Quality Assurance Director FTC

To be successful, the Director – Buying services
- Quality Assurance will be an experienced senior technical leader with deep domain expertise in product safety, legality, quality standards, supplier assurance and regulatory compliance. They will be able to lead high-performing teams, manage risk effectively and influence stakeholders across the business to protect ALDI’s reputation and deliver consistently high standards for customers.

The QA vision is to make ALDI the trusted destination for affordable, quality products that meet our target customers’ expectations for reliability, safety and compliance. GB/IE QA supports Buying to deliver products that consistently meet customer needs and uphold ALDI’s safe, legal and quality standards.

The role requires a calm, tenacious, dynamic and diligent leader who can bring order and clarity to complexity, creating a positive and engaging environment that enables a highly motivated team to deliver consistently. The successful candidate will combine strategic thinking with practical execution, simplifying ways of working, removing unnecessary complexity and maintaining momentum in a role that requires influence, resilience and clear prioritisation rather than direct ownership of wider business strategy.

• Senior technical leadership — be an experienced senior technical leader with a minimum of 10 years’ industry experience across FMCG, food manufacturing or food service.
• Safety, legality and quality knowledge — demonstrate strong knowledge of safety, legality and quality standards, including relevant legislation, industry standards and retailer requirements.
• Team leadership — proven ability to lead, develop, motivate and get the best from technical or QA colleagues.
• Risk management — able to identify, assess and mitigate product, supplier, regulatory and reputational risks accurately and at pace.
• Supplier and product approval — experienced in supplier assurance, product specifications, audits and approval processes.
• Regulatory awareness — strong international understanding of current and emerging regulations affecting food, non-food and FMCG products.
• Stakeholder management — confident influencing senior leaders, Buying teams, suppliers and external partners through clear, credible and constructive engagement.
• Networking — able to build and maintain strong internal and external networks, using relationships across the business, supplier base and wider industry to share knowledge, identify emerging risks, support continuous improvement and protect business reputation.
• Strategic and operational delivery — able to set clear direction while ensuring day-to-day standards, processes and controls are delivered consistently and effectively.
• Solution and action orientated — able to move quickly from issue identification to practical solutions, taking ownership to drive decisions, progress actions and deliver outcomes at pace.
• Strong communication skills — able to simplify complex technical matters, act as a true translator between specialist and non-specialist audiences, and make information clear and accessible to all. Shares expertise openly and with humility, creating understanding rather than using information or knowledge as a source of power.
• Commercial awareness — able to balance quality, safety, customer expectations, cost and operational practicality to support sound business
• Minimum of 2.1 Science related degree/or equivalent
• Extensive industry specific experience
• Educational qualifications in the following areas would be desirable:
  Food science, Food Technology, Food Engineering, Health & Nutrition, Microbiology, Environmental Health/Regulatory relevant.
• Retail /manufacturing experience essential
• Experience of…