At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead food technology strategy, ensuring safety, quality, and compliance across Whitbread and Premier Inn.
- Company: Join Whitbread, a leader in hospitality with a focus on innovation and quality.
- Benefits: Enjoy a matched pension, discounts on stays, and a hybrid working model.
- Other info: Dynamic role with opportunities for professional growth and industry influence.
- Why this job: Shape the future of food safety and quality while making a real impact in the industry.
- Qualifications: Degree in Food Science or related field, with senior experience in food safety and governance.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 75000 £ per year.
Location: Dunstable LU5
Hybrid working 3 days a week in the office.
As Whitbread’s Senior Manager - Food Technology, you will shape and deliver the end‑to‑end food technical strategy across Whitbread and Premier Inn—setting the standards for food safety, integrity, legality and quality. You’ll oversee all technical service provision through NSF and other partners, ensuring robust due diligence, consistent compliance and continuous improvement in efficiency and effectiveness. Bringing a practical, evidence‑led and commercially balanced mindset, you will manage food‑related risks, strengthen senior‑level supplier relationships and build joint strategies that enhance brand performance while protecting guest trust. You’ll represent Whitbread externally, using industry insight and networks to influence the wider agenda and anticipate regulatory or market change. As the organisation’s voice of food technical expertise, you will lead governance frameworks, KPIs and reporting, drive cross‑functional collaboration, and build high‑performing teams. You will also own the annual food risk review, ensuring risk frameworks remain current and that strong mitigation plans are in place across the supply base.
What you'll do:
- Risk & Compliance Leadership: Lead the annual Food Risk Review, update critical risk tools, and ensure operational controls reflect internal and external changes.
- Governance & Crisis Management: Own the governance framework and technical policy reviews, and lead crisis management for food safety, integrity and legality incidents.
- Service Provider & Audit Oversight: Manage NSF and other service partners, ensuring effective audit/testing plans, continuous improvement, and full compliance with agreed scopes.
- Supply Base Quality & Performance: Drive supplier governance, quality and consistency programmes, raw material strategy, and delivery of brand and ESG goals across the supply base.
- Quality Culture & External Representation: Build a strong internal quality culture, lead regulatory horizon scanning and action planning, and represent Whitbread externally to shape industry standards.
Why you'll love it here:
- Matched Contributory Pension up to 10%
- Up to 60% off Premier Inn and Hub stays
What you'll need:
- A degree (or equivalent experience) in Food Science, Food Technology, Food Safety or a related discipline.
- Strong working knowledge of food safety legislation, industry standards and regulatory frameworks.
- Significant experience in a senior technical or technologist role within food manufacturing, hospitality or retail sectors.
- Experience applying technical judgement in complex or fast‑paced operational settings.
- Experience of ensuring effective food governance and reporting (Food Safety, Integrity, Legality and Quality) and contributing to technical policies and review including allergens, quality and nutrition.
- Experience of leading Crisis Management of food safety, integrity, legality related incidents as a Food Technology SME.
- Proven track record of Supply Base Governance (Safety & Quality).
- Member of IFST or other relevant associations.
