We are currently looking to recruit a Head of Customer Technical - UK to work from our Head Office Function in Leeds.

This role will play a pivotal part in the Arla UK business, leading our Customer Technical Agenda and setting the strategy to be able to deliver best in class Trusted Partnerships with our Customers. As a business partner to the commercial organisation you will ensure we have the right team in place to deliver against our customer’s expectations. You will set the tone of how Arla will be viewed by Customers in Quality and Food Safety and develop strong relationships with counterparts across all customers.

What will the role look like?

The team you are responsible for will own and communicate all customer standards into the business and support our production sites to meet these and deliver top level customer audit results.  Working with all UK and overseas Arla production sites as well as contract manufacturers you will build strong relationships and be an extension of our site Technical teams.

Within this high profile role, the jobholder will lead the development of joint plans covering Quality, Sustainability and Responsible Sourcing and demonstrate progress against Arla’s and our Customer’s targets and commitments in these areas – this role will influence key areas of the business to ensure Arla continues to lead the industry in these topics.

You will support Crisis Management and make key decisions for the UK business with relation to food safety and quality, ensuring any Crisis Situations are handled efficiently and responsibly.

The team you manage will have all Technical interaction with UK Retailers, Foodservice and QSR customers and will hold the responsibility for all legal specification and artwork sign-off across Private Label and all Arla Brands.

This jobholder will support the long term QEHS Business Plans and ambitions through leading key projects that will deliver business growth and drive improvements in KPI’s.

What do you need to succeed?

To be successful in this role you will be educated to at least degree level in a Science/Food Science discipline with significant experience in working in a senior technical/operational role in Food Manufacturing or Retail.  Experience of working within the dairy industry would be advantageous. You will have a strong reputation across multiple customers as some who delivers on time and in full with a proactive, enthusiastic, driven approach to continuously improving our Technical agenda and growing business. You will have excellent working knowledge of Customer Standards, BRC as well as strong Auditing Skills. Excellent IT and Presentation skills are a must.

What do we offer?

• Competitive salary (salary discussed at application stage)
• 26 days holiday & Bank holidays
• Hybrid & Flexible working
• Pension contribution matched up to 6%
• 4 x annual salary life assurance
• Free to use onsite Gym
• Access to discounted products in our Staff Shop
• People agenda commitment to training and development (internal & external)
• Flexible Benefits- buy up to 5 days annual leave, reward gateway scheme- discounts with various retailers via my benefit platform.
• Most importantly - Cheese hamper at Christmas

At Arla Foods, our "Lead, Sense, Create" values thrive on diversity and inclusion. We are a famer owned co-operative and are all about being open minded, curious and learning from each other. We know that diverse perspectives fuel innovation, which is why we actively seek individuals from all backgrounds to join our team to help us lead the dairy industry into a more inclusive and sustainable future.

We're committed to providing equal opportunities to all qualified candidates, irrespective of unique characteristics. Our ambition is to create a working environment where everyone is valued and feel that they belong.  Join us at Arla Foods, where your diverse perspectives will be valued and can make a meaningful impact.

Would you like to apply?

Applications will be reviewed as they come in. For more information please reach out to olibu@arlafoods.com

Please note we are not partnered with any recruitment agencies for this role. We kindly ask that recruitment agencies do not submit CVs on behalf of candidates for this role, as these CVs will not be considered under the agency ownership and if Arla does progress with any such candidate, this will not amount to acceptance of the agency's terms. We encourage interested individuals to apply directly through our official channels.

We have a purpose for Good

At Arla, we strive to unlock the highest potential in each other while working together to create a sustainable future of dairy. We call it Stronger People Stronger Planet and it is deeply anchored in our organisation and founded on our commitment to respecting human rights, increasing access to healthy dairy nutrition, inspiring good food habits, and improving the environment for future generations. In order to succeed we need to hire people with a sustainable mindset. Could this be you?

BEWARE! RECRUITMENT FRAUD
It has come to our attention that there are a number of fraudulent emails and fake recruitment campaigns on the internet from people purporting to work for Arla Foods. Learn more via this link.