Food Technologist
apetito · Hilperton Marsh, Trowbridge
Our estimate of how close this job is to decisions about what protein a business sources, specifies, buys and serves. How we score
Why this role matters
How close this job is to real sourcing and menu decisions.
Raw material and finished product specifications are where legal and company requirements for a product actually get written down, and this role sits right inside that process for a company whose frozen meals include meat, poultry and other animal-derived ingredients, served to over 1,300 care homes and healthcare settings. Someone in this seat checks supplier specifications for accuracy and compliance before they're signed off, which is a genuine point where a detail-focused technologist could notice gaps or push suppliers for clearer information on sourcing and ingredient quality. It isn't a role that sets sourcing policy or standards itself, but it builds exactly the specification literacy, supplier-facing experience and legislative fluency that more senior technical and sourcing roles are built on, including ones with real authority over supplier standards for meat and dairy and over what the business buys for the vulnerable people it feeds.
Where this role can take you
What this job teaches you, and the jobs it can lead to.
What you'd build
- Food specification writing and review
- Supplier technical liaison
- Raw material specification checking
- Food legislation implementation
Where it can lead
- Food Technology Supervisor
- Senior Food Technologist
- Technical Manager
These roles typically hold sign-off over supplier specifications and compliance standards, giving more direct say over what requirements animal-derived raw materials must meet before approval.
About the role
apetito, the UK's leading food supplier to the health and social care sectors, is recruiting a Food Technologist to join its New Product Development function, within the Ingredients Team. The postholder is one of three Food Technologists reporting to the Food Technology Supervisor, and the team provides technical expertise underpinning specifications, artwork, customer queries, new product launches and changes in food legislation. Core responsibilities include managing a varied workload across specifications, product and material queries, artwork checks, legislative updates and product changes; working with suppliers to prepare and maintain accurate raw material specifications; preparing apetito finished product specifications and assessing product information for legislative, customer and apetito compliance; gathering, interpreting and approving supplier, recipe and product data; responding to technical queries from internal stakeholders and customers; checking artwork and product information for accuracy and compliance; keeping internal systems for products, recipes and specifications up to date; supporting colleagues in technical setup of new and improved products; and keeping up to date with and implementing legislative changes. Essential requirements are a degree in Food Science or related discipline, or proven previous experience in a similar role; competence in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, SharePoint); ability to manage multiple projects at once; up-to-date knowledge of food legislation implementation; proficiency checking food artwork labels against UK and EU food labelling laws; previous experience preparing food specifications and labels; previous experience checking raw material specifications from suppliers for accuracy, legislative compliance and business policy adherence; numerical competency for recipe calculations; and comfort working with multiple data sources. Desirable requirements are previous experience in food manufacturing and previous experience checking raw material specifications across a variety of food groups. Personal qualities sought include being detail-focused and structured, self-motivated, a strong communicator with internal and external stakeholders, and an analytical thinker. The role is based at apetito's UK Head Office in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, on a permanent full-time basis. Benefits include a competitive salary as an accredited Living Wage employer, 25 days holiday plus bank holidays with the option to buy up to 5 more, a discretionary annual bonus, pension with employer match up to 4%, life assurance worth at least 1x salary, subsidised canteen, free parking, and other perks.
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 is asking for, in their words. Applications are often screened by software looking for exact phrases, so if these describe your experience, use their wording.
- food specifications
- raw material specification review
- food labelling compliance
- UK and EU food labelling law
- artwork checking
- supplier data management
- food legislation knowledge
- new product development
- recipe calculations
- technical stakeholder communication
- Microsoft Office proficiency
- Food Science degree
- cross-functional collaboration
- project deadline management
- legislative change implementation
How to position yourself
The language that works with hiring managers for this kind of job.
Frame your interest around precision, compliance and risk management — being the person who catches a labelling error or an inaccurate raw material spec before it reaches a vulnerable customer is a strong, business-legible story for this role. Highlight any experience with food labelling law, specification systems or supplier data management, and if you have exposure to raw material specification checks across different food groups (including meat or protein ingredients), make that explicit.
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