Compliance Technologist - Putney, London

Role:- Compliance Technologist

Reports to: Technical Manager – Produce

Responsible for: No Direct Reports

Base location: Putney with the flexibility to travel across the UK and abroad to visit suppliers

About the role:

Nando’s is on a journey to Create Lasting Happiness, making a difference to the lives of our people, our customers, and the communities we work in. Originally started in Johannesburg, South Africa, we pride ourselves on creating memorable experiences for everyone involved in Nando’s: from our employees, communities, founders, and suppliers, but most importantly, our customers.

We have identified several organisational shifts as part of our ongoing business strategy. The Supply Chain Team play a crucial role in helping to deliver the Nando’s strategic goals through providing a robust and stable supply chain, supporting running restaurants brilliantly improving gross profit and margin, and addressing risk.

The Technical Sourcing team, within the Supply Chain team is responsible for developing strategies with purpose, to ensure we source ethical, safe, legal and great quality products and services for our customers and ambitious sustainability and animal welfare commitments, that we are proud of, to support and enable our central support teams. We’ve identified a gap in our team structure, this role has been newly created and your quality systems and technical expertise will contribute to Nando’s delivering on these strategies and commitments in a commercially savvy, safe way.

Main purpose of the role:

• Ensuring that Nando’s Food Policy, processes and procedures are regularly updated with legislation, industry best practice and Nando’s requirements to enable safe, brand compliant and legal supply chain sourcing.
• Maintaining, developing and driving the quality management system based on legislation, emerging risk management and industry best practice to ensure suppliers, laboratory and audit partners comply with or exceed the Nando’s Quality, Safety, Legal, Ethical and Sustainability Standards and reporting on supplier progress in support, reporting progress and updates to the business.

Key Responsibilities & Expectations:

• Regularly review external landscape, to determine legislation change, best industry practice and product category emerging risks to ensure communication with the Nando’s Technical Sourcing Team.
• The development and implementation of new procedures and policies required within the Technical Sourcing Team and supporting the wider business, with input from the Technical Managers and Technologists, for review and approval with the wider Supply chain and Nando’s teams relevant to the product lifecycle.
• Update relevant policies, procedures and processes with change, incorporating industry emerging risks, legislation change and best practice with internal and external stakeholder input, to drive continuous improvements for all the quality and safety aspects of the products and the supply base.
• Complete the relevant Nando’s period report for the Head of Technical Sourcing on a monthly basis, liaising with the Technical Sourcing Team.
• Keep abreast of supply chain and product trends for Nando’s suppliers, actively updating the team enabling them to drive change and influence Nando’s NPD and Policy to meet any new trends
• Manage the Audit and Laboratory partner relationship, ensuring the contract deliverables are met in line with Nando’s priorities/bussiness requirements
• Trend laboratory results, informing the Technical Sourcing team where results do not meet Nando’s specification, to enable supplier corrective action and specification compliance.
• Trend 3rd party Nando’s audit and supplier visit report data, informing the Technical Sourcing Team where trends are identified, that do not meet Nando’s expectations, to enable supplier corrective action and specification compliance.

Suppliers:

• Develop and manage a risk-based plan for existing supplier compliance visits, based on supplier KPI performance and Nando’s Food policy compliance, ensuring actions are closed and suitable templates are created for visits.
• Develop a 3rd party Nando’s audit standard template, liaising with internal and external stakeholders, ensuring Nando’s chosen audit partner, is fully trained. Develop a risk-based Nando’s supplier audit schedule and effectively manage the audit partner, to assess supplier performance against Nando’s Standards.
• Report on supply base continuous improvement/compliance and Food policy gap analysis progress to support internal and Supplier review meetings.
• Liaise and communicate with relevant industry bodies, in support of Nando’s supply chain processes to drive and effect change within the industry landscape.
• Management of and effective relationship building with laboratory and audit partners to deliver Nando’s expectations supply base wise ensuring the contracts are reviewed, aligning with the Head of Technical Sourcing to ensure they are fit for purpose, engaging in additional opportunities where change is necessary to deliver the needs of the business.
• Ensure Nando’s Food Policy (Risk Assessment Tool & Determination of Supplier Approval Method) for all products is kept up to date with Technical Manager and Technologist input.

Products:

• Maintain a risk-based product surveillance testing plan for new and existing Nando’s products and report trends.
• Maintain the Nando’s product risk assessment and QC testing trackers with Technical Manager and Technologist input.
• Create relevant reports from the Foods Connected system to support Technical Managers and Technologists supplier and product management.
• Advise Central Support functions on product-related quality, safety, legal,ethical and sustainability issues.

Projects:

• Responsible for the on-time delivery of projects for your role; including the management of expectations, escalating requirements for resource and support.

People:

• Responsible for identifying areas of personal development and recommending potential courses, providers and solutions to meet this need.
• Deputise for the Technologists, as required.

Wider Nando’s team support:
Support the Technical Sourcing Team and wider teams with product legislation updates
Advise other Central Support functions on food related quality, safety, legal, ethical and sustainability issues (e.g. HFSS for Brand)

Key Stakeholders:

Internal:

• Supply Chain Function
• Food Innovation Team(s)
• Sustainability
• Operations Team including Patraos
• Marketing, particularly Brand Comms, Risk & Reputation, PR and Customer Experience

Legal:

• Nando’s Group Product team

External:

• Suppliers (including Logistics, Laboratory, Audit partner Suppliers)
• Local Authority Personnel
• Professional, Gov and Industry Bodies

The candidate should possess/have:

• Min 5 years experience in food manufacturing and/or retail sector managing certification standards, audits, quality management systems
• Knowledge of BRCGS/GFSI certification requirements and relevant industry legislation
• Where appropriate an externally recognised professional competence (e.g. IFST)
• Appropriate/relevant food certification standards (ideal)
• Strong understanding of food safety standards, quality assurance protocols, and regulatory compliance.
• Effective communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills with the ability to work across multi-functional teams
• Demonstrate and encourage behaviours that foster the Nando’s values of Pride, Passion, Courage, Integrity & Family

Qualifications:

• Bachelors Degree in Food Regulations/Law, Food Management, Food Science
• HACCP Min Level 3
• Allergen Management
• VACCP/TACCP
• Auditing
• Where appropriate an externally recognised professional competence (e.g. IFST)
• Food labelling/law

Our candidate should be looking for:

• A culture with strong purpose and values, intent on contributing to / driving positive cultural and societal change
• An opportunity to redefine the role that Technical Sourcing plays in the Supply Chain Team
• Involvement in a variety of projects rather than repetitive work in a business which encourages creativity and evolution rather than a set approach.
• An environment which is relaxed and informal, whilst highly driven and ambitious
• A business that seeks to support every employee to be at their best, and encourage individuality

Role requirements:

• You may be required to work additional hours as necessary to fulfil your role and meet the demands of the business, this may include weekends and Bank holidays in order to cover escalations or emergencies