Head of Food Safety and Technical

In this role, you'll shape the safety and quality of our food for our UK grocery business and Restaurants in the UK and Europe. You'll confidently lead a talented team to develop and deliver safety systems and embed a culture of continuous improvement, best practice and resilience.

Client Details

Household name- QSR business based in central London which also has an exciting grocery offering

Description

The key responsibilities of this role include:

• Develop and lead company-wide food safety, quality, and compliance standards.
• Set safety and technical policies and procedures, ensuring they are future-fit, scalable, and aligned with regulatory and industry best practice.
• Be the key point of contact for external regulators, Primary Authority, auditors, and legal food safety matters.
• Manage and refine our internal and external audit programmes, embedding accountability and action plans at every level.
• Champion food safety culture across restaurants, supporting General Managers and Ops teams with training, insights, and coaching.
• Collaborate with NPD and Operations to ensure new products, ingredients, and processes are safe and deliverable by the operations team.
• Lead supplier technical approval and ongoing compliance, including onboarding, auditing, and performance management.
• Own the technical integrity of product specifications – ensuring our food meets all safety, nutritional, allergen, and customer-facing requirements.
• Build and maintain strong, values-led relationships with suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors.
• Oversee technical governance for grocery product range – including food safety, packaging compliance, labelling, claims, and retailer standards.
• Act as the gatekeeper for all food and non-food products, ensuring robust technical approval processes are in place from development to launch and then maintained.

Profile

The ideal candidate will have a background in:

• Senior-level experience in a food safety, technical, or quality assurance role.
• A strong background in food service, retail, or manufacturing.
• Expertise in HACCP, QMS, GFSI, allergen management, food safety legislation, and ethical sourcing.
• Lead Auditor certification (or equivalent) and hands-on auditing experience.
• Strong people management and development skills.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills.
• Strong systems, reporting, and data analysis capabilities.
• Passion for food and sustainability.
• Flexibility to travel across the UK and Europe as required.

Job Offer

Competitive salary + bonus + benefits + free food