. This increases to 15% off at Sainsbury’s every Friday and Saturday and 15% off at Argos every pay day. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 10% of salary, depending on how we perform. Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance, and you can buy additional holiday. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, pay advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. And if you ever need it there is also an employee assistance programme. Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave.

Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).