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Head of Food Safety

Employer
WHSmith
Location
London Head Office, Houndsditch (hybrid remote working)
Salary
Competitive
Closing date
15 Nov 2021

Job Details

ness is successfully growing its food offer, through a broadening range of premium products, such as sushi, salads and wraps, as part of its well established Food to Go business, coupled with increasing development of Coffee House and Hospital Café Operations.

Through increasing business development the Company is expanding its partnerships with other food brands such as M&S, Costa and Booths, where it operates both franchised and concession units. It is also expanding its service delivery, through measures such as the deployment of vending equipment across our principal sales channels.

Given the growing scale and complexity of our Food Operations, and the increasing requirements of Food Regulations and Legislation, the business now wishes to recruit a full time Head of Hygiene role, that has previously been provided by an outsourced consultant. This role will be required to work in close liaison with existing stakeholders across all of the other associated food functions (including Business Development, Commercial, Operations, Construction & Maintenance and Group Risk), to ensure that appropriate QA, Regulatory and Hygiene compliance procedures are embedded, to maintain the safe sourcing, delivery, handling, stocking and sale of all consumable items to Customers.  

In particular, the team are looking for someone who is a strong and effective team player, who will be able to work in a suitably integrated way across all of the associated functions, within Travel and also across the other Business Operating Divisions. This will require the effective oversight and ongoing monitoring of all aspects of Food Operation, from product sourcing and QA, through to the training of store staff and audit monitoring of store hygiene standards and compliance.

What you'll be doing:
•    Ensuring the business is fully compliant with all areas of Food Regulation and Legislation
•    Making sure the business remains up to date with any Regulatory Changes or Requirements in these areas
•    Overseeing all aspects of Food Safety policies, procedures and QA, to ensure compliance with all Regulatory requirements, incl. that appropriate certification is obtained from Suppliers, and that sufficient modelling is in place to ensure the safe delivery, handing and sale of all consumable products
•    Helping to promote an appropriate culture of excitement, focus and professional service to customers through all aspects of our Food Offer
•    Helping to provide and oversee the appropriate delivery of all Food Related training for staff involved in the provision of our food offer
•    Facilitating the monthly Food Forum, to share progress updates and ongoing monitoring of KPIs with all appropriate stakeholders
•    Working with Business Development to ensure appropriate processes and standards are in place with regard to any new Food related proposals
•    Working with the Commercial team to monitor the appropriate safety standards for all food and consumable products and suppliers
•    Working with the Operations teams to ensure the effective delivery of appropriate hygiene standards in stores
•    Maintaining appropriate Food Manuals and policy documents for staff
•    Working with Maintenance and Construction to ensure necessary technical capability of food equipment to ensure compliance with hygiene regulations
•    Overseeing audit results from the various internal and external inspections of our food sites, that will encompass internal and EHO inspections and audits by external parties like M&S, ensuring appropriate standards of performance
•    Working within the Travel business, and responsible for the sharing of best practice with the High St and International teams through the Food Forum
•    Compiling reports on relevant performance measures to share with the respective Risk Management forums
•    Providing appropriate input and direction to the development of an integrated Food Strategy for the business
•    Undertaking appropriate site visits to assess ongoing Regulatory compliance
•    Maintain close ongoing working relations and contact with the Group Risk and Safety team
•    Acting as point of technical liaison with Business Partners

What we are looking for:
•    Essential Food Regulatory knowledge and experience
•    Appropriate professional qualifications (EHO/ Chartered Practitioner/ IOSH )
•    Retail environment experience
•    Ability to work independently
•    Excellent Interpersonal skills and the ability to build strong relationships
•    Team player
•    Initiative and Drive
•    Problem solver/Pragmatic and solution focused
•    Report Writing skills

Company

WHSmith started in 1792 with a small news vendor in Little Grosvenor Street, London, followed by the opening of our first bookstall in Euston Station in 1848. We quickly established ourselves as the favoured newsagent, stationers and bookseller opening stores across the UK. From this point on, there has been no looking back.

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