Technical Services Manager – Puddings Kitchen
Location – Ilton – Sommerset
Salary – £45,000 per year
Hours – Monday – 40hrs per week mainly Monday to Friday but with some flexibility to meet the business needs
At COOK, we make remarkable food for your freezer using quality ingredients and a lot of care. As a certified B Corp, we believe business can be a force for good – for our people, communities and the planet.
We are looking for a practical, people-focused Technical Services Manager to help our Puddings Kitchen produce food that is safe, legal and consistently high quality, reporting in to the Head Of Technical Operations
The role
You will take day-to-day ownership of our HACCP system, Kitchen Standards and prerequisite programmes, while leading and developing the hygiene team. You will also oversee Listeria controls, environmental monitoring, pest and waste management, calibration, and essential technical services.
This is a hands‑on role. You will work alongside the teams making our puddings, helping them understand why standards matter, demonstrating good practice and making sure improvements are effective and sustainable.
What you will do
- Keep the site’s HACCP system current, accurate and effective.
- Embed Kitchen Standards and prerequisite controls in everyday production.
- Lead, coach and develop the hygiene team.
- Maintain practical cleaning schedules and oversee cleaning validation and verification.
- Manage the environmental monitoring programme and lead Listeria investigations.
- Carry out audits, inspections and root-cause investigations.
- Make sure corrective actions are completed and prevent issues from recurring.
- Coordinate pest control, waste services, calibration and relevant contractors.
- Maintain clear records and produce useful reports on performance and trends.
- Work closely with Production, Engineering, Technical and site leadership to solve problems.
- Raise purchase orders, review relevant invoices and follow services and supplies through to completion.
- Be Part of site Leadership Team and build relationships at all levels of the business.
What we are looking for
- Experience leading a hygiene team within food manufacturing.
- Practical Listeria-control experience in a ready-to-eat environment, including environmental monitoring and investigations.
- Experience maintaining and implementing HACCP and prerequisite programmes.
- A good understanding of contamination risks, segregation, cleaning methods, chemicals, validation and verification.
- Experience conducting audits, investigating non-conformances and delivering lasting corrective action.
- Strong organisation, attention to detail and confidence interpreting data.
- A collaborative leadership style, with the ability to teach, coach and respectfully challenge others.
Experience in desserts, dairy, chilled bakery or a similar ready-to-eat operation would be helpful. Food science, HACCP or recognised food-safety qualifications are also desirable.
If you tick most of these boxes but not all—don’t stress. We’re all about potential.
Excellent Benefits including
- Additional leave
- Casual dress
- Company events
- Company pension
- Cycle to work scheme
- Discounted or free food
- Employee discount
- Employee mentoring programme
- Free flu jabs
- Life insurance
- On-site parking
- Paid volunteer time
- Profit sharing
- Referral programme
- Sick pay
- Store discount
- Work from home
What Cook is About
We’re a proudly independent, family-owned B Corp, which basically means we care. A lot. About our food. About our people. And about doing the right thing—even when it’s not the easy thing.
Our vision for COOK has always been that we are a place where EVERYONE is welcome. We want everyone to feel like they belong at COOK. We all have different roles, different abilities and different personalities. By collaborating we can do remarkable things. Whatever your story, if you would like to grow with COOK.
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