Sector Specification Manager (Meals)
We drive our own success.
Competitive salary
Up to 10% bonus, Single Private Healthcare, MyBargains discount platform and more.
Bakkavor Meals London - Cumberland
Ways of working-Remote
Monday - Friday 8.30am -5pm
Permanent role
Why join us?
We're constantly evolving, progressing, and diversifying. And we want our people to do so too. For everyone to feel empowered, engaged and enabled. To create opportunities to move forward, climb higher and push for more. We believe in fueling ambition and guiding success. In supporting everyone with talent and drive to own what they do, realize their potential, and build a brilliant future for themselves at Bakkavor.
What we do.
This particular role is at our Bakkavor Meals site in Park Royal - West London. Split across 3 factories and 1 distribution centre. The factories make chilled ready meals, houmous dips, deli products & savoury accompaniments and employs over 2,000 people.
About the role.
The Sector Specification Manager is responsible for leading and inspiring the Specification Team to ensure high standards of product specifications and artwork are consistently met and enhanced across the sector. This role is central to managing retailer systems and processes, ensuring the accurate and timely generation of finished product packaging while maintaining compliance with customer and legal standards. Critical path management and close collaboration with customers and internal teams are essential for success.
The role involves overseeing the completion and review of product specifications and artwork, verifying compliance with standards and legal requirements. The Manager ensures accurate raw material details, updates specifications as needed and maintains robust document control practices. The ideal person for this role will be a subject matter expert in legal labelling and is able to advise the Sector Technical Team on matters relating to on pack labelling.
They are also responsible for addressing discrepancies promptly and ensuring customer audits demonstrate full compliance with specification administration.
As a leader, the Sector Specification Manager recruits, trains, and motivates the Specification Team, fostering a culture of personal development and continuous improvement.
The role requires strong organisational skills, a deep understanding of retailer IT systems, whilst supporting health, safety, and environmental initiatives at the site. The right person for the role will be meticulous and quality-focussed, able to manage critical paths and proactively address issues during the specification-to-launch process. The representative should also value accuracy, efficiency and effective customer management within a dynamic technical team.
Accountabilities:
People - Manage the specification team & is responsible for its activity. Recruit and retain the right calibre of people. Lead, motivate and inspire the specification team in line with Bakkavor Values to achieve personal development, continuous improvement
Technical Standards: Responsible for the completion of finished product specifications to meet the critical path and/or customer requirements, ensuring completion to right first time requirements for the retailer
NPD: Review of finished product artwork to ensure the finished product artwork standards and legal requirements are met and delivered to the agreed critical path. Escalates appropriately internally/externally if discrepancies found
Critical Path Management : Management of customer critical paths to ensure product specification and artwork generation is completed at the right time.
Customer Management : To ensure the customer interface internally and externally are managed professionally and in a timely manner
Quality Systems : Maintain high standard of document control relating to the details required for all finished product specifications.
Training: manages the training & development requirements of the specification team and ensures that direct reports are properly equipped to undertake their roles. About you.
Good problem solving & analytical skills
Excellent attention to detail and accuracy
The ability to build credibility & rapport, build effective relationships with colleagues, direct reports and multi-functional peers
Good communication skills and the ability to frame challenging information into external or internal customers
Good organisational and effective team management skills
Ability to work collaboratively with multi-functional representatives with strong assertive skills to ensure influence and ensure food safety is not compromised
Good IT skills with knowledge of Microsoft 365 and MS excel & MS PowerPoint
Ability to lead, motivate and inspire a team What you'll receive.
As an equal opportunity employer, we're committed to providing a safe and rewarding environment for you to thrive in. This is why we work hard to deliver benefits, rewards and wellbeing offerings that are important to you.
Life Assurance (2.5 x salary)
Short Term Bonus Scheme
25 days holiday
Staff Shop
Stakeholder Pension Scheme
MyBargains Discount Platform
Personal Accident Insurance
Free Independent Mortgage Advice
Employee Assistance Programme
A Range of voluntary benefits (holiday purchase scheme, additional life assurance, dental & hospital cash plans)
Discounted tutoring for children
Access to financial learning tools and affordable loans via your salary
Private Medical Insurance Proud to be Bakkavor.
We're proud to be the market leader in the UK fresh prepared food industry. We're proud to supply meals, salads, desserts, pizza and bread to leading grocery retailers including Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury's and Waitrose. We're driven by the hard work and passion of our people and are delighted to offer a wide range of careers across our business - come and join our dedicated Bakkavor team!
Find out more and apply.
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