If, after reading the role description below, you’d like to apply, please send your CV and a short note on your certification track record to [email protected] . No agencies, please.
About us
Galeta is one of London's leading artisan wholesale bakeries. Built over 15 years from a market stall to a business with circa £18m revenue, we employ over 100 people and supply more than 1,200 wholesale customers across London and the South East, including major national coffee and food service accounts. Following our recent acquisition of Bread Bread, we are in an ambitious growth phase and are investing significantly in our technical and food safety capability
Purpose of the role
This is a newly created senior role with full ownership of food safety, quality and technical compliance across the business. Your immediate priority is to lead Galeta through BRCGS START! Intermediate certification on a defined 26-week programme, while resolving outstanding customer audit non-conformances and embedding a robust, sustainable food safety culture across the site.
You will be the senior authority on food safety and legality at Galeta, with the autonomy and mandate to act, including stopping production or dispatch where necessary. You will report directly to the Managing Director and work closely with production, operations and commercial teams.
Key responsibilities
Certification and audit readiness
- Own and deliver the BRCGS START! Intermediate certification programme end to end, including gap analysis, corrective action planning, documentation, training and audit management
- Lead the response to customer audit non-conformances, including root cause analysis, corrective and preventive actions, and close-out with customer technical teams
- Act as the primary technical contact for customer audits, third-party auditors and enforcement authorities
- Maintain permanent audit readiness across the site
Food safety and quality systems
- Own, develop and maintain the HACCP plan, including TACCP and VACCP, ensuring risk assessments are current and operationally embedded
- Build and maintain the quality management system, including specifications, traceability, labelling compliance, supplier approval and raw material risk profiling
- Provide expert oversight of allergen management and controls across a multi-product artisan bakery environment
- Establish and manage testing regimes, product verification, shelf-life validation and environmental monitoring
- Investigate complaints and non-conformances, driving corrective action and trend analysis
Culture, people and integration
- Build a food safety culture where technical discipline and artisan craft work together, with a strong daily presence on the bakery floor
- Recruit, lead and develop the technical, QA and hygiene function as it grows
- Design and deliver food safety training, from induction through to ongoing competence assessment
- Oversee hygiene standards and hygiene contractors
- Support the technical integration of acquired businesses onto Galeta systems and standards
Commercial and continuous improvement
- Support new product development and product changes from a technical and legal perspective
- Manage supplier technical performance and raw material specifications
- Provide technical input to customer onboarding and tenders, where certification and compliance are increasingly a commercial requirement
- Report monthly to the Managing Director on technical KPIs, audit status, complaints and programme progress
Candidate profile
Essential
- Proven experience as a Technical Manager, Food Safety Manager or senior QA Manager in food manufacturing
- Demonstrable track record of achieving or maintaining BRCGS certification (Food Safety or START!), ideally including taking a site through certification for the first time
- Strong working knowledge of HACCP (Level 3 minimum, Level 4 preferred), UK food law, labelling and allergen legislation
- Experience managing customer and third-party audits, including handling and closing out non-conformances under time pressure
- Hands-on, pragmatic operator comfortable in a fast-paced SME environment without large support teams
- Strong communication skills and the credibility to influence from the bakery floor to the boardroom
Desirable
- Bakery or ambient/chilled short shelf-life manufacturing experience
- Degree (or equivalent experience) in Food Science, Food Technology, Microbiology or a related discipline
- Experience building a technical function from a low base or post-acquisition
- Lead auditor qualification
- Experience with food service and coffee chain customer technical requirements
What we offer
- Salary of £60,000 to £70,000 depending on experience
- Discretionary performance bonus linked to certification and audit milestones
- Genuine ownership of the technical agenda in a founder-led business, reporting directly to the MD
- The opportunity to build a function and team from the ground up in a business with a clear growth and investment plan
- 25 days holiday plus bank holidays, pension, staff discount
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: £60,000.00-£70,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Employee discount
- Free parking
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Hayes UB3 3BL: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Experience:
- Technical writing: 3 years (preferred)
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: In person
