Overview - Are you passionate about supplier excellence and maintaining top-quality standards? Belazu is seeking a dynamic Supplier Technical Manager to oversee and optimize supplier relationships, manage approvals, audits, and compliance, and uphold the highest standards in food manufacturing. Join our thriving team, where your expertise will directly contribute to delivering outstanding products and sustaining our commitment to excellence. About Belazu This is a lovely opportunity to join a business with an impressive set of accreditations, from B Corp status to silver standard Investors in People and newly recognised in 2024 as a Sunday Times Best Place to Work. We are a diverse team with a shared set of professional goals and social values that drive a hugely satisfying working experience. Belazu has been a pioneer of supplying high quality, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Ingredients within the UK’s Foodservice for over 30 years. We are an innovative leader in our field, with an energetic and high performing working culture. We have ambitious plans to grow over the next 5 years and take great pride in the values that form the spine of our business. What the day job looks like: In this full-time role as a Supplier Technical Manager, you will be responsible for: Maintain and manage the supplier management system, including onboarding, documentation, and approvals. Conduct supplier audits and remote assessments, ensuring compliance with standards. Oversee the supplier approval process for raw materials, packaging, and service providers. Identify underperforming suppliers and drive improvement plans with procurement, supply chain, and sustainability teams. Ensure supplier compliance with customer codes of practice, accreditation standards, and regulatory requirements. Conduct and maintain risk assessments for suppliers, implementing mitigation measures as needed. Support third-party and customer audits by providing accurate supplier-related information. Ensure supplier specifications are up to date and aligned with business needs. Maintain and review the VACCP study for all supplied materials. Prepare and track monthly supplier KPI reports and outstanding actions. Attend NPD meetings to ensure new materials meet approval procedures. Provide technical updates, customer presentation input, and taste panel reviews. Manage cross-functional collaboration with technical, procurement, sustainability, and NPD teams. Lead and oversee supplier mapping and process controls to maintain consistency. Directly manage Quality Controllers, ensuring high performance and alignment with business goals. Foster collaboration withtechnical, procurement, sustainability, and NPD teams to drive supplier excellence. This role will suit you if: You have strong technical experience in food manufacturing, with knowledge of major British retailers’ requirements. You’re knowledgeable in HACCP, TACCP, and VACCP processes with formal training in these areas. You possess strong analytical, organizational, and communication skills. You thrive in cross-functional roles, balancing attention to detail with big-picture thinking. You enjoy mentoring and leading teams to deliver exceptional results. This role may not be for you if: You are not collaborative and do not have a proactive approach to problem-solving You’re not confident managing complex supplier networks or leading audits. You aren’t a self-starter. You struggle with time management, reliability, deadlines, or working effectively as part of a team You do not enjoy tasks that require you to be organized and have an eye for details. What’s in it for you? 33 days annual (including 8 public holidays) per annum Auto-Enrolment Pension, plus an enhanced pension option Discretionary annual bonus scheme Learning and development opportunities Life assurance from day one Cycle to work scheme Employee benefits portal with retail discounts, EAP and GP services and financial support tools Volunteer days Free parking on site Up to 40% discount on Company products Socials and internal awards Subsidised Canteen Terms 40 hrs/wk eg; 8am-4.30pm Mon-Fri (flexibility with regard to start time) Probationary period 3 months Annual salary review (our ‘movers and shakers’ are always rewarded) 10% discretionary KPI related bonus based around challenging but achievable tasks related to the role Thanks for reading our job advert. We do our very best to bring to life what it’s like working as part of our team. Diverse teams really are the best teams. We want everyone to feel they can be themselves at work and develop their talents to the full. All colleagues are expected to take personal responsibility for keeping our workplace free from discrimination, harassment, and bullying - a place where everyone is treated fairly and respectfully. We also know that sometimes some candidates may be put off applying for a job unless they think they can tick every box. If you are really excited about working with us and think you can do much of what we are looking for but aren’t sure if you are 100% there yet… go on… why not give it a whirl? Good luck