QA Manager, Retail & Food Service — Food Safety Leader

New England Seafood International (NESI) was established in 1991 and is an importer and processor of premium fresh and frozen sustainable fish and seafood. NESI employs circa 850 people across three sites in the UK and imports a wide range of wild and farmed fish and shellfish from all around the world. We are part of the Sealaska Corporation, an Alaska Native corporation formed in 1971 and which is owned by 26,000 Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian shareholders, who are all bloodline descendants of the first settlers to the Americas.

Our vision is to “show people how to enjoy fish every day” and we pride ourselves on our supply chain integrity, sustainable sourcing and high-quality product. Our values run through our business and are Respect, Customer Care, By Learning We Grow, Team Spirit and Integrity.

The QA Manager (Retail & Food Service) is responsible for ensuring all food manufactured on site is safe, legal, and meets agreed quality standards. The role supports delivery of the Technical Strategy and business objectives by leading food safety systems, managing risk, supporting audits, and developing the Quality Assurance team while driving a strong food safety culture across the factory.

Role & Responsibilities

• Incidents & Crisis Management
  • Proactively identify and escalate any potential or actual food safety, legality, integrity, or quality risks to the Technical Manager.
  • Support the Technical Manager during incidents, withdrawals, recalls, or crisis situations.
  • Lead and manage incident test scenarios, including planning, execution, and review.
• Technical Strategy & Business Alignment
  • Support the alignment of site objectives with the Technical and Business Strategies.
  • Contribute to personal development plans (PDPs) aligned with business goals.
• External Audits & Stakeholder Engagement
  • Approve traceability documentation used during audits.
  • Present traceability audit results to external auditors.
  • Ensure factory data and documentation are accurate and audit‑ready prior to external visits.
  • Support site management teams during external audits, customer visits, and regulatory inspections.
• Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS)
  • Act as an active member of the HACCP and TACCP teams.
  • Ensure HACCP, CCPs, QCPs, and OPRPs are validated, verified, and reviewed as planned.
  • Support and update risk assessments and HACCP checklists relevant to factory operations.
• Quality Assurance & Product Release
  • Ensure all products released from site meet customer specifications (brand, own label, and food service).
  • Implement and manage positive release systems where required.
• QMS & CMS Maintenance
  • Ensure controlled documents are correctly issued, implemented, maintained, and updated in line with amendments.
  • Ensure site compliance with legal requirements, Codes of Practice, and industry standards, implementing changes via SOP or process updates.
• Investigations & Root Cause Analysis
  • Lead or support investigations into food safety, legality, and quality issues, including contamination, hygiene failures, process deviations, and audit non‑conformances.
  • Ensure robust root cause analysis and effective corrective and preventive actions.
• Traceability
  • Verify and confirm end‑to‑end traceability on a daily basis, including factory start‑up checks.
  • Close out non‑conformances promptly and escalate serious breaches to the Technical Manager.
• Training & Competency
  • Act as a subject matter expert, owning and delegating internal food safety training (e.g. HACCP, CCPs, OPRPs, internal auditing).
  • Ensure training delivery supports compliance and continuous improvement.
• KPI & Performance Reporting
  • Maintain departmental KPIs and objectively challenge factory performance at site management meetings.
  • Escalate sustained poor performance or emerging risks to the Technical Manager.
• People Management
  • Line management responsibility for site QA team, including holiday scheduling, performance reviews, and objective setting.
  • Support the development of QA team competencies and capability to deliver the technical business plan.
• Food Safety Culture
  • Drive and support food safety culture initiatives across site.
  • Ensure weekly trend analysis is completed, communicated, and demonstrates measurable cultural improvement.
• Complaints Management
  • Support investigation of customer complaints through cross‑functional root cause analysis.
  • Escalate adverse complaints to Tier 3 (T3) discussions as required.
• Continuous Improvement (CI)
  • Support CI projects linked to traceability, documentation, and ways of working.
  • Participate in working groups to implement regulatory or system improvements.
• NPD & Change Management
  • Support new and existing product development, focusing on factory readiness (quality, equipment, and processes).
  • Attend NPD meetings and drive action completion ahead of launch.
  • Provide final approval of revised Quality Attribute Sheets (QAS).
  • Confirm and implement sampling plans to validate technical processes during commissioning or change management activities.
• Flexibility & Other Duties
  • Maintain flexibility to support new systems, ideas, and initiatives implemented across the business.
  • Provide full support to site and technical teams as required.

What experiences, knowledge and capabilities do I need to demonstrate?

• A degree or equivalent in a Food Science or related discipline.
• Proven experience managing and developing a team – delivering training.
• Experience within the food industry, must include high risk RRTE practices, food safety, food safety culture.
• Experience within a FMCG environment.
• Retail Manufacturing standards experience – specifically M&S.
• Working knowledge of technical management systems.
• Sound organizational skills.
• Ability to analyze data and support in the formulation of action plans.
• Ability to drive increased technical compliance through a coaching and development style.

Benefits

• 25 days holiday plus bank holiday.
• Pension: 5% employee / 3% employer contribution.
• Life insurance (3x annual salary).
• Enhanced maternity and paternity pay.
• Discount and benefits platform.
• Cycle to Work scheme.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• Sports & Social fund.
• Staff sales.