Food Technologist – Technical Services

£35,000 - £45,000 plus great benefits (work level 6A)

Manchester city centre, with UK travel to supplier sites

We’re now working in a hybrid way, with colleagues dividing their time between home/remote working and the office (1-2 days per week). You can find out more about our hybrid working policy at colleagues.coop.co.uk/hybrid-working-policy

Please note Co-op does not offer visa sponsorship for this role.

We’re experiencing an exciting period of growth and expansion in our food technology team, and we’re looking for a dedicated Food Technologist to support our Business to Business (B2B) operations. 

In this role, you’ll ensure compliance with evolving industry regulations, manage food safety and integrity incidents, support the management of and coordinate enforcement referrals and customer complaint escalations. Working closely with both internal and external stakeholders, you’ll build strong professional relationships, manage risk, and develop proactive solutions to protect the business and our customers. You’ll also provide technical guidance and support of our technical systems – handling large amounts of data while collaborating with the team on data interpretation and brand compliance.

Join a forward-thinking team at the forefront of industry innovation and have the opportunity to grow your career within a business that places people at the heart of everything we do. 

What you’ll do

• Manage the implementation of the Food Technical strategy within our Business to Business (B2B) operations, ensuring compliance with industry regulations and emerging issues.
• Support food safety and integrity incidents for NISA, coordinate enforcement referrals, escalate customer complaints, and maintain Co-op's Primary Authority relationship.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to build strong professional relationships whilst successfully managing projects, presenting on behalf of the business and proactively manage risk to protect the business and customers.
• Provide technical support and guidance on all system management issues, ensuring seamless operations.
• Support on NISA Technical regulation and ensure legal compliance is maintained across the business.
• Manage all technical queries for NISA, including product recalls, withdrawals, and food authenticity.
• Oversee Organic Certification for all NISA depots and Head Office, ensuring compliance with standards.
• Lead on tertiary and supplier due diligence, support Apiary Suppliers with technical system queries, and ensure they are all in working order.

This role would suit people who have

• Food Tech or Food Science degree, or equivalent technical experience with a retail, hospitality, food services or manufacturing
• A Food Safety Qualification - HACCP/ GMP/ Hygiene
• Strong understanding of microbiology and nutrition
• Ability to manage risk and compliance within all areas of the role, including queries and issues
• Strong communication and networking skills with both internal and external stakeholders
• Strong organisational skills and able to multi-task projects
• A data-driven person, who is able to understand and interpret large amounts of datasets efficiently

Why Co-op? 

Here you’ll do work that matters. We’re a commercial organisation with a purpose beyond profit, you’ll have an opportunity to help us build a stronger Co-op and stronger communities. You’ll also get a package that includes:

• competitive salary
• coaching, training and support to help you develop
• pension with up to 10% employer contributions
• annual incentive scheme
• Wagestream - a money management app that gives you access to a percentage of your pay as you earn it
• 28 days holiday (rising to 32 in line with service)
• discounts on Co-op products and services

Building an inclusive work environment 

At Co-op, we’re proud to do things a different way. As one of the world’s largest co-operatives, owned by millions of members, community is at the heart of what we do. Since our Co-op was founded in 1844, we’ve had a clear social purpose, and everything we do as a business helps to build a fairer world for our members, customers, colleagues, and communities.

We’re actively building diverse teams and we welcome applications from everyone. If you have a disability, we can make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process according to your needs. We're also part of the Disability Confident scheme, meaning we'll always offer an interview to disabled candidates who apply through the scheme if they meet the minimum criteria for a job.

We'll ask whether you’d like to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme when you apply.

If we invite you to take part in the recruitment process for any of our jobs, we’ll ask you if you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to participate.

You can find out more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process.

You can find out more about the Disability Confident scheme and all our commitments to diversity and inclusion at colleagues.coop.co.uk/diversity-inclusion-and-wellbeing.

As part of your application, you'll need to complete an online assessment. This assessment typically takes between 45-60 minutes. If you're a current Co-op colleague, this does not need to be completed.