QA Manager

Job Purpose

Lead the site Quality Assurance function and ensure all products, processes, and premises meet food safety, quality, legal, and customer standards. Own the site’s technical governance, HACCP systems, audit readiness, and continuous improvement agenda. Act as deputy to the Senior Technical Manager.

Reporting to the Senior Technical Manager, the Factory Technical Manager leads a shift‑based team covering the manufacturing operating hours and microbiological testing/reporting requirements. Flexibility is required to support ad‑hoc out of hours as needed.

Senior Analysts cover the first line escalation for shift requirements working with QA Analysts covering site management along with Microbiologists conducting the product release assessment, ensuring the product is produced meeting customer safety, legality, and consistency standards.

Internal contacts: group area operations leadership teams, Site technical & operations teams, central group technical teams.

External contacts: EHO’s, Trading Standards, accreditation bodies, retailers, NGOs, 3rd Party audit bodies, suppliers, trade bodies, external warehouses & service providers. This role supports the Senior Technical Manager on all aspects of the technical function and liaises with the above contacts as required.

Travel within the UK and occasional overseas as required.

• Lead, review and update all HACCP plans (process, product, and procedures), ensuring compliance with CCPs and prerequisite programmes.
• Define process validation parameters for pasteurisation/sterilisation systems, including worst‑case conditions, escalation protocols and technical requirements based on HACCP principles.
• Ensure robust HACCP risk assessments that drive right‑first‑time production.
• Lead annual validation and verification reviews for food safety systems.
• Facilitate assessment of factory practices against HACCP Management System requirements.
• Conduct and review CIP, hygiene, GMP and internal audits to verify food safety performance.
• Ensure strong systems for allergen, adulteration, nutritional, chemical and microbiological risk management.
• Lead site food safety, culture and integrity initiatives aligned with site strategy.
• Provide food safety leadership during crisis management, including non‑conforming stock decisions and escalations.
• Drive and own the site’s Quality Management System, ensuring compliance with BRC, customer, certification and legislative requirements.
• Ensure the site is audit‑ready at all times and lead internal, customer, 3rd party and EHO audits, from preparation through corrective action closure.
• Ensure QA teams maintain, review, audit and continuously improve QMS documentation and processes.
• Develop systems for compliance monitoring, data analysis and effective record keeping.
• Work with Group Technical to align site QMS to central policies and industry best practice.
• Lead food defence, food integrity and CCP governance across the site.
• Accountable for raw material, packaging and finished product assessment, processing and release.
• Lead block stock investigation, decision‑making (release/reject) and associated corrective actions.
• Establish quality controls and practices for new product development launches, ongoing product quality and specification adherence.
• Define and manage external testing regimes for pack claim verification and product assurance.
• Manage authenticity, adulteration, allergenic, microbiological and chemical testing regimes across the product lifecycle.
• Oversee nutritional, authenticity and finished product quality assessment processes.
• Collaborate with QA and NPD teams to trend, monitor and improve product attribute quality.
• Define process controls and operating protocols for pasteurisation/sterilisation, including deviation handling.
• Establish site monitoring schedules for product, equipment and process verification.
• Ensure all quality and safety monitoring equipment is calibrated, verified and traceable to national standards.
• Work with OEMs and Engineering to maintain calibration activities and incorporate measurement uncertainty into operations.
• Lead laboratory measurement standards, analytical performance…