Supplier Technical Manager

Vitacress Salads St Mary Bourne, Lower Link Farm, Lower Link, Andover, Hampshire, United Kingdom

Job Description

Posted Tuesday 23 June 2026 at 00:00

Job opportunity: Supplier Technical Manager

Working pattern: 0800 - 1630

Location: St Mary Bourne (nr Andover) with travel to our farms and suppliers

Salary: competitive with eligibility for incentive scheme, company pension and private medical insurance

In this role

• Support and advise our farms and suppliers in meeting requirements on food safety and due diligence with the sharing of best practice
• Act as the key technical link between growers, suppliers, factory teams and customers
• Manage supplier risk, proactively identifying and resolving crop quality, pest, disease and food safety challenges
• Lead supplier visit and auditing programmes covering crop quality, ethical and food safety topics with collaborative agreement with procurement based on risk assessment
• Influence supplier performance through collaboration with procurement, agronomy, technical and commercial teams
• Drive improvements in quality, shelf life, sustainability and overall supply chain capability

You'll do this for us

• Manage supplier due diligence, onboarding and compliance documentation across raw materials and ingredients
• Lead supplier audit and visit programmes covering crop quality, food safety and ethical standards
• Monitor microbiological and pesticide residue testing programmes and drive corrective actions where needed
• Review crop risk, pre-harvest assessments and HACCP compliance across the supply base
• Produce weekly crop quality reports and track supplier performance through KPIs and end-of-season reviews
• Support customer visits, internal teams and investigations while building strong supplier relationships and sharing best practice
• Drive improvements in quality, shelf life, sustainability and supplier capability
• Manage web-based platforms such as Food Experts and Land App, plus any relevant customer portals
• Actively participate in weekly farm and supplier meetings and write crop reports for customers

You can do this if you have

• Proven experience in supplier assurance, auditing, quality and compliance within fresh produce or agri-food supply chains
• Strong knowledge of BRCGS, Red Tractor, Global GAP, LEAF and ethical compliance standards
• Solid understanding of farm risk assessments and ideally HACCP Level 3 certification
• Excellent communication and influencing skills with a proactive, customer-focused mindset
• Commercial awareness and the ability to drive continuous improvement across suppliers
• A degree in Food Science, Agri-Food or other relevant area
• A qualification in BASIS and/or FACTS would be advantageous