Portico Designs, established over 38 years ago and based in Bath, is a leading independent publisher of design-led gifts, offering both licensed brands and in-house designs. The company specializes in creating bespoke retailer-specific ranges and supplying general trade lines to independent retailers. We take pride in fostering strong, lasting relationships with our clients, licensing partners, and suppliers. Committed to quality, sustainability, and ethical practices, Portico ensures its products are responsibly sourced and of the highest standard.
Role Description
This is a role for a Product Technologist (Maternity Cover), minimum 3 days a week, with flexibility on work-from-home arrangements. The role involves overseeing quality control and assurance for Portico’s products, ensuring compliance with relevant standards, and collaborating with teams to maintain sustainable and ethical sourcing. Key responsibilities include analyzing product specifications, managing supplier documentation, and supporting the product development process with technical expertise.
Day to Day, the Product Technologist advises on safety issues for products and ensures that products are developed, produced and labelled to be compliant with customer and licensor requirements, and international product compliance legislation.
We are looking for a collaborative, supportive, organised and calm individual, that can work proactively across the company to ensure products are developed to be safe, compliant, of a good quality, with the correct regulatory product copy and from responsible factories.
Candidates need to have prior knowledge of compliance regulations for gifting products, risk assessment processes, product labelling, factory auditing and product inspections and 5 years’ experience working in a similar role alongside retailers, test labs and Far Eastern factories.
Qualifications
* Strong skills in Quality Control and Quality Assurance processes to ensure product standards are met
* Experience in Food Technology or related fields to address product-related technical requirements
* Analytical skills to assess product specifications, supplier performance, and compliance data
* Excellent Communication skills for effective collaboration with internal teams, suppliers, and clients
* Highly organized with attention to detail for managing documentation and meeting deadlines
* Ensure you are meeting Portico’s company goals for product compliance.
* Ensure your allocated products have been risk assessed and that the assessment is updated throughout any development process changes.
* Working with creative teams to ensure products are developed and labelled to be compliant with the customer and licensor requirements and international safety legislation.
* Manage the testing process for your products, reviewing supplier documentation, advise on the testing requirements, samples needed and costs and agree test plan to ensure we will hold a full technical file prior to shipment, and the production is safe and compliant.
* Ensure you can support global sales teams by providing evidence of product compliance and develop relationships with key customer technologists.
* Implement and keep on top on new international legislation and customer requirements.
* Support the growth and utilisation of the company databases and planning tools in relation to factory documentation, technical files and safety labelling requirements.
* Where products are developed with sustainability in mind you must work with the factories to obtain evidence that the product integrity claims can be fully substantiated.
* Work with factories to ensure they meet the ‘Ethical Trade Initiative Base Code’ and can prove good social governance with full and valid ethical audits by third parties.
* Ensure third party test labs and auditors are efficiently used and costs fall within the product and yearly budgets.
* Be on top of daily communication with the factories and testing laboratories to ensure quick resolution of any issues.
* Look after, support, and adhere to customer needs, ensuring an excellent supplier experience.
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