Product & Customer Technologist

Product & Customer Technologist – Food Manufacturing

(Raw Materials Co-ordinator for Meat Manufacturing)

Location: South Kirkby, near Pontefract, West Yorkshire
Salary: £40,000–£43,000 per annum, depending on experience
Contract: Permanent, full-time
Working arrangement: Factory/site-based

Major Recruitment is recruiting a Product & Customer Technologist for an established meat manufacturing business near Pontefract.

Reporting to the Technical Services Manager, you will help ensure raw materials meet agreed specifications and customer requirements. This is a practical role combining factory-based quality checks, supplier communication, specification management and performance reporting.

The position would suit someone with experience in food manufacturing, raw-material quality or meat processing who enjoys identifying problems and working with suppliers and production teams to resolve them.

Key responsibilities

• Assess incoming raw materials against agreed purchasing specifications and quality standards.
• Maintain and update approved supplier and raw-material specifications alongside the technical team.
• Carry out product assessments at intake and during production, including raw-material analysis, cook-up checks and butchery assessments.
• Identify materials that do not meet specifications, raise non-conformance reports or rejection notices, and communicate findings to suppliers.
• Report quality findings to the Technical, Commercial and Operations teams.
• Support raw-material production planning, responding to logistical challenges and changing production requirements.
• Build effective supplier relationships and help improve raw-material quality and consistency.
• Produce reports and analyse trends to monitor quality issues and supplier performance.
• Support supplier claims and material downgrades through accurate assessment and supporting evidence.
• Help production teams understand meat cuts, butchery specifications and customer requirements.
• Support supplier visits, factory visits and technical audits.
• Identify opportunities to improve butchery methods, packaging formats and raw-material utilisation.

Essential requirements

• Relevant experience in food manufacturing, food packaging or raw-meat handling.
• Level 2 Food Safety qualification.
• Strong attention to detail, with the ability to identify specification discrepancies and errors in data.
• Good planning and organisational skills, with a structured approach to work.
• Intermediate Microsoft Excel and Word skills, including reporting, graphs and data trending.
• Confident communication skills and the ability to work effectively with suppliers and internal teams.
• A proactive approach to problem-solving, willingness to learn and flexibility around operational requirements.

Desirable experience

• Knowledge of beef, lamb and pork cuts and butchery specifications.
• Understanding of HACCP, VACCP and TACCP.
• Experience with raw-material inspection, supplier specifications or food quality assurance.
• Experience investigating non-conformances and supporting supplier improvements.

To apply, submit your CV to Major Recruitment, highlighting your relevant food-sector, raw-material or meat-processing experience.

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