Poultry Compliance Manager
Pilgrim's Europe · Anwick, Sleaford
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Why this role matters
Where the work sits relative to real sourcing and menu decisions.
This role sits directly on top of the mechanisms that decide how poultry are farmed and processed within a major UK poultry supply chain: leading agricultural HACCP systems, auditing farms against customer Codes of Practice, and managing supplier assurance across livestock, breeding and feed mills. You would be the person tracking welfare and health data, reviewing Salmonella and antibiotic stewardship programmes, and deciding what a compliance audit actually checks for on farm — which is exactly the lever that determines whether a welfare commitment on paper becomes a real requirement a grower has to meet or lose the contract. Because this is a technical authority position rather than a peripheral one, the standards you help write and enforce apply across the company's entire poultry base, not a single site. It's also a strong platform for the next ten years: few outsiders get this close to farm-level welfare and biosecurity decision-making, and the credibility built here — auditing, HACCP, vet relationships, supplier assurance — is exactly what's needed to move into more senior standard-setting or category-level roles later, inside Pilgrim's or elsewhere in the industry.
About the role
Pilgrim's Europe is hiring a Poultry Compliance Manager into its Central Technical & R&D - Agriculture department, reporting to the Director of Agriculture Compliance, based in Anwick. The role acts as the technical expert within the Agriculture function, working with farmers, veterinarians, customers and industry bodies to maintain animal welfare, food safety, legal compliance and biosecurity standards across the poultry supply chain. Core responsibilities include providing technical support and guidance to growers and internal stakeholders; ensuring compliance with legal, customer and company requirements on welfare, food safety, hygiene and biosecurity; leading implementation and continuous improvement of agricultural HACCP systems; and conducting audits and assessments against customer Codes of Practice and legislative requirements. The postholder supports technical strategy development, promotes poultry welfare standards across sites, and works with company veterinarians on health plans, antibiotic stewardship programmes, AI licences and welfare initiatives. Further duties include maintaining agricultural testing schedules and Salmonella monitoring programmes, tracking and analysing animal health and welfare data, implementing supplier assurance activities across livestock, breeding, feed mills, disinfectants and sanitiser suppliers, conducting risk assessments and audits, monitoring compliance systems throughout the supply chain, and reporting technical performance through Agriculture KPIs. The role also develops transparent reporting systems for microbiological and chemical testing, supports agriculture-based R&D projects, translates research into technical bulletins and presentations, builds relationships with farmers, customers, regulators, suppliers, academic institutions and industry groups, and represents the company at external meetings and industry events. Essential requirements are technical management experience within animal welfare, agriculture or poultry production; experience auditing agricultural systems and driving compliance improvement; strong communication and stakeholder management skills; and the ability to analyse data, identify risks and implement practical solutions. Candidates should be degree qualified in Animal Science, Animal Welfare, Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Zoology or a related discipline, with a strong understanding of poultry welfare, agricultural legislation, HACCP principles, and food safety and biosecurity standards. The employer notes it cannot offer Skilled Worker visa sponsorship for this role, and applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK at the time of application. Benefits listed include competitive salary, competitive holiday entitlement, pension contribution, family-friendly policies, learning and development opportunities, and life assurance.
This is an extract. Read the full advert on the employer's site.
Key terms to include in your CV and cover letter
What this employer asks for, in their own words. Applications are often screened by software matching exact phrases, so where these genuinely describe your experience, use their wording rather than your own.
- HACCP
- poultry welfare
- agricultural legislation
- biosecurity standards
- supplier assurance
- compliance auditing
- risk assessment
- Salmonella monitoring
- antibiotic stewardship
- stakeholder management
- technical reporting
- KPI monitoring
- animal welfare data analysis
- food safety compliance
- Codes of Practice auditing
How to position yourself
The language that lands with hiring managers in this kind of role.
Position your interest around technical rigour, risk management and compliance assurance — this employer wants someone who reduces legal, customer and biosecurity risk and drives measurable continuous improvement in welfare and food safety KPIs, not someone framing this as an animal-welfare mission. Emphasise HACCP implementation experience, auditing agricultural systems, and data-driven decision-making; if you can speak to antibiotic stewardship or Salmonella monitoring programmes specifically, use that language, as it maps directly onto the role's stated scope.
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