Assistant Vendor Assurance Manager - Drinks in Liverpool

Please note this role can be based in any of the following locations: Liverpool, Bradford, Long Sutton or Wisbech.

Job Purpose

• To assist Vendor Assurance Technical Managers and Senior Vendor Assurance Technical Manager in implementation of the Vendor Assurance and product approval systems, policies and processes as required to meet legal, Princes and Customer requirements.
• To fully own all aspects of the day-to-day management of the Vendor and raw material/traded products assurance and approval programmes for the product group/product category or allocated supply group.
• To be the technical point of contact for customer(s) linked through to allocated product category(s), when required.
• To ensure strong and proactive relationships are in place with Vendors, Customers and Manufacturing sites linked to allocated product category(s).
• To support delivery of customers’ strategic technical agenda and technical plans within Princes, its manufacturing sites and its supply base.
• To work closely with Vendor Assurance Technical Managers and Senior Vendor Assurance Manager in fulfilment of buying and customer strategies where the Vendor team has an impact.
• To work closely with commercial account colleagues to ensure that customer(s) business unit objectives and plans are met.
• To deputise for the Vendor Assurance Technical Managers in relation to the Vendor Assurance and Product Management when required.
• To effectively use the IT solutions to manage the supplier details, raw material and product approval.
• To maintain product Food Safety, Legality, Integrity, Authenticity and Quality standards by ensuring all associated policies and procedures are adhered to.

Dimensions

• Part of a team of vendor assurance managers and technical executives managing circa 3000+ ingredients for Food/Drinks/Oils Manufacturing operations as well as for Traded finished packed products.
• Circa 5000 product purchasing specifications.
• Vendor/Supplier and purchased product approval and management.
• Internal contacts – Procurement, Commercial business unit colleagues, site technical & operations teams, NPD, other central business teams.
• External contacts: Suppliers’ and customers’ technical teams, industry bodies.
• IT solutions as appropriate.
• Travel within UK, EU and worldwide if required.

Principal Responsibilities

• Be a Vendor Assurance Champion within Princes Group.
• Take on Vendor assurance responsibility for your designated area/product category and assist the wider team as required to ensure that the systems, information and associated details are accurate, up to date and effectively controlled and managed.
• Support UK operations in all aspects of vendor assurance management and outputs ensuring compliance to BRC/Customer/legal requirements.
• Build effective technical relationships with suppliers and provide an effective technical link between suppliers-Princes Group-customer with regards to all areas linked to vendor and supplier management.
• Assist in the coordination, completion and management of supplier audits and audit schedules. Where appropriate lead supplier audits.
• Assist in the management and control of audit corrective & preventative action plans.
• Coordinate the communication to all relevant personnel within Princes and within the supplier as to audit findings and actions.
• Manage, maintain and where required enhance the supplier and product approval and assessment processes to enable compliance with current customer and business requirements and future expectations.
• Manage & maintain the businesses supplier & product approval, monitoring and scorecard processes and KPI reporting systems.
• Manage the effective reporting and communication of product and Vendor non-conformances to suppliers ensuring effective resolution by suppliers.
• Assist the Vendor Assurance Technical Managers and Senior Vendor Assurance Technical Manager in the management, maintenance and development of Princes Group vendor and raw material risk assessments and TACCP assessments linked to raw materials and suppliers.
• Coordinate the timely investigation of supplier related complaints and ensure investigations, root cause analysis and associated action plans are completed as required.
• To be available where required to support Princes Customer Technical managers in dealings with retailers.
• Provide technical support to the Quality Assurance and NPD teams at sites and with suppliers as required.
• Manage processes and documentation linked through to QMS.
• To be part of the Princes Group TACCP/HACCP/Horizon Scanning teams.
• Support the management of Princes Traded lab activities and complete any lab assessment evaluations as required.

Role Requirements

Knowledge, Skills & Experience Required:

• Lead Audit Assessor Qualification with demonstrable and substantial experience of conducting supplier audits against a defined standard across a wide range of food categories.
• Substantial experience of supplier management and development linked to the food supply industry.
• Minimum Intermediate but ideally advanced HACCP qualification.
• TACCP qualification and experience of completing TACCP analysis.
• Allergen Management and allergen management system review experience/qualifications.
• Experience of working with vendor assurance/approval systems.
• Experience of completing vendor related risk assessments.
• Experience of working with UK retailers in an account management position, as such having a detailed understanding of implementation of COB codes of practice within a manufacturing setting.
• Degree or equivalent in related discipline.
• Experience of team working but also a real and demonstrated ability to work effectively on your own and in challenging situations.
• Decision making and situational analysis assessment skills.
• Ability to travel widely and at short notice within the UK/Europe and internationally.

Desirable:

• Experience of SAP.
• Experience of QADEX, Hamilton Grant or other supplier management systems.
• Experience of ethical assessments.
• Knowledge of health and safety.
• A second language.

Benefits

• 25 Days Annual Leave plus Birthday off.
• 14.5% Pension – 5% employee opt in / 9.5% employer.
• Hybrid & Flexible Working - 4 Days in Office / 1 Day WFH.
• Flexible Holiday Option - Buy 5 Additional Days.
• Enhanced Family Friendly & Carers Policies.
• Life Assurance Cover.
• Private Medical Insurance.
• Critical Illness Cover.
• Learning & Development Opportunities.

About Princes

The Princes Group has over 7,000 employees with offices and production sites in the UK, Netherlands, Italy, Poland, France and Mauritius. Princes manufactures 350 different food and drink products responsibly sourced and enjoyed by consumers every day. None of this would be possible without striving to be an employer of choice, where our colleagues are proud to represent our business.