Food Technologist

Location: Windsor, UK

Salary: Circa £40,000 per annum

Job Type: Full time, Permanent

Benefits include:

• Up to 15% bonus
• Private Medical Cover
• Life Cover
• Income Protection
• Critical Illness Cover
• Pension
• Social Events
• Holiday- 25 days per year plus your Birthday and Bank Holidays
• Gym Membership – 50% off at Snap Fitness, Windsor
• Hybrid working (2 days WFH)
• Flexible working
• Leaning and Development

We’re En Route.

We’re a welcoming bunch, with a down-to-earth outlook that helps build lasting relationships with customers and colleagues alike.

As global specialists in passenger solutions, supply chain services and sourcing for airlines and airline caterers, we operate globally as part of dnata, one of the world’s largest combined air services providers.

En Route’s expertise is one of the many reasons why we’ve enjoyed more than 20 years as a global food solutions partner, with offices in the UK, USA, Australia and UAE.

Are you ready to become part of our story?

Job purpose

As a key member of the Technical team, you will be driving the technical activities for your categories ensuring all required sign offs are met on time and to standard. You will be working cross functionally with Procurement, Food Development, Operations/Sales coordinators across all global offices to ensure our products are launched into production on-time and to a high standard. This role will support the approval and management of our supplier base, ensuring specifications/PLC’s are up to date and accurate, non-conformances are investigated, addressed and corrective actions are implemented. You will drive the product surveillance program and work with our supplier partners.

This fixed term role will support the business during a busy period of growth, ensuring that our partners have the necessary food safety processes in place and work to consistently apply the relevant procedures.

Key responsibilities

• Manage technical aspects of the supplier approval programme working closely with both internal and external stakeholders to ensure all gate posts are met.
• Lead the technical project management activities for the allocated categories and to support the wider team on any other categories as required.
• Manage the supplier risk assessment and approval programme, auditing suppliers to ensure supplier processes meet En Route’s quality and food safety requirements ensuring valid documentation and certification is available for each supplier as reference
• To take a lead role in the implementation and launch of our products with our supplier base (from approved concept to line trial, production, specs, QAS, PLC, Product surveillance).
• To support the team in developing the Quality Management System (QMS) across all areas of the business with the aim of achieving GFSI recognised status.
• Lead the compilation and timely publishing of product technical specifications for all global projects whilst ensuring verification and sign-off. Ensure that the technical specification portal is kept up to date for customers to access.
• Support the investigation and reporting of non-conformances, ensuring a responsive and pro-active investigation, with detailed reports, and adequate corrective and preventative actions.
• Co-ordinate the surveillance programme to ensure routine checks based on product, supplier, and customer risk ratings.
• Generation of quality attribute sheets for all ER branded product and high profile/high volume lines.
• Provide trend analysis on complaints and supplier performance to the wider team.
• Travel within the UK and internationally where necessary.
• Working with global teams to implement appropriate regional systems
• To undertake any other duties, which may from time to time be assigned. This job description is not intended to be either prescriptive or exhaustive, but it is issued as a general framework at the time of writing.

Person Specification

Qualifications and training

• A degree in food science/technology or a related science or equivalent experience
• Audit lead qualification desirable not essential.
• Experience of GFSI standards, good understanding of GFSI standards, HACCP/TACCP/VACCP and labelling legislation.

Experience

• Previous experience of working in the retail sector, food manufacturing.
• Experience working in the travel sector, catering sector desirable.
• Experience working with stage gate process (product development).
• Experience working in a global cross functional organisation
• A strong communicator who enjoys engaging with internal and external colleagues, clients, supplier partners in person, by phone and through email.
• Self-starter with ability to use own initiative.
• Enjoy solving problem and tenacious in finding problem’s root cause.
• Proficient IT and report writing skills.
• Comfortable working within a fast paced team with the ability to prioritise effectively

Additional information

This job will include close co-ordination and co-operation with procurement, NPD, operations/sales coordinators across all global offices.