Senior Technical Manager

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.

This role drives the overall site delivery and technical teams to ensure quality, legal, food safety, compliance, brand integrity and culture is driven and compliant. This role supports environmental, sustainability and health and safety management across the site. To provide strategic leadership and direction through continuous advancement of technical performance aligned to the functional activity, the business goals keeping our sites safe, legally compliant and quality at the forefront.

Maintain a strategic relationship, alignment in direction and standard ways of working through collaboration, shared learnings, and compliance with the Princes’ group strategy and the central technical function. Demonstrate leadership, engagement and active participation in all aspects of the business improvement plans and strategies with all site and business functional operational teams, to ensure the technical governance is maintained, improved and considered with all site improvements. Ensuring customer and consumer remains at the centre of technical strategy activity.

Active development and identification opportunities to drive site cultures, customer joint improvement plans and site initiatives to maximise Princes’ customer satisfaction and relationships. To provide leadership and direction, to ensure that across the technical team’s people are engaged, focused, developed and delivering their full potential providing high performance capability. Build capability centrally through a combination of coaching, training to build and directly sustain the technical function in line with the business needs and growth requirements.

To fully own all aspects of the technical management for the Princes Manufacturing sites and technical teams within your remit. To ensure strong and proactive relationships are in place within and between site technical and operations teams, divisionally, central technical and site leadership and director level. To develop, drive, manage and deliver the Princes and customers strategic technical agenda and technical plan within your cohort manufacturing sites.

To work closely with operations, supply chain and other manufacturing leadership teams and colleagues to ensure that business objectives and plans are fully supported and delivered. Support, drive and project manage pre-FIRM’s, crisis incidents, as and when required in line with food alerts, industry wide incidents, recalls and business impacts to maintain, manage and develop protection and prevention strategies.

Dissemination and improvement of technical performance and compliance through best practice adoption and active PDCA tools for communication of internal and external demonstration of active engagement workstreams. Provide senior interface with customers and joint business planning activity to deliver exceptional standards to meet customer service and adherence to customers and consumers requirements. Find and provide solutions to solve Technical site issues maintaining consideration to group, customer, business and manufacturing strategies.

To manage and develop as appropriate your team(s) within the business area technical function you are responsible for. To deputise for the technical controller (manufacturing) as appropriate.

Principal Responsibilities

• Work with the Technical controller Manufacturing in setting strategic category technical plans ensuring alignment with site strategic plans including Operations, Commercial and wider technical team strategy plans.
• Develop 3, 6, 9 month technical strategy plans for active and continuous improvement active plans.
• Full site technical ownership including; raw material management, thermal processing, governance and compliance of systems, quality management and customer service overseen in accordance with group and divisional ways of working.
• Ensure site plans address; culture, food safety, brand integrity, continuous improvement, site strategy plan on a page and industry wide plans.
• Effective leadership and efficient management of the technical function to ensure compliance, continuous improvement and development of the site’s standards.
• Work with the technical director, technical controller other group technical teams in ensuring best practices are identified and shared across sites & central technical (group) functions to deliver the most effective solutions for Princes and our customers.
• Develop strong and proactive relationships with wider technical and operations counterparts and internal colleagues.
• Ensure that the team reporting to you are effectively managed in all aspects related to day-to-day business interactions, performance, objective setting and reviews.
• Lead and develop your direct reports and their teams, ensuring that suitable development and succession plans are in place.
• Lead in the development and implementation of regular technical reviews and update on projects and specific improvement activities as they relate to your sites of responsibility.
• Ensure that all requests and tasks allocated to your teams are effectively and proactively managed, maintaining accurate work plans, reviews and oversight.
• Own, develop and ensure that appropriate reports and KPIs are maintained, with regular reviews completed at a site / business group and total group level.
• Own, develop and provide analysed monthly KPI reports for your area of responsibility.
• Develop manufacturing Joint Quality / Technical Plans to ensure that business objectives are clear with defined targets and delivery plans are in place.
• Develop, lead and support site in the implementation of aligned practices that deliver retailer / certification body Policies and Codes of Practice.
• Working with the sites ahead of customer audits and visits to ensure compliance to customer Policies and Codes of Practice and that appropriate progress with projects and improvement plans is being made.
• Lead, develop and support site teams as needed in relation to customer(s) visits and audits. Ensure that any resulting issues and/or opportunities are fully addressed / explored.
• Enable and facilitate with Princes Group technical leadership in promoting, sharing and embedding best practice across sites and group operations with the aim of delivering the most effective, consistent and robust solutions.
• Lead and support in the management of quality/food safety issues, liaising with site and group technical teams as required to ensure rapid and satisfactory resolution.
• Lead projects as relevant and required for your teams and sites of responsibility.

Role Requirements

• Experience of developing and managing high performing teams.
• Degree / Post Graduate level qualification in science or food technology (or equivalent experience).
• Experience of managing customer technical relationships within a UK retail customer facing role.
• Technical expertise within a wide range of food manufacturing operations.
• Experience of technical management at a senior level across different areas of food supply businesses (Site / Supplier / Customer).
• Comprehensive knowledge of UK retailer codes of practice and how to implement these effectively within food manufacturing and supply businesses.
• Level 4 HACCP Lead auditor qualifications.
• Project Management skills.
• SAP/ MES knowledge.
• 3rd party audit knowledge: BRC, IFS, Red Tractor, Soil Association, Claims such as: Organics, Gluten Free.
• To maintain product Food Safety, Legality, Integrity, Authenticity and Quality standards by ensuring all associated policies and procedures are adhered to.

Benefits:

• Cash Car Allowance.
• 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.
• Potential Corporate Incentive Scheme (company performance based).