Quality Technologist - Chocolate

Job description

  Location
Maidenhead, Berkshire
·  Salary
£ 30000 - £ 35000 / Year
·  Category
Industrial & Manufacturing and Production - Food, Drink & Tobacco
·  Job type
Contractor
·  Industry
Science
·  External Reference
QT1

An exciting role has come up within the FMCG sector as a technologist. Your role will be to ensure the quality of my client's products and striving for the very best in quality control.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITY'S

NPD/Quality

To technically own a portfolio of co-manufacturers in a category to;
*Deliver new incremental profitable growth by implementing new product development though the co-manufacturers in line with our business growth plan. (This includes: conduct brainstorming sessions with suppliers for ideas, feedback on concepts, attend factory trials, build technical documentation & ensure a robust technical implementation into the market).
*Keep abreast of industry, consumer and technology trends as well as the activity of competitors, while ensuring that these insights are incorporated in to the development of a great product offering. Tap into the co-manufacturer's knowledge, visit exhibitions, read trade magazines etc.
*Deliver competitive advantage to MCDT supply chain from effective management of quality, technical and food safety risks associated with the co-manufacturers and category, their production & transport to distributor.
*Deliver & maintain Quality Management system and other Quality initiatives into the category which means delivering a technical risk assessment, appropriate technical specifications and then monitoring the suppliers on a monthly basis through quality complaints & technical measurement.
*Ensure technical factory audits take place on time and in full for our co-manufacturers, ensuring the expertise & capability exists to manage & produce products with the support of the quality systems manager. Own the action plans from the audits and ensure actions are completed, escalating to other team members (i.e. commercial or operations) if struggling.
*Own all technical documentation for existing products and ensure these are agreed, updated as necessary and communicated to suppliers, using negotiation skills if necessary. Look for efficiency and continuous improvement where possible.
*Actively ensure that our standards & technical team measures are being consistently met.
*On non-conformance & issues resolution, act as the technical point of contact between the business and the factories. Promptly deal with the factories to solve any technical issues, raising an Incident if necessary. See the problem through to resolution, keeping people updated as necessary.
*Search for and be responsible for technical approval of new suppliers in the category with support of the technical lead.
*Keep abreast of legal issues in relation to products and ingredients and ensure that these are fed into our packaging and recipes.
*Build a good network with the core business in quality & R&D who can be called on if needed.

Activity Management
*Attend and actively contribute from a technical standpoint to the activity meetings for the category. Take the lead on the technical project plan, having responsibility for the initial timings, achievability & delivery.

Contribution to the MCDT Team
*Actively build the team culture by personally role-modelling the expected actions, behaviours and attitudes
*Continue to raise personal standards/skills to support the needs of a fast growing business
*Actively support the responsibilities of other team members to deliver their objectives
*Attend and participate in Impact meetings (4 x pa)

EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS

EssentialDesirable (or ability to learn very quickly)
Qualifications:

Degree graduate in Food Science or related discipline which covers elements of Quality Management & NPD.

Auditing Qualification
Experience:

*Experience in a food manufacturing environment & knowledge of how factories are run and their processes and standards to produce quality product.
*Good technical scientific understanding of raw materials & conversion technical processes, particularly chocolate or sugar based.
*Proven record of problem solving ability using scientific knowledge & principles including risk management.
*High learning agility (e.g. To understand and adopt new systems)*Proven track record in creating innovative new product solutions & implementing through external partners.
*Experienced in technical auditing related to FMCG Raw materials
*Technical Expertise in Quality management tools & techniques e.g. VA, SPC, LEAN, HACCP & NPD development processes

Others

*Good communication & assertiveness skills
*Entrepreneurial spirit
*High drive for results.
*Ability to influence external parties to do what's needed whilst maintaining good relationships.
*Can translate business process into systems requirements
*Can perform under pressure, organise programme of activities and good at planning and prioritising
*Courage of convictions - good command skills.
*Can travel EU wide to visit co-manufacturers- est. 25-30% travel

Adecco is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy. The Adecco Group UK & Ireland is an Equal Opportunities Employer.