Technical Manager- Produce

About the Role

We're looking for an experienced Technical Manager to lead the food safety, quality, and compliance agenda across our Produce category. This is a pivotal role responsible for ensuring all products consistently meet Asda's standards for safety, legality, quality, integrity, and customer satisfaction .

Working closely with Trading, suppliers, growers, and packing partners, you'll use technical expertise, data insights, and industry knowledge to drive product excellence from field to shelf. You'll play a key role in improving freshness, reducing customer complaints, influencing sourcing decisions, and ensuring robust due diligence across the supply chain.

Key Responsibilities

Product Safety, Quality & Compliance

• Act as the guardian of product safety, legality, quality, and integrity across the Produce category.
• Manage raw material and finished product specifications, ensuring products are bought, packed, and traded to agreed standards.
• Maintain and continuously improve Produce due diligence programmes, including audits, testing, risk assessments, and compliance frameworks.
• Deliver and uphold the Asda Brand technical framework where applicable.

Quality & Freshness Improvement

• Lead initiatives that improve product freshness, shelf life, and customer perception of quality.
• Understand product life cycles from harvest through to customer purchase, identifying risks and implementing effective mitigation strategies.
• Use customer feedback, complaint data, trend analysis, and technical KPIs to identify root causes and drive continuous improvement.
• Build long-term category quality plans that address both short and longer-term opportunities.

Supplier & Stakeholder Management

• Partner with suppliers, growers, IPL packing sites, and internal teams to deliver consistent product quality and customer satisfaction.
• Influence supplier selection, sourcing decisions, logistics routes, and supply calendars to optimise quality, availability, waste, and cost.
• Support the delivery of innovation, new product development, and varietal improvement programmes alongside Trading teams.
• Represent Asda within the supplier base, ensuring technical expectations are understood and consistently met.

Sustainability & Responsible Sourcing

• Support Asda's Responsible Sourcing commitments by working collaboratively with suppliers to deliver sustainable improvements.
• Partner with GNFR and supplier teams to identify opportunities to reduce, remove, or optimise packaging and minimise EPR-related impacts.
• Monitor emerging industry, regulatory, and sustainability developments and implement actions to mitigate risk and protect supply continuity.

Leadership & Capability Building

• Develop effective relationships across Technical, Trading, Supply Chain, and Operations teams to drive business objectives.
• Where applicable, lead and develop Technical colleagues, building capability, succession plans, and technical expertise within the team.
• Regularly visit suppliers, growers, stores, and competitor locations to understand market trends, quality performance, and customer feedback.

What We're Looking For

Essential Skills & Experience

• Experience within a Technical, Quality, or Food Safety role in a retail, manufacturing, or fresh food environment.
• Strong understanding of food safety, product quality, compliance, and due diligence requirements.
• Experience using data, customer insight, and trend analysis to identify issues and drive improvement.
• Confidence influencing stakeholders at all levels and translating complex technical information into clear business recommendations.
• Strong planning, prioritisation, and organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities effectively.
• A logical, evidence-based approach to problem solving and decision making.
• High attention to detail and commitment to delivering the best outcomes for customers.

Desirable

• Fresh Produce experience.
• HACCP Level 3 qualification.
• Internal Auditing, BRCGS, or Lead Assessor training and experience.
• Knowledge of project lifecycle management and change delivery.
• Experience leading or developing individuals and teams.

Additional Requirements

• Willingness to travel regularly across the UK and, where required, internationally.

What's in it for you?

At Asda, we want you to feel proud of where you work and supported in achieving your career goals. You'll be part of a business that's committed to serving customers better every day while investing in the wellbeing and development of our colleagues.

You'll benefit from:

• Competitive salary and bonus opportunity
• Company pension scheme
• Colleague discount and a range of lifestyle benefits
• Flexible and hybrid working opportunities where appropriate
• Career development and learning opportunities
• A supportive and inclusive environment where everyone can be their best

you'll love

As one of the UK's leading retailers, Asda offers a fast-paced, collaborative environment where you'll have the opportunity to make a real impact. We put customers at the heart of we do, and we're passionate about creating a workplace where colleagues feel valued, supported, and empowered to grow.

you'll love

To ensure we balance moments where we know we need to collaborate together and the need for flexibility, Asda has a hybrid way of working with a minimum 3 days a week in one of our Home Offices. Over and above this, each area of Asda may have additional requirements which may require spending more days in the office, visiting suppliers, stores or depots.

You will also get an excellent benefits package including:

• Discretionary company bonus

• Company pension up to 7% matched

• Company Car allowance of £5,700

• 15% colleague discount in store and online

• Free access to wellbeing services such as Stream, 24/7 virtual GP, counselling, health and dental cash plans and a 24/7 employee assistance helpline, alongside discounts across a range of services and activities, from airport parking, enhanced to theme parks and cinemas.

• Asda Allies Inclusion Networks – helping colleagues to make sure everybody is included and that our differences are recognised and celebrated

• Excellent parental leave policies, including maternity & adoption leave, paternity leave, shared parental leave, neonatal care leave, and support for those doing fertility treatments.

We want all colleagues to be able to bring their best and true selves to work, every day. Simply put, we want our colleagues to be Proud to be Asda and proud to be themselves