Avondale Foods is a leading food processing company of Fresh and Chilled products supplying leading retail businesses such as Marks & Spencer, Morrison’s and Waitrose in the UK.
The Head of Technical & Quality will provide uncompromising leadership of food safety, quality, legality, and retailer compliance across the business. They will protect customer’s technical confidence, ensure repeatable audit success, strengthen governance and embed a proactive, disciplined and scientifically rigorous technical culture.
Key Responsibilities
Lead Food Safety & Compliance with Zero‑Tolerance Standards
- Own the full technical governance framework for BRC, retailer COPs, microbiological standards, allergen control, traceability, and GMP.
- Implement a robust, audit‑ready every day environment—no pre‑audit clean‑ups, no surprises.
- Introduce strict internal monitoring, validation and verification systems.
Strengthen Customer Relationships and Audit Performance
- Lead immediate and long‑term recovery plans to re‑establish customer confidence.
- Hold weekly technical–operational alignment sessions specifically focused on customer issues and improvement actions.
- Bring heightened visibility to customer COP compliance, micro performance, and factory standards.
- Ensure all customer feedback, audit findings, and non‑conformances are closed out fully, on time, and with sustainable fixes, not temporary patches.
Transform Internal Audit Rigor and Technical Governance
- Redesign the internal audit programme to mirror retailer expectations.
- Implement a risk‑based audit model with unannounced internal audits and follow‑up verification.
- Introduce clear escalation protocols when audit findings are repeated, unresolved, or high risk.
- Ensure all sites operate to the highest performing site’s standard—no variation tolerated.
Strengthen Technical Leadership, Capability and Team Behaviour
- Raise performance expectations for all technical managers, QA teams, hygiene, and compliance roles.
- Build technical capability through structured training (COPs, root‑cause analysis, HACCP, customer standards).
- Address under‑performance quickly with coaching, development, or realignment of roles.
- Shift the culture from reactive firefighting to proactive prevention.
Partner with Operations to Improve Factory Execution
- Work hand‑in‑hand with the Head of Operations to deliver consistent factory discipline.
- Strengthen daily factory technical presence and visibility on the floor.
- Ensure GMP, hygiene, allergen control and traceability procedures are adhered to at all times.
- Hold Operations accountable for technical compliance as a shared ownership model.
Lead Technical Support for NPD and Commercial
- Oversee accurate specifications, robust validation, and manufacturability assessments.
- Ensure technical sign‑off for concept feasibility, trials, and launches.
- Support commercial discussions on quality requirements, risk assessments, and retailer expectations.
Crisis Management & Incident Response
- Lead investigation and root cause analysis for any food safety incident, customer complaint spike, or audit failure.
- Communicate transparently with customers during incidents with factual, science‑based reporting.
- Put in place permanent corrective and preventive actions (CAPAs) to prevent recurrence.
- Contribute to the development of a culture of Integrity, collaboration ‘do the right thing’ approach in all interactions.
- Ensure Food Safety compliance with company policies and regulatory requirements to remain audit-ready at all times.
Essential Criteria
- Degree‑qualified in Food Science, Food Technology, Microbiology, Chemistry, Engineering, or a closely related technical discipline.
- Extensive technical leadership experience within a complex, highly regulated FMCG environment, ideally food manufacturing supplying major UK retailers.
- Proven track record of leading food safety, quality, and compliance functions with zero‑tolerance standards covering BRCGS, retailer COPs, allergens, microbiology, traceability, and GMP.
- Experience designing and embedding governance frameworks, internal audit programmes, and risk‑based technical systems that deliver repeatable audit success.
- Strong background in leading technical teams through cultural change, capability uplift, high‑performance expectations, and disciplined execution.
- Proven ability to partner effectively with Operations to drive factory standards, improve manufacturing discipline, and ensure joint ownership of compliance.
- Experience supporting NPD, commercial, and supply chain functions with robust technical assessments, risk evaluations, and retailer technical sign‑off.
- Demonstrated capability in crisis management, root‑cause investigations, incident reporting, and implementing sustainable corrective/preventive actions (CAPA).
- Comfortable operating in fast‑paced, high‑pressure environments with highvisibility to senior leadership and retailers.
Desirable Criteria
- Experience working across multiple sites or international operations
- Exposure to different product categories (e.g. Chilled, frozen, ambient, high-risk)
- Experience supporting or leading site start-ups, restructures, or major transformations
- Formal training in Lean, Six Sigma, or CI methodologies
- Proven track record of delivering measurable improvements (e.g. Complaint reduction, audit scores, waste reduction)
- Experience implementing digital quality or traceability systems
- Direct experience working with major UK retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, or Marks & Spencer at a senior technical level
- Experience leading or supporting customer visits, audits, and critical issue resolution
- Ability to influence commercial decisions using technical insight
- Coaching and mentoring future technical leaders
- Experience building a strong food safety culture across an organisation
- Evidence of influencing at board or executive level
Personal Attributes
- Agile, decisive and adaptable - able to operate in a dynamic, high‑pressure environment while maintaining clarity, control, and excellent judgment.
- Structured, disciplined, and methodical in approach, with strong governance instincts and a commitment to “audit‑ready every day” standards.
- Scientifically rigorous with a deep understanding of microbiology, food safety systems, and risk‑based decision making.
- High personal accountability - sets uncompromising standards for themselves and others; does not tolerate mediocrity or repeated non‑compliance.
- Strong leadership presence, able to influence cross‑functional teams, challenge constructively, and hold people to account at all levels.
- Clear, confident, and transparent communicator, skilled at explaining technical issues concisely to internal stakeholders and external partners including retailers.
- Calm under pressure, especially during audits, incidents, or escalations; brings stability, clarity, and evidence‑based reasoning to decision making.
- Proactive and prevention‑focused, constantly seeking to strengthen systems, anticipate risks, and eliminate root causes—not firefighting.
- Collaborative, building strong technical‑operational alignment and promoting joint ownership of standards.
- Resilient, determined, and improvement‑driven, with the tenacity to lead transformation, raise standards, and embed a new technical culture across the business.
KPIs & Success Measures
- Zero failed audits within 12 months
- ≥ Grade A/B BRC results
- Significant reduction in non‑conformances (major/minor)
- Demonstrable year‑on‑year improvement in hygiene, micro, and environmental monitoring trends
- All non‑conformances closed on time with verified CAPAs
- Internal audit scores improved and stabilised above set targets
- Reduction in repeat findings to near zero
- Reduction in customer complaints (rate per million units)
- Improved GMP audit scores across factories
- Consistent allergen, traceability, and CCP compliance
- Clear uplift in capability, discipline, and accountability across technical teams
- Strong cross‑functional alignment with Operations, NPD, and Supply Chain
- Recognisable shift toward a proactive, prevention‑focused technical culture
**NO AGENCIES PLEASE**