Lead Customer Technologist

At Yeo Valley, we’ve been making delicious, organic dairy products for over 50 years. As a family-run business, we believe in doing things the right way – sustainably, ethically, and with people at the heart of what we do.

 We are looking for a Lead Customer Technologist to join our Central Technical Team, and lead our Customer Technologist Team. This role will report to the Head of Technical.

As Lead Customer Technologist, you will build effective customer relationships and customer confidence, to support and partner across the business to ensure we deliver on customer and brand projects, build strong technical plans and meet our customer and brand technical requirements. You will provide the business with a clear understanding of customer technical requirements and partner effectively to ensure delivery.

You will work with co-packing partners to ensure food safety, consistency and quality for our consumers, working collaboratively with procurement, NPD and site operations teams leading and driving continuous improvement in our product portfolio.

 Leadership & Management -

• Lead & manage the Customer Technologist Team
• Define and implement our approach to support the different customer models across our customer portfolio creating effective joint quality plans
• A member of the Central Manufacturing (Technical) leadership team and wider YV leadership group
• Deputising for the Head of Technical

• Manage a portfolio of customer accounts directly, and oversee those managed by the customer technologists
• Ensure we have effective relationships and plans in place with our key customers and brand owners
• Facilitate the interaction and activities between customers and sites/internal stakeholders
• Provide expertise on customer standards and requirements to the business
• Work cross functionally to support customer cost out/value chain initiatives

• Ensure effective support to the business during incidents and recalls. Take the lead in liaising cross functionally with sites and customers
• Build an effective customer RACI to enable engaging relationships with our operational teams and other functions
• Work with sites and cross functionally to ensure alignment of customer standards with YV standards

Essential:

• Science or similar degree
• Experience in Quality & Food safety management roles
• Customer technical management experience
• Strong People and Communication skills
• Strong presentation skills
• Effective networking and influencing skills
• Great at building relationships internally and externally and is able to operate effectively at all levels

• HACCP level 4

We’re independent, British and proud to be making the highest quality yogurts, desserts and ice cream under the Yeo Valley brand and for many of the UK’s major retailers. Operating from four dairies and two logistics centres in Somerset and Devon, we employ over 1700 staff and produce more than 25% of the UK’s packaged yogurt.

We’re sure you don’t need convincing, but there’s a whole host of benefits that we offer including:

• 25 days’ holiday, plus bank holidays
• non-contributory pension scheme
• annual bonus (as part of the Employee Benefit Trust, based on company performance for the year)
• life cover
• healthcare cash back plan
• cycle to work scheme
• subsidised Yeo Valley products and services
• preferential rates with our partners
• learning and development opportunities; we’re committed to ensuring all of our employees have the chance to grow

Our closing dates are a guide for when the application window should close, although we may close the advert sooner if we can. So, we recommend you get your application in straight away – and don’t miss the opportunity to join us!

Unfortunately, we’re not able to provide employment sponsorship to candidates at this moment in time.

Please note that Yeo Valley do not accept speculative agency applications; we will only accept applications from preferred suppliers that have been submitted to us via our recruitment portal at the point of instruction.