Head of Technical

Job role: Head of Technical

Effective date: October 2024

Reporting to: Managing Director

Based at: Glebe Farm Foods

Role

Glebe is planning to grow significantly over the coming years and now requires an excellent Head of Technical to support this and drive transformational change. The key purpose of this role is to lead Glebe’s Technical team to ensure all our products are quality and food safety compliant.

Who we are

We are an independent business led by brother and sister team, Philip and Rebecca Rayner on our family farm, north of Huntingdon, in Cambridgeshire. At Glebe Farm Foods, oats are more than just a crop - they are our obsession, our passion, and our way of life. We take great pride in delivering the highest quality and purest British gluten free oats, supplying customers and manufacturers right around the world. From field to farm to food, we meticulously handle every step of the process, from growing to processing, to ensure unparalleled quality. Under our PureOaty brand, we offer a range of tOATtally tasty products, including oat drinks, granolas, and porridges, made with unwavering dedication to quality ingredients and sustainability, all certified 100% gluten free by Coeliac UK.

Your responsibilities

Key aspects of the role include:

• Leading, coaching and developing the site Technical, NPD and Hygiene teams.
• Design and implement the strategy and delivery of product quality across all products.
• Ensure all technical questions or concerns raised by customers are dealt with in a timely manner by the Technical team.
• Ensure relevant technical standards are implemented across the whole site.
• Ensure customer codes of practice standards are reviewed and are continuously met.
• Manage and support the NPD process for brand-led innovation from concept to launch in collaboration with the marketing team, sales and the end customer in the case of own label.
• Collaborate with the Head of Marketing to work on implementing a 5-year plan.
• Design and deliver an ESG plan (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance).
• Ensure compliance with packaging legislation.
• Any other tasks that may reasonably be required by the business.
• Maintenance of all Site Accreditations and ensuring timely close out of any non-conformances raised and no repeats of NCN on future audits.

Skills and experience

This role requires the following technical skills and experience:

• Food science degree or equivalent experience working in the food manufacturing industry.
• Proven technical liquid development experience.
• Proven experience of Workplace Health & Safety, Environmental and Sustainability
• Knowledge of organic, production and accreditation.
• Knowledge of TASCC, Organic and GFCP.
• Proven experience working with retailers.
• Strong understanding around retail own label products.
• In depth knowledge of BRC and HACCP standards and in-depth experience of internal and external audits.
• You will need experience of leading and developing a technical team via coaching and empowering the team.

This role requires the following personal attributes:

• Strong strategic leadership skills.
• High professional standards, work collaboratively with colleagues and a good communicator at all levels.
• Proven ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
• Self-motivated.
• Excellent attention to detail.

Glebe Farm Foods Ltd. is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome and encourage candidates from all backgrounds and walks of life to apply. If you would like to discuss any accessibility requirements for the recruitment process or the role, please email us to HR@glebefarmfoods.co.uk and we will be happy to discuss.