Specifications Technologist (Food Manufacturing)

TL;DR

Specifications Technologist (Food Manufacturing): Maintaining and approving customer and internal product specifications for a fruit processing facility with an accent on food safety, legislation, labelling, traceability, and quality documentation. Focus on assessing shelf-life data, validating nutritional results, coordinating product launches, and ensuring finished products meet customer and regulatory requirements.

Location: Sittingbourne, United Kingdom. Core hours are Monday–Friday, 08:30–17:00. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Salary: £33,745 per annum, plus a 5% bonus scheme.

Company

hirify.global develops bakery, patisserie, chocolate, and fruit-based food ingredients and solutions, operating across 87 countries with more than 11,000 employees.

What you will do

• Complete, review, amend, and approve customer and factory product specifications.
• Maintain compliance with food legislation, labelling requirements, customer standards, and regulatory updates.
• Prepare factory launch documentation, pack copy information, quality attribute standards, and technical records.
• Assess microbiological shelf-life data, organoleptic assessments, and nutritional analysis from factory trials.
• Manage customer technical requests, traceability exercises, supplier questionnaires, and related documentation.
• Support complaints, corrective actions, audits, supplier approval, production requirements, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Requirements

• Experience in, or strong interest in, food safety management within a manufacturing environment.
• Understanding of food safety, hygiene, quality management systems, food legislation, and labelling.
• Food Safety Level 2 or 3 and auditing experience or qualifications.
• Strong organisational, analytical, problem-solving, written, and spoken communication skills.
• Ability to make sound decisions efficiently in a fast-paced environment.
• IT competence, particularly Microsoft Office 365.

Nice to have

• Experience with web-based customer specification systems such as Hamilton Grant, Quor, or Qadex.
• Experience with SAP software.

Culture & Benefits

• Permanent full-time employment with a 5% bonus scheme.
• 25 days of annual leave plus Bank Holidays.
• Career growth, comprehensive training, and access to thousands of LinkedIn Learning courses.
• Five planned training days for every worker in 2026.
• Employee benefits platform and cycle-to-work scheme.
• Positive, inclusive, and supportive work environment.