Quality Assurance & Food Safety Manager

About Us McDonald's has run its business in the UK since 1974 and currently operates over 1500 restaurants across the UK and Ireland, serving almost four million customers each day. McDonald's is one of the UK's largest private sector employers, employing over 170,000 people.

Department Overview We are looking for a Quality Assurance, Food Safety & Nutrition (QFSN) Specialist who will be responsible for driving the safety, quality, and legality of food products throughout the McDonald’s system - from our suppliers to our restaurants. Reporting into the QAFSN manager, you will be the quality assurance lead for key supplier categories. In addition to quality assurance, you will have responsibility for food safety within restaurants for your categories and ensure compliance with nutrition legislation and internal guardrails. You’ll manage key supplier categories and lead high-impact projects that enhance product integrity and brand trust. This role is ideal for a technically skilled professional looking to deepen their expertise in food safety and quality within a fast-paced, collaborative environment. You will work within the Quality Assurance, Nutrition and Food Safety team, which sits within the Supply Chain team at McDonald’s. This role will report into the Quality Assurance and Food Safety Manager. Working in close collaboration with Global SC counterparts and teams to ensure alignment and consistency.

Duties:

• Act as the lead QFS contact for assigned supplier categories, owning product and restaurant supplier performance and continuous improvement.
• Manage supplier performance activities through KPI reviews, action plans and factory visits.
• Deliver against defined KPIs, escalation risk as required.
• Champion food safety and quality culture across suppliers, restaurants and internal teams, embedding accountability, learning and continuous improvement.
• Use data, insights and trend analysis to proactively identify risks, prioritise actions and unlock opportunities for improvement.
• Monitor complaints, emerging risk, identify trends and support incident management and crisis activity, providing technical input and investigation support.
• Manage restaurant engagement plans for categories to drive compliance and lead improvements in allergen and microbiological programs.
• Maintain and continuously improve the Restaurant food safety management system, including HACCP, the Food Safety Manual, cleaning procedures and allergen risk assessment.
• Ensure compliance with nutrition and labelling legislation, alignment with global and local guardrails, and drive continuous improvement in nutrition standards.
• Support local and global cross-category product and restaurant improvement initiatives offering technical expertise in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
• Collaborate with global leadership to ensure consistency in standards and alignment with market-specific objectives and effective implementation of global programs.
• Support the food menu team with product launches, ingredient approvals and product set-up.
• Apply QFS and Nutrition governance within the Stage & Gate process.
• Contribute to supply chain initiatives, including cost optimisation, sustainability and digitalisation projects.
• Participate in the on-call weekend rota to ensure continuity of operations during weekends and holidays.

Qualifications:

• Degree (or equivalent) in Food Science or equivalent experience.
• Technical understanding of food products, their manufacture and distribution.
• Hold a minimum of level 3 HACCP and lead auditor training.
• A good commercial acumen and numeracy skills.
• Strong verbal, written and presentation communication skills.
• Proficient computer use (including Microsoft PowerPoint, Office and Excel).
• Excellent data analysis and presentation skills.
• Capable of analysing commercial metrics & insights to provide data led decisions.
• Experience with the use of quality and product specification systems.
• Excellent time management and prioritisation skills.
• A positive demeanor with strong focus on culture of continuous improvement.
• A curious mindset, confident, independent and a logical problem solver.
• Must have a valid driver's license, ability to maintain a valid and current passport and could domestically and internationally travel, depending on business needs.

Company Vision and Culture Our Global vision is to build a better McDonald's and in the UK and Ireland we are working hard to be the UK & Ireland's best-loved restaurant company. McDonald's is defined by its culture. Our culture shapes and informs everything we think and everything we do. Our culture influences the way we interact with each other, and how we interact with customers, franchisees and suppliers. Our culture motivates and inspires us to attract and retain great talent, creating a positive, energising, exceptional working environment for us all. Our values drive our culture and shape our beliefs, our priorities and our actions. They influence the decisions we make, how we treat one another and how we show up as a brand to the world.

• Serve: We put our customers and our people first.
• Inclusion: We open our doors to everyone.
• Integrity: We do the right thing.
• Community: We are good neighbours.
• Family: We get better together.

At McDonald's we are People from all Walks of Life... People are at the heart of everything we do, and they make the McDonald's experience. We embrace diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture that means people can be their best authentic self in our restaurants and offices, which helps us to better serve our customers. We have a strong heritage of diversity and representation within our communities, which we are proud of. The diversity of our people, customers, Franchisees and suppliers gives us strength. We do not tolerate inequality, injustice or discrimination of any kind. These are hugely important issues and a brand with our reach and relevance means we have a very meaningful role to play. We also recognise our responsibility as a large employer to continue being active in our communities, helping to develop skills and drive aspirations that will help people to be more aware of the world of work and more successful within it, whether with McDonald's or elsewhere.