Sealaska/Woocheen Family of Businesses
Quality Manager
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Who is New England Seafood International?
New England Seafood International (NESI) was established in 1991 and is an importer and processor of premium fresh and frozen sustainable fish and seafood. NESI employs circa 850 people across three sites in the UK and imports a wide range of wild and farmed fish and shellfish from all around the world. We are part of the Sealaska Corporation, an Alaska Native corporation formed in 1971 and which is owned by 26,000 Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian shareholders, who are all bloodline descendants of the first settlers to the Americas.
Our vision is to “show people how to enjoy fish every day” and we pride ourselves on our supply chain integrity, sustainable sourcing and high-quality product. Our values run through our business and are Respect, Customer Care, By Learning We Grow, Team Spirit and Integrity.
Title: Quality Assurance Manager
Reports to: Technical Manager
Location: Grimsby
Hours of work: 8am – 5pm
Notice Period: 3 Months
Structure
Health and Safety
New England Seafood International will work to ensure it fulfils its moral and legal responsibilities and will not compromise on Health & Safety. We have a strong belief and culture that no one should be hurt resulting from our operations. Health & Safety will always be given priority when considering other business activities.
We will ensure that all persons are provided with a safe working environment and have access to suitable welfare facilities including safe access and egress.
We will ensure all our staff are site inducted, provided the necessary levels of H&S training to work safe on site and provided expert training for their role. In order for people to work safely and on completion of a detailed risk assessment, we will provide suitable and appropriate machinery, equipment and PPE to fulfil this objective.
Our H&S objectives will always be reviewed frequently and will be communicated openly through the business and will be used to drive continued improvement to our H&S standards and culture. This is achieved by consultation and positive interaction with our employees.
What is the main purpose of this role?
As part of the site management team, this role holds the responsibility for the day-to-day implementation, management and delivery of the quality management system, food safety obligations and legality requirements through the successful management of a team of Quality Auditors.
What is this role accountable for?
Quality Leadership & Team Management
- Lead, manage, coach and develop the Quality Supervisors, ensuring clear accountability for food safety, quality and compliance standards across all production areas.
- Conduct regular one-to-one meetings, performance reviews and development discussions with direct reports.
- Establish SMART objectives for Quality Supervisors and support succession planning within the Quality function.
- Ensure the Quality team has the capability, training and resources required to effectively deliver departmental objectives.
- Provide guidance and support to Quality Supervisors in relation to food safety, customer requirements, investigations and compliance matters.
- Drive a culture of accountability, ownership and continuous improvement throughout the Quality team.
- Deputise for the Technical Manager when required.
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Food Safety, Quality & Legal Compliance
- Ensure factory technical systems and controls are effectively implemented, maintained and continuously improved across the site.
- Ensure compliance with BRCGS Food Safety Standards, customer Codes of Practice, legal requirements and internal company standards.
- Support the implementation and standardisation of technical systems across the wider business in line with Group requirements.
- Review the effectiveness of site quality systems and implement improvements where opportunities or risks are identified.
- Ensure technical procedures, work instructions and documentation remain current, compliant and effectively controlled.
- Maintain oversight of site compliance performance and ensure emerging issues are identified, escalated and resolved appropriately.
- Ensure the site remains fully compliant with food safety, legality, authenticity and quality requirements always.
Compliance, Customer Standards & Audit Readiness
- Drive a culture of audit readiness throughout the site, ensuring standards are consistently maintained rather than improved only in preparation for audits.
- Support the Technical Manager with customer, retailer, regulatory and third-party audits.
- Ensure audit findings, customer non-conformances and technical actions are effectively managed through to completion.
- Monitor compliance against customer Codes of Practice and retailer-specific requirements.
- Review technical performance and audit trends, implementing improvement plans where required.
- Ensure customer requirements are effectively communicated, understood and embedded within operational teams.
- Support site preparation for customer visits and technical reviews.
- Work collaboratively with Operations and other departments to maintain the highest standards of compliance.
Food Safety Culture & Technical Leadership
- Champion a positive food safety and quality culture across the site.
- Support the delivery and continuous improvement of the site's Food Safety Culture Plan.
- Promote ownership of food safety and quality responsibilities across all levels of the business.
- Act as a role model for food safety, GMP and quality standards.
- Challenge behaviours and practices that could compromise food safety, product quality, legality or customer confidence.
- Ensure lessons learned from complaints, incidents, audits and investigations are shared and embedded across the site.
- Support the development of technical awareness through coaching, mentoring and training activities.
HACCP, Risk Management & Technical Governance
- Be an active member of the HACCP Team and support the ongoing review and development of HACCP studies.
- Support the maintenance of effective HACCP, TACCP and VACCP systems.
- Ensure food safety, legality, authenticity and quality risks are effectively identified, assessed and controlled.
- Review technical risk assessments and ensure identified actions are implemented and monitored.
- Support site traceability exercises, mass balance activities and product withdrawal testing programmes.
- Participate in technical risk assessments relating to new equipment, product launches, process changes and site development projects.
- Escalate significant food safety, legality or customer risks to the Technical Manager in a timely manner.
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Quality Performance & Continuous Improvement
- Own and review site Quality KPIs and performance measures.
- Analyse trends relating to customer complaints, non-conformances, microbiological performance, audit findings, concessions, waste and quality defects.
- Produce meaningful reports that clearly identify risks, trends and opportunities for improvement.
- Lead structured root cause analysis activities relating to significant quality and food safety issues.
- Ensure corrective and preventative actions are robust, proportionate and effective.
- Work closely with Operations, Engineering and other support functions to improve process capability and product quality.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen compliance, reduce waste and improve customer satisfaction.
- Support the delivery of business improvement projects across the Technical function.
Customer Complaints & Incident Management
- Oversee the customer complaint management process.
- Ensure complaint investigations are completed to a high standard and within agreed timescales.
- Review customer complaint trends and develop targeted improvement plans.
- Ensure root cause analysis is effectively applied and corrective actions prevent recurrence.
- Support the management of technical incidents, product withdrawals and product recalls as required.
- Provide technical reports, trend analysis and investigation findings to the Technical Manager and Senior Leadership Team.
Product Development & Change Management
- Support NPD and EPD activities to ensure food safety, quality, legal and customer requirements are fully considered.
- Work closely with Process Technologists and Operations teams on product launches and factory trials.
- Ensure technical risks associated with product and process changes are identified and effectively managed.
- Review and approve quality-related documentation associated with changes to products, processes and specifications.
- Support validation and verification activities relating to new and existing products.
Training & Competency
- Support the development and delivery of technical training programmes across the site.
- Ensure Quality Supervisors are trained, competent and capable of delivering their responsibilities.
- Identify training needs through audits, complaints, incidents and performance reviews.
- Promote understanding of customer requirements, food safety systems and quality expectations throughout the business.
- Support delivery of HACCP, GMP and quality training where required.
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