Account Technical Manager - Food Manufacturing

Summary

We are charged with the recruitment of an Account Technical Manager for a FTSE 100 branded/own label food manufacturer.

Job Description

This is a customer (Retailer) facing role, reporting to the Head of Technical Operation and NPD.  The Head Office is in South East but there will be a need to visit the multiple manufacturing sites across the UK and Retailer Customers.

The scope of the role will be to manage, strengthen and develop the company's technical performance in respect of Retailer technical requirements.  There are no direct reports to this position and no direct control of budgets.

The position is directly customer facing and requires strong and effective communication with operational management at manufacturing sites and centrally as well as commercial account teams, procurement and other technically based head office colleagues. The position requires effective influencing skills to achieve results across multiple functions to deliver customer requirements.

The job holder has daily contact with customers and is consequently expected to deal directly with most operational matters as they occur. All decisions taken must also reflect the impact that these have on other customers and the company itself.

Typical KPI measures are as follows:-Customer complaint levels (Indirectly), Product withdrawals and recalls (Indirectly), Customer scorecards (Indirectly), Product assessments (Directly), Audit visit scores (Indirectly), NPD/EPD delivery (Directly), Communications on time (Directly).

The key accountabilities include:

· Liaises on behalf of the company with customer technologists to ensure all food safety, legal and quality requirements are managed in accordance with customer requirements.
· Ensures that all food manufacturing sites are in compliance with customer policies and codes of practice through audit and operational review. 
· Implements, maintains and reports on monitoring systems to show customer key performance indicators by means of period reports.
· Monitors complaints across the retailers, reviewing specific trends, issues and corrective actions with sites.
· Manages a successful NPD/EPD process by means of agreed critical paths.
· Ensures all relevant product information is up to date and communicated to appropriate persons.
· Monitors and reviews customer technical information ensuring its adoption into Company standards.
· Plays an active role in business development through the delivery of the commercial business plan working with the customer account teams.
· Prepares a technical business plan to deliver strategic objectives through customer agreed programmes.
· Provides technical support and advice to Retailers.
· Builds relationships with site management to secure improvement in customer performance measures.
· Position is customer facing and involves travel to sites and customers.

The ideal candidate will have:

· Degree in Food Science, Food Technology, related subject or equivalent.
· Experience in the Food Industry and knowledge of HACCP.
· Working knowledge of quality systems.
· Experienced in sensory evaluation is desirable.
· Good presentational skills required.
· PC literate with experience of Microsoft Office Suite.
· Excellent inter-personal skills.
· Confident demeanour.
· Good influencing and impact skills.

This Client has a track record of excellent career progression with the Group.

Ref MDW7531