Technical Assistant

Founded in 2003, Wasabi's vision is to lovingly create and serve delicious Asian food for a busy nation. Wasabi now has 42 thriving restaurants across London and major UK cities and 4 in New York. In 2019, we introduced Wasabi Home Bento, the grocery channel, launching exclusively in Sainsbury’s. Building on that success, the grocery business broadened its reach to Tesco in September 2022, followed by exciting launches in Co-op and Morrisons in 2024. Wasabi grocery has seen phenomenal growth and is now a £62m RSV brand. Wasabi proudly stands as the No. 2 chilled ready-meal brand in the market, consistently attracting new customers to the category through an innovative East Asian range. Wasabi’s menu is celebrated for its unique character, exceptional freshness, and bold flavours. Our diverse range is designed to delight a wide audience, delivering both comfort and excitement with every bite. We have an ambitious 5-year growth strategy, focusing on new restaurants, franchise partnerships, and international expansion.

As we prepare for our next phase of growth and innovation, we have an incredibly exciting opportunity for a Technical Assistant to join our Technical team based in Park Royal.

The Role: This role is responsible for providing technical support across the company, focusing on key areas such as supplier assurance, raw material specification, legal labelling of finished products, and maintenance of the site’s operating systems (e.g., Business Central). The position also supports the product development process within the Central Production Unit and restaurants, including involvement in product trials and evaluations. A core responsibility is to ensure that all ingredients and finished products align with the company’s technical requirements and standards, as well as comply with relevant legal and food safety legislation. The role plays a vital part in ensuring that all raw materials and suppliers consistently meet Wasabi’s Quality, Safety, Legal, and Sustainability Standards.

Key responsibilities:

• Carry out risk assessments on all raw materials, escalating any concerns or issues to senior management as appropriate.
• Ensure all technical documentation related to raw materials—such as specifications, factory accreditations, Certificates of Analysis (CoA), HACCP plans, and process flow diagrams—is accurate, up to date, and effectively maintained to support continuous improvement of products and quality management systems.
• Maintain the supplier portfolio of product specifications, ensuring accurate and consistent data management.
• Liaise with suppliers regarding any out-of-specification results or non-conformances, ensuring timely resolution and effective communication.
• Provide technical support for the introduction of new raw materials or suppliers, as well as changes to existing ones.
• Calculate and approve nutritional information for new products or product changes using the nutritional calculator and update the nutritional traffic light tracker accordingly.
• Calculate and score HFSS (High Fat, Sugar, and Salt) values, uploading data to relevant retailer trackers.
• Check and approve legal information on packaging artwork for pre-packed or own-brand products to ensure compliance with food labelling legislation.
• Support new and existing product development from a technical perspective, including provision of allergen information for name cards and guidelines, as well as ingredient and legal labelling for product packaging and in-store displays.
• Collaborate with the New Product Development, Health & Food Safety, and Operations teams to provide accurate technical information used in branches, including recipe cards, shelf-life data, and customer information.
• Update and maintain operational systems such as Business Central (BC) as required.
• Upload and verify data on the Brandbank website to ensure consistent product representation.
• Maintain and update master data, artwork folders, and factory documentation to support traceability and compliance.
• Plan and conduct factory or restaurant trials, ensuring products and processes meet Wasabi’s internal standards and customer expectations.
• Document all trial data comprehensively and legibly, including factory trial reports, shelf-life validation, organoleptic testing, and cooking and chilling validations, to establish process capabilities and support due diligence.
• Organize and manage sample submissions for laboratory analysis—such as microbiological, chemical, and transit trials—in alignment with project timelines.
• Work cross-functionally with departments including Procurement, Food, and Marketing, providing technical expertise to ensure compliance with Wasabi standards and UK food legislation.
• Support the company’s ESG objectives by identifying and implementing technical improvements that reduce environmental impact.

Our requirements:

• HACCP Level 3 certification is required.
• A degree in a food-related discipline such as Food Science, Food Technology, or Food Processing is preferred.
• Proficient IT skills are essential.
• Knowledge of supplier assurance processes and UK/EU food labelling regulations is desirable.
• A logical and methodical approach to work, with strong problem-solving and decision-making skills, is highly valued.
• Excellent attention to detail, with the ability to process and analyse large volumes of data to ensure compliance with company standards.
• Strong communication skills, with the confidence to elevate issues to management when standards are not met.
• Effective time management and the ability to prioritise tasks in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment.

A great working environment includes:

• Refer A Friend Scheme
• Free Sushi or hot food (vegan options available)
• 50% discount in our Branches
• Employee Assistant Programme Help@Hand (a service providing health and wellbeing support)
• Long Service Awards
• Wagestream - a financial wellbeing benefit that lets you access your pay as you earn it in real time and manage savings
• Life Assurance
• Electric Vehicle Scheme through Octopus
• Cycle To Work
• Free on-site parking
• A variety of discounts (shopping, food & drink, entertainment and health & fitness) through Perkbox
• The opportunity to develop your skills within a growing company.

Our people make us who we are. If you're looking for an exciting challenge and this sounds like the job for you please apply today as we can't wait to hear from you.