Head of Technical

Location: East Midlands

Head of Technical – Food, Fresh Produce & Sustainability

An exciting opportunity to shape the technical future of a fast-growing, purpose-driven food business!

Are you a commercially minded Technical Leader who loves a challenge, thrives on innovation and wants to make a genuine difference to the future of food?

An ambitious, sustainability-focused food business is looking for an exceptional Head of Technical to lead its technical strategy through an exciting period of growth and diversification. With a strong heritage in fresh produce and a genuine commitment to reducing food waste, the business is evolving into a multi-category, multi-channel food brand, expanding into chilled dairy, meat, fish, bakery and ambient products.
This is a fantastic opportunity for a forward-thinking technical professional to build, influence and lead a function that will be central to the company’s future success.

The Opportunity

Reporting into the senior leadership structure, the successful candidate will take ownership of the technical strategy, ensuring that food safety, quality, legality, ethical sourcing and sustainability remain at the heart of the business.

Far from being a purely compliance-focused position, this is a highly influential leadership role where technical expertise will help shape commercial decisions, support innovation and enable the business to grow confidently into new categories.

Key responsibilities will include:

* Developing and delivering a technical strategy that supports ambitious business growth and product diversification.

* Leading food safety, quality assurance, technical compliance and accreditation across multiple food categories.

* Establishing robust technical governance, supplier approval processes, specifications and risk management systems.

* Building strong technical relationships with growers, manufacturers, suppliers and third-party co-packers.

* Driving continuous improvements in product quality, customer satisfaction and supplier performance.

* Supporting new product development and ensuring the safe introduction of new categories and products.

* Leading technical sustainability initiatives, including ethical sourcing, packaging improvements, carbon reduction and B Corp commitments.

* Developing and inspiring a high-performing Technical team, creating the systems and capabilities needed for future growth.

* Ensuring effective traceability, product recall procedures and regulatory compliance across the supply chain.

The Person

The business is looking for a confident, engaging and commercially astute technical leader who can combine strategic thinking with a practical, hands-on approach.

The ideal candidate will bring:

* Significant senior technical leadership experience within food manufacturing, retail, food service or a major food supply business.

* Strong fresh produce knowledge, complemented by experience across at least two additional categories such as dairy, meat, fish or bakery.

* Excellent understanding of UK food legislation, BRC standards, HACCP and food safety management systems.

* Proven experience managing supplier assurance, technical audits, third-party manufacturers and co-packers.

* Experience building or developing technical functions within growing or changing businesses.

* A strong track record of leading, mentoring and developing technical teams.

* Experience supporting NPD, own-brand products and consumer-focused food businesses.

* A relevant food science or food technology qualification, together with HACCP Level 3 or above.

Experience with in direct-to-consumer, subscription food businesses, B Corp environments or sustainability-led organisations would be particularly attractive.

Why This Role?

This is more than just another Head of Technical position.

It offers…