Technical Manager
Food Industry
Gloucestershire
£50k
MAIN PURPOSE OF JOB ROLE
The Technical Manager is responsible for all aspects of the technical operation throughout the company. They provide technical expertise and support to all employees and customers and are responsible for the efficient, safe and economical use of resources within existing legislation.
The Technical Manager will develop and oversee all of the food safety regulations, policies, and procedures. Will help to develop, implement and enforce security and food safety standards, policies, and regulatory programs, regulatory audits, food safety training programs, standard operating procedures (SOPs), product inspections, and standardized work instructions to ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements for the production of safe and wholesome food.
The Technical Manager is also the PCQI responsible person on site for the development of the food safety plan, validating preventive controls, reviewing records, and reanalysing the plan.
The position requires a comprehensive knowledge of, and experience in, technical operations as well as good inter-personal and communication skills.
The Technical Manager post is a senior position within the management structure and the post-holder is expected to contribute towards the development and achievement of the companys strategic and operational targets and overall business aims. The Technical Manager will work with the management team to embed sustainable and environmentally-friendly working practices at the heart of the companys operations and planning.
The job role may include other duties/tasks from time to time. The role carries direct managerial responsibility for the technical, production and maintenance activities.
KEY ASPECTS OF THIS ROLE INCLUDE:
The Technical Manager will have personal duties (work that will in large part be completed personally by the Technical Manager) across a range of disciplines and these will be reflected in Key Performance Indicators (KPI) detailed later in this document and reviewed as per the needs of the business but no later than every 12 months. All the key aspects of this role are with a view to be expanded with time, to all of the 4 production facilities.
a)Technical
Coordinating the Technical / Quality assurance team;
Developing and managing the Technical / Quality systems of both production facilities to achieve a BRC Grade A certification and pass grades for all the other certifying bodies namely: Organic, MSC, Freedom Foods, Kosher, SEG, etc.;
Responsibility for product quality, food safety and staff training of these key areas to satisfy customer expectations;
Responsibility for the technical / quality aspect of new product development once in production on the factory floor;
Ensuring that any customers technical / QA demands are supplied in an accurate and timely manner;
Hosting site audits and conducting food and safety related inspections;
Keeping abreast of changes in technology, legislation and customer requirements to ensure that the company is always fully conversant with the latest information;
Ensuring that all products produced across both production sites are food safe and conform to the intended product design, quality and legislation;
Daily maintenance of the HACCP system and other safety information and documentation;
Directing the technical, quality and product safety components of all new build projects through quality planning, specifications development and project oversight for compliance with company technical and quality standards;
Responsibility for conducting investigations and ensuring necessary actions are taken and communicated for safety compliance matters including customer complaints, accidents, risk assessments, insurance claims etc, to prevent their reoccurrence;
Building and managing a sustainable QA, Technical and maintenance function through training, mentoring and coaching to achieve fully qualified and skilled team to cover all the tasks and duties necessary to reach the company's targets in the event of the Technical Manager or any other member of the Technical, QA or maintenance team absence.
Responsibility that both technical and quality assurance remain a commercial department;
Responsibility that Technical and quality systems do not become an office-based department, ensure that it actively engages production not in a Police style role but with positive encouragement;
b) Production
Ensure production/quality processes, equipment being used and the working environments are all conducive to producing a high-quality product / service through regular visits and audits of all production areas;
Monitor production activity to ensure that the appropriate manufacturing methods are employed and that sufficient due care is taken in order to meet the customers build and quality specifications through regular visits and audits of all production areas;
Ensure rejected product / non-conformance is rectified as high priority and that customers are kept informed accordingly;
Ensure the correct non-conformance paperwork is raised and processed with every reject;
To lead weekly production meetings and report any major issues to the Managing Director;
As a TECHNICAL MANAGER you will also be expected to:
Ensure non-value-added activity is reduced in all manufacturing processes by using appropriate tools and techniques;
Manage change to meet current business requirements;
Implement manufacturing improvement processes and systems to reduce inventory, increase throughput and minimise costs;
Promote and uphold company performance standards and ideology (on time delivery, quality, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, housekeeping & work ethic);
Identify and develop internal candidates within QA, Technical and maintenance department for advancement or promotion into evermore challenging roles within the company through training, provision of practical, tailored work, shared experience, knowledge, skills and abilities.
Maintain a flexible approach to the Technical Manager role and provide suitable cover as and when required for other remits.
Key Tasks detailed within this Job Description are not intended to represent an exhaustive list of the duties that the job holder may be required to undertake.
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
1.Within 30 days of appointment review, define and make recommendations for the QA staffing requirement for production in Low Risk, High Care and High Risk and for day and night shift. Where potential QA candidates have been identified from existing staff, define training requirements and timescales for completion.
2.Within 30 days of appointment review existing BRC defined process controls and make recommendations for improvement or take actions where appropriated to rectify any potential food safety issues that may arise.
3.Within 30 days of appointment have a demonstrable understanding of the currentinternal and external reporting systems to allow recommendations for improvement.
4.Within 30 days of appointment review and define existing cleaning processes and make recommendations for improvements, or take actions where appropriate, to control listeria growth within the operations.
5.Within 60 days of appointment review and make recommendations to improve where necessary the training procedures and requirements with a view to improving job specific tasks leading to improved performance, adherence to GMP and development of the food safety culture.
6.Within 60 days of appointment agree Key Performance Indicators with direct report staff.The company needs the ability to measure staff performance within the technical department against these KPIs to see if further training required or their suitability to their roles.
7.Within 60 days of appointment review and make recommendations to improve the current level of micro testing, both environmental and product, to create a swabbing regime based on risk assessment in order to develop and maintain due diligence. Trending of these results in order to highlight potential food safety issues.
8.Within 90 days of appointment review and make recommendations where appropriate in conjunction with Team Managers, where process changes are necessary. Implement process redesign consistently providing a service that meets customer and applicable regulatory requirements.
9.Within 90 days define how we are going to provide technical support across all 4 sites and where practicable develop practices which are beneficial and generic to all sites.
10.Within 90 days of appointment propose Key Performance Indicators to help monitor the performance of the company for the following 12 months to the MDs. These will allow the company to react to changes within the business to achieve and maintain strong quality assurance operational objectives.
11.Within 180 days investigate the potential of paperless system for the QA production records keeping.
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