Job description
THE ROLE:
This Quality Manager (food) role is with a major grower of soft fruit. Based in Herefordshire, the role will involve energetically and efficiently leading and managing the quality function and quality across this £20m UK growing business. Making a step change in all aspects of quality performance through building an effective end to end quality process and building a culture of quality and customer focus (internally and externally). You will influence your peer group to increase the voice of quality within the business, ensuring that the food products that this company produces are seen as world class. You will ensure that the right levels of quality are maintained at the right cost – ensuring a balanced approach with reputation and quality as the primary objective and cost as a very close second. You will need to ensure quality is not perceived as just sorting out defects, as it is also proactively “engineering” in good quality throughout the process. This company can offer fantastic opportunities for career progression moving forward!
Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:
- Ensure a safe working environment and safe ways of working are attained at all times.
- Reduce customer and consumer complaints.
- Ensure all audits are passed with flying colours
- Set and maintain an appropriate set of KPIs, with structured actions to improve
- Develop and deliver a quality strategy that will deliver excellent measurable results
- Maintain and deliver a quality improvement plan identifying where the most impact will be realised
- Respond in a timely manner to all relevant customer feedback, and requests with a world class response that will build our reputation.
- Ensure there is an end to end quality process that ensures that defects are not passed on at any step of the process. From field to customer drop off.
- Ensure that quality standards are effectively defined, trained out and adhered to.
- Ensure that we do not create waste through “Over quality” – i.e. operating at a higher level and cost than we have agreed with customer standards.
- Understand root causes of any quality non-compliance (both Acute and chronic) and through taking action to remedy proactively reduce waste within the business.
- Maintain contact with customers (through BG) to ensure that the business is kept up to speed on changes and proposed changes
- Ensure that the business is aware of and compliant with any relevant legislation, and prepared for any scheduled changes.
- Develop quality team members for succession planning and increased performance.
- Ensure the business is up to speed and compliant with all relevant legislation and customer requirements
- Provide timely feedback and work with team members (including South Africa, Harvest, growers, suppliers etc) to ensure quality concerns/issues/opportunities are understood and acted upon by all key stakeholders.
THE COMPANY:
A UK market leader in soft fruit production.
ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Experienced food industry quality professional with at least 5 year experience of managing quality within a reasonable sized business operating on exceedingly tight timescales and fast paced decision making.
- Soft fruit experience ideal.
- Demonstrable ability of developing and delivering strategies and quality processes they will know what excellent looks like.
- Confident in dealing with others, able to influence across the business and engender change.
- Able to demonstrate balancing quality as a priority with delivery and cost to ensure optimised result.
- Effectively lead and motivated teams to achieve great results.
THE PACKAGE:
Highly competitive basic salary on offer circa £30,000 basic! Plus great benefits package.
Please email your CV to Rebekah@agriRS.co.uk
We thank all applicants who respond, but please be advised that only those short listed for interview will be contacted.
To keep up to date with Agricultural Recruitment Specialists latest jobs, then please register effortlessly on our website: www.agriRS.co.uk and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
Agricultural Recruitment Specialists are a market leading, highly prestigious and professional recruitment agency within the agriculture, horticultural, equestrian, animal health and rural sectors, with a strong focus on jobs and job vacancies within sales, management, marketing, operations, technical, engineering sectors, including international and Senior/Director jobs, within our specialist and niche agricultural sector. We offer a range of services to clients including head hunting, specialist advertising and general recruitment services. Please visit www.agriRS.co.uk to find out more or call us on 01905 345 155 to talk to a member of our recruitment team today.