Divisional Technical Controller

Location: Hybrid / Flexible (UK Travel Required)

Salary: £68,000 - £75,000 + Car Allowance + Bonus + Benefits

At The Compleat Food Group, we're on a mission to create food that people love. As one of the UK's leading chilled food manufacturers, we supply many of the nation's biggest retailers and continue to invest in our people, products, and capabilities.

We're currently recruiting three Divisional Technical Controllers
, with opportunities available across our Fried, Deli, and Pastry divisions
.

These are high-profile leadership roles, offering the opportunity to influence technical strategy across multiple manufacturing sites, shape customer relationships, develop technical talent, and drive standards of food safety, quality, authenticity, and compliance across your division.

If you're an experienced senior technical leader looking for a broader, more strategic role with genuine scope and visibility, we'd love to hear from you.

Reporting to the Divisional Technical Director, you'll provide both strategic and operational technical leadership across your division, ensuring consistently high standards of:

• Food Safety
• Product Quality
• Legality
• Authenticity
• Customer Compliance

You'll work closely with Heads of Technical, site leadership teams, central technical functions, and major retail customers to ensure robust technical systems, effective risk management, continuous improvement, and a proactive quality culture.

You'll also act as a key customer-facing representative and be a senior escalation point for technical and quality matters.

• Deputise for the Divisional Technical Director when required.
• Lead and support customer technical initiatives, projects, and communications.
• Ensure compliance with customer codes of practice across all divisional sites.
• Prepare and present technical performance reviews, KPIs, and customer reports.
• Drive data-led decision-making and proactive issue management.
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective/preventative action programmes.
• Embed a strong food safety and quality culture across multiple sites.
• Provide leadership during significant customer, quality, or food safety incidents.
• Drive consistency and best practice across the division.
• Lead and develop the Heads of Technical community.
• Support shelf-life optimisation and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Drive technical performance through site reviews and systems maturity assessments.
• Build strong relationships with retailers and key customer stakeholders.
• Ensure divisional understanding and delivery of customer expectations.
• Coach and develop technical talent while strengthening succession plans.

We're looking for an experienced technical leader who thrives in a fast-paced food manufacturing environment.

You’ll have:

• Significant senior technical management experience within food manufacturing.
• Strong experience within chilled and short shelf-life food production.
• Extensive knowledge of major UK retailer technical standards and codes of practice.
• Detailed understanding of BRCGS Global Food Safety Standards.
• Strong knowledge of microbiology, food safety, and risk management.
• Experience managing technical teams across multiple sites.
• A proven track record of customer engagement and leadership.
• Food Science, Food Technology, or related degree.
• Level 4 Food Safety qualification.

At The Compleat Food Group, we believe our people are the heart of our success. That’s why we offer a wide range of benefits designed to support your lifestyle, wellbeing, and career growth:

• Company Bonus Scheme recognising performance and contribution
• Salary Sacrifice Schemes - including Electric Vehicles, Home & Tech, Cycle to Work, and SMART Pension
• 33 days’ annual leave (including bank holidays) with…