Head of Technical in Andover

Location: St. Mary Bourne, Hampshire. Supplier and customer travel required.

Working Pattern: 40 hours per week, Monday to Friday.

Salary and Benefits: Competitive plus bonus, pension and PMI.

At Vitacress, doing the right thing isn’t a slogan — it’s how we protect our people, our products, and our reputation. As our new Head of Technical, you’ll lead from the front, shaping how we deliver food safety, quality, and technical excellence across our UK Salads business.

In this role, you will:

• Take ownership of the entire technical agenda — from farms and raw materials through to packing, customer delivery, and retailer relationships.
• Lead a talented team, build strategic partnerships, and be the senior technical voice our business and customers rely on.
• Guide our HACCP, TACCP, and VACCP systems, oversee audits, strengthen supplier assurance, and ensure every product we send out meets the highest standards of safety, integrity, and quality.
• Act as a trusted advisor to the Managing Director, shaping strategy with clear data insights and bringing a commercial mindset to every decision.
• Lead the technical response to incidents, drive continuous improvement, champion innovation, and elevate our food safety and quality culture across sites.
• Be visible, influential, and accountable — and your impact will be felt end‑to‑end.

You can do this if you’re experienced in technical leadership within FMCG, confident with UK retailer expectations, and skilled at translating complex food safety issues into clear, actionable direction. You know how to lead teams, manage audits, communicate with impact, and navigate ambiguity with sound judgment.

Bring your technical expertise, leadership courage, and passion for quality. In return, you’ll help shape the future of Vitacress Salads — and set the standard for what excellent looks like.

Ready to lead where it matters most? We’d love to hear from you. Apply now or reach out to Simon Dickinson for more information.

Vitacress Salads, based in leafy St Mary Bourne, Andover is one of the principal salad and watercress suppliers in the UK. With our own salad leaf farms, we take immense pride in delivering a field to fork operation. We grow, wash, pack and distribute salad and watercress for retailer own brands and our own brand Steve’s Leaves. We take pleasure in ensuring the best possible standard and we will empower you to do the same. From the way we grow our products, to the relationships we maintain with customers, everyone knows exactly what is going on. We are authentic and grounded. At the centre of everything is a trust that you can feel every day at work. From the salads that are grown on site; to the investment in facilities and the growth of the business; to growing and nurturing our talented employees, growing is truly at the heart of what we do. Join us and become a trusted partner in our business.