Interim technical & quality cover
Interim Technical Manager for Food Manufacturers
When your technical or quality manager has left, resigned or is signed off, and a BRCGS or retailer audit is on the way, I step into the role and run it. I own the QMS, host the audit, clear backlogs and hand back a stable department. Birmingham, the Midlands and UK-wide availability by arrangement.
Who it's for
Operations directors, HR and site managers who have lost their technical or quality lead with an audit or customer visit approaching.
Availability
By arrangement
Call to discuss dates, scope and current commitments.
Track record
- Years' experience
- 10+Years' experience
- Audits supported
- 50+Audits supported
- Retailer experience
- Major UKRetailer experience
- Retailer compliance
- BRCGS / SALSARetailer compliance
The situation
You don't need another report. You need someone in the seat.
- 01Your technical or quality manager has left, resigned or is signed off.
- 02A BRCGS, retailer or customer audit is coming and nobody internal can carry it.
- 03The QA team is under pressure, the backlog is growing, and you need someone in the building who has done it before.
In the role
What I do as interim technical manager
- Own the quality management system end to end
- Day-to-day running of the QMS, documentation control, internal audits and management review so standards don't slip while you recruit.
- Lead and host BRCGS and retailer audits
- Announced and unannounced audits, including customer-specific codes of practice and closing out findings under pressure.
- Clear backlogs of non-conformances and CAPAs
- Root-cause work, corrective action plans and evidence that the fix will hold when the auditor returns.
- Act as HACCP team leader
- Review, verify and chair the HACCP team, keeping plans live and matching what actually happens on the line.
- Lead allergen management, VACCP and TACCP
- Controls for allergens, food fraud and food defence, documented and understood by the production team.
- Recruit, rebuild and train QA teams
- From a standing start if needed: hiring, structuring and upskilling the quality function before handover.
- Manage supplier approval and retailer technical relationships
- Raw-material risk assessment, customer technical contacts and negotiation on standards and concessions.
- Act as first point of contact for EHO and Trading Standards
- Handling visits, correspondence and follow-up so operational staff can focus on production.
- Improve traceability and document control
- Systems that work in a crisis and pass scrutiny under audit.
Sectors
Where I have done this work
- Bakery
- Snacks
- Ingredients
- Vitamins and supplements
- Co-packing
Most of this work has been under BRCGS and major UK retailer standards across manufacturing sites in the Midlands and beyond.
Track record
Results from previous interim and technical roles
- BRCGS AA achieved at Holland & Barrett during a full departmental restructure, having inherited a site with no QA team for over a month and a large backlog of unresolved NCRs and CAPAs.
- Recruited and rebuilt that QA team from scratch, around 10 staff.
- BRCGS AA+ achieved at Fiddes Payne on an unannounced audit.
- Back-to-back A/AA grades as Technical Manager then Technical Director at Lewis's Bakery.
- Complaints reduced to under 2 per month and GMP sustained above 97% over 12 months at Lewis's Bakery.
- Currently contracted to Avara Foods redesigning the internal audit template programme across 7 production sites.
Availability
Availability depends on current commitments
I do not advertise myself as immediately available or full-time. Interim cover is agreed case by case, depending on the site, the audit date and my existing work. The fastest way to find out is to call and talk it through.
Area covered
Midlands-based, UK-wide by arrangement
Based in Birmingham, Solihull, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley, Sandwell and the wider West Midlands. Interim roles usually need regular on-site presence; the exact split of on-site and remote support is agreed when we scope the work.
Queries
Questions about interim technical cover
Next step
Need interim technical or quality cover?
Tell me where you are — lost technical manager, upcoming audit, backlog or all three. Call to discuss dates and scope.