Job Introduction
As we continue our mission to make people and nature happy through reinventing chocolate, we’re looking for a Quality & Food Safety Standards Manager to join our Quality & Food Safety and Product Integrity (Technical) Team on a permanent basis.
As Quality & Food Safety Standards Manager, you will be responsible for leading the team in maintaining and enhancing quality and food safety standards across all sites.
Partnering closely with our operational teams and senior management, you will implement and continuously improve the Quality Management System (QMS) and associated standards, consistently ensuring readiness for BRCGS and FSSC 22000 audits whilst embedding a culture of proactive risk management and operational excellence.
As well as a competitive salary and a range of company benefits including private healthcare cover, enhanced maternity and paternity leave and Company pension contributions, you’ll receive 50% discount on all products, and a 70% discount for you and your guests when you stay at our Rabot Estate hideaway on the paradise island of Saint Lucia.
Here at Hotel Chocolat, we've adopted hybrid working This means you’ll join us on site for three days a week, and for the other two days – you can work from wherever you like! The onsite location for this role is mainly based at our Factory ‘Hadley Park’, in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire with occasional travel to our sites in both St. Neots, Cambridgeshire and Harpole, Northampton.
What you’ll be doing….
Quality Management System & Compliance
- Lead, maintain, and continuously improve the QMS, including completed documented annual reviews, compliance updates, and alignment with evolving regulatory and certification requirements whilst aligning with all quality managers.
- Conduct a full gap analysis against FSSC 22000 standard whilst driving corrective and preventative actions to maintain certification readiness.
- Lead and support relevant parts of external audits, ensuring timely closure of findings and embedding lessons learned into site processes.
- Support with compliance to Q&FS Standards, driving compliance score improvements.
- Carry out QMS / unannounced technical audits to a schedule across all three sites.
Food Safety & Risk Management
- Lead the manufacturing site TACCP programme.
- Maintain and update technical risk assessments, ensuring proactive identification, mitigation and escalation of potential hazards.
- Lead and manage the commissioning of new or modified equipment and processes, ensuring full compliance with food safety and technical standards and validating operational readiness before go-live with a handover to the site Quality Manager.
- Provide guidance and training to operational teams on compliance with FSSC 22000 / BRCGS standards, fostering a culture of food safety awareness.
Process Improvement & Operational Support
- Champion technical process improvements by providing compliance oversight and technical input to manufacturing and operational projects, reducing risk, enhancing food safety, and improving efficiency.
- Lead the development, integration and optimisation of RedZone Compliance Module and other digital systems to ensure accurate data capture, interpretation, improved visibility and actionable insights.
Stakeholder Engagement & Leadership
- Build strong working relationships with operational teams, senior management and external partners to influence decisions and ensure early visibility of Q&FS (Quality & Food Safety) impacts.
- Serve as a proactive technical leader, providing constructive challenge at key project stages to protect standards and drive continuous improvement.
Technical Training & Development
- Arrange and fully manage on-site external technical training courses, track completion and competency and ensure follow-through to support team development.
- Evaluate training effectiveness and use feedback to enhance ongoing capability building across teams.
Performance Monitoring & Continuous Improvement
- Support the complaints reduction plan by driving quality improvement actions using insights provided by the Technical Data Lead.
Additional Responsibilities
- Lead or support continuous improvement projects aligned to site priorities.
- Deputise for Technical Data Lead with data reporting
- Deputise for the Site Quality Manager when required.
- Undertake additional tasks to support the wider Technical Department as needed.
Who you are…
Essential
- A demonstrable understanding of GFSI Standards – BRCGS / FSSC 22000.
- Experienced in conducting internal audits and the ability to clearly communicate findings.
- Ability to build strong and communicative working relationships with stakeholders across all levels within the business.
- HACCP Level 3 & Food Safety Level 3 qualified.
Desirable
- HACCP Level 4 & Food Safety Level 4 qualifications.
- Training experience.
Who are we?
We’re one of the UK’s favourite premium chocolate brands, with a range of products spanning luxury gifts, alcohol and our pioneering drinking chocolate system, the Velvetiser™.
A cacao pod takes years to grow – it can’t be rushed if it’s going to be just right for our products. The same can be said for Hotel Chocolat, which originally started as a mint production company before we realised it was luxury chocolate that we were really passionate about.
Now, we’re market leaders in the industry. What began as an online-only business grew to over 140 stores across the UK, and we’re still growing… Today, we’re multi-category, multi-channel, and multi-territory, and our customers, colleagues, cacao farmers and suppliers all benefit from the success we make together.
To learn more about us and read about our People Pledge – our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion – click here: hotelchocolat.com/uk/engaged-ethics/our-people.html