Technical LeaderLocation: LeicesterDepartment: TechnicalReports to: Quality ManagerAbout Europe SnacksAt Europe Snacks, we want to be a great place to work. We do that by making sure our values of Entrepreneurship, Excellence and Care sit at the heart of everything we do. We’re now looking for a Technical Leader to join our Leicester site and help drive food safety, quality, hygiene and compliance performance across the business. The opportunityThis is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced technical professional who enjoys working in a fast-paced food manufacturing environment and wants to make a genuine impact.As Technical Leader, you’ll be part of the day-based Technical Team, supporting departmental objectives and site performance targets. You’ll play a key role in maintaining compliance, driving standards, coaching others, supporting investigations and helping to embed continuous improvement across the factory. Key responsibilitiesFood safety, quality and complianceSupport compliance activity across site and help drive corrective actions through to completionLead and maintain traceability routine testingReview and police line paperwork to ensure adherence and completion in real timeEnsure lines are positively released back to production using defined swabbing schemes through QATsCarry out audits to schedule, including glass and hard plastic, bait box, GMP and internal auditsEnsure site adherence to customer-specific quality assurance standardsConduct and analyse QA board testing and trending to identify key areas for improvementEnsure raw materials have approved specifications and packaging film is signed off before launchesLeadership and peopleWork across all shifts to ensure employees understand and follow best practiceCoach and mentor QAT and QC staff to improve standards and capabilityEducate and promote food safety and technical standards across operational teamsLead by example on safe working practices and expected behavioursBuild strong relationships with internal stakeholders, customers and auditorsCustomer, reporting and issue managementUnderstand the main issues impacting your area during the previous 24 hoursReport NCRs daily and support closure of actionsCommunicate quality or compliance concerns promptly to shift management and the wider management teamSupport customer quality control visits and liaise professionally where requiredContinuous improvement and problem solvingTake corrective action where product is not meeting specificationSupport and lead root cause analysis to prevent repeat issuesEscalate recurring issues appropriatelyBe actively involved in continuous improvement projects and quality initiativesHelp develop SOPs, manuals, procedures and defined standards to improve consistency and performanceHygiene, safety and site standardsMaintain strong food safety and health and safety standards within your areaEnsure PPE is worn correctly at all timesEnsure equipment is cleaned in line with relevant CICs and SOPs and that the QA Lab is kept cleanDrive site hygiene standards, including supporting the creation and training of cleaning cards alongside the Hygiene SupervisorTake part in weekly GMP audits with Area and Shift ManagersCarry out regular line walks to identify foreign body risks and hygiene improvement opportunitiesSupport supply and replenishment of chemicals, consumables and waste management to avoid shortages About youTo be successful in this role, you’ll need to be a credible and proactive technical professional who can build trust, influence others and stay calm under pressure.You’ll likely have:Experience in a technical, QA or food safety role within food manufacturingGood working knowledge of GMP, HACCP, traceability and internal auditingExperience supporting corrective actions, investigations and root cause analysisThe confidence to challenge standards constructively and hold the line where neededStrong interpersonal and communication skillsA collaborative approach and the ability to work effectively across departments and shiftsStrong IT skills, including Word, Excel and PowerPointReport-writing experience, ideally including technical specifications and complaint investigationsDesirable qualificationsLiteracy/Numeracy to National Standard Level 2Level 3 Food HygieneLevel 3 HACCPTrain the Trainer qualification Personal qualities we’re looking forWe’re looking for someone who:Leads with credibility, maturity and calmness under pressureGives timely, constructive feedback and communicates openlyWorks collaboratively while knowing when to support, challenge or push backIs resilient, adaptable and positive about changeCan inspire others through encouragement, support and high standardsBrings energy, initiative and an improvement-focused mindsetChampions equality, diversity and inclusionEmbodies customer focus and follows through on commitmentsIs passionate about technical leadership and continuous improvement Why join us?This is more than a technical role, it’s an opportunity to influence standards, support people, and help shape the future of quality and food safety on site. You’ll join a values-led business where your contribution matters and where you’ll have the chance to make a visible difference every day.Please note this role is not with sponsorship.