Head of Quality & Technical

Job Profile: Head of Quality

Department Technical / Quality Assurance

Location Lusk, Co. Dublin

Reports To MD

Employment Type Full-Time, Permanent

Role Purpose

The Head of Quality is a senior site leadership role responsible for ensuring that all Company products meet the highest standards of food safety, quality, legality, and customer expectations. Leading the site's Technical, QA, and Compliance teams, the role drives operational excellence, audit readiness, and continuous improvement across the business.

This role provides strategic and technical direction across all functions, acting as the site lead for food safety and quality culture, and maintaining full compliance with BRCGS, HACCP, customer codes, and Irish/EU legislation.

Key Responsibilities Quality Strategy & Technical Leadership

• Develop and implement the site's food safety and quality strategy in alignment with business objectives, customer expectations, and regulatory requirements.
• Lead, coach, and develop the QA, Technical, and Compliance teams to ensure a proactive, high-performance, and audit-ready culture.
• Represent BMF in technical engagements with key customers, retailers, and certification bodies.

Compliance, Certification & Regulatory Alignment

• Maintain and continuously improve certifications to BRCGS, Organic, DAFM, and customer-specific standards.
• Own the site's HACCP, TACCP, VACCP and Environmental Monitoring (EMP) programmes.
• Ensure compliance with all Irish and EU food safety legislation and maintain up-to-date regulatory registers.

Food Safety Systems & Digital Quality Management

• Maintain and develop the Quality Management System (QMS) to ensure process control, traceability, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure quality data integrity across digital systems (e.g. ERP, QAS portals, complaint systems, specification platforms).
• Utilise data and dashboards to drive trend analysis, issue resolution, and strategic planning.

Crisis & Incident Management

• Act as Technical Lead for food safety incidents, product withdrawals, or recalls.
• Maintain and routinely test the Product Recall Procedure, including conducting mock recalls and traceability drills.
• Lead root cause investigations and communicate with regulatory and customer contacts as needed.

Customer & Supplier Management

• Serve as the primary technical contact for all customer relationships (Tesco, Dunnes, M&S, Aldi, etc.).
• Manage customer complaints, ensuring timely response, root cause analysis, and closure of corrective actions.
• Oversee supplier approval, raw material risk assessments, and supplier performance management.

Audit Readiness & Internal Governance

• Lead all external audits (BRCGS, customer, DAFM, Organic), ensuring zero major non-conformances and high scores.
• Maintain a robust internal audit programme covering GMP, traceability, allergen control, and process compliance.
• Monitor hygiene validation, EMP results, and CCP verification to ensure factory hygiene and environmental safety.

Product Innovation & NPD Support

• Provide technical input for all new product launches, packaging validations, and process changes.
• Approve finished product specifications, shelf-life protocols, and allergen risk assessments before launch.
• Participate in factory trials and ensure new lines meet quality, safety, and legality criteria.

Talent & Succession Planning

• Lead succession planning within the technical function, identifying and developing high-potential team members.
• Promote cross-functional learning, technical training, and structured development plans across QA and compliance teams.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Operations, NPD, Commercial, Engineering, Hygiene, and Health & Safety teams to ensure end-to-end quality delivery.
• Participate in CAPEX planning, factory design, and improvement projects as the technical representative.

Key Interfaces

• Internal: Operations, Engineering, Hygiene, NPD, H&S, Sales
• External: Retailer Technical Teams, Regulatory Bodies (e.g. FSA), Certification Bodies, Approved Suppliers, Auditors

Working Hours

• Full-time with flexibility to support audits, mock recalls, customer visits, and crisis response.
• May require occasional evening or weekend availability.

Key Success Measures

• Zero major/critical non-conformances in BRC or customer audits
• 98% customer complaint closure within SLA
• Product withdrawal frequency
• Up-to-date review and validation of QMS, HACCP, EMP, and supplier approvals
• Internal audit closeout compliance >95% within target timeframe

KPI

• External audit scores (BRCGS, customer, DAFM)
• Right First Time (RFT) and product conformance
• Hygiene and EMP performance trend
• Customer complaints and repeat incident rates
• Supplier NCs and raw material compliance
• QMS document review and closure rates
• QA team engagement, retention, and development metrics

Qualifications & Experience

• BSc or MSc in Food Science, Microbiology, or related discipline
• Minimum 7+ years in senior food safety or quality leadership, ideally in chilled/high-care environments
• Advanced understanding of HACCP, TACCP/VACCP, EMP, BRCGS, and Irish/EU food law
• Demonstrated success in leading customer and regulatory audits
• Experience with QMS, specification systems, and ERP integration
• Strong cross-functional communication and stakeholder engagement

Personal Attributes

• Strategic mindset with exceptional attention to detail
• Inspirational leader and effective mentor
• Calm under pressure with strong problem-solving capability
• Analytical and data-driven decision-maker
• Advocates quality culture and continuous improvement
• High integrity and confidentiality

Confidentiality and Compliance

• Maintains full confidentiality regarding all business, product, and customer-sensitive information.
• Fully compliant with company policies, ethical standards, and food safety regulations.