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Food industry technical professional

Food industry technical professional

Health and science

Level 6 - Professional Occupation

Ensuring the safety and quality of food and drink products.

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Reference: OCC0197

Status: assignment_turned_inApproved occupation

Average (median) salary: £42,362 per year

SOC 2020 code: 2129 Engineering professionals n.e.c.

SOC 2020 sub unit groups:

  • 2129/06 Food technologists
  • 2483/00 Environmental health professionals
  • 3111/04 Laboratory food technicians
  • 8143/00 Routine inspectors and testers

Technical Education Products

ST0197:

Food industry technical professional (integrated degree)

(Level 6)

Approved for delivery

Employers involved in creating the standard:

2 Sisters Food Group, Cargill Meats Europe, Fermex International Ltd, Greencore Food to Go, Haribo PLC, Nestlé UK Ltd, Oscar Mayer Ltd, Produce World Ltd, Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd, Tulip Ltd, Warburtons

Summary

The Food Industry is one of the largest, most dynamic and fastest growing sectors of industry. Every day, producers, food manufacturers and retailers make and sell millions of innovative food products, such as drinks, cakes, biscuits, ready to eat and ready to cook food, sandwiches, wraps, fresh fruit and salads to consumers in the UK and around the world. Technical Professionals are passionate about their industry and ensure all products are safe to eat, of consistent appearance, taste, and texture and take great pride in their work. There are a wide variety of Technical Professional roles: Assistant Food Technical Manager, Quality Manager, Shift Quality Manager, Hygiene Manager, Product Innovation and Development Technologist. They ensure the safety and quality of food products; this includes improving existing products and launching new products; working with operational teams to develop good practices and procedures; and developing good relationships with internal and external customers. They may be employed by a grower, a food manufacturer or by a retailer. Technical professionals utilise their knowledge to ensure the smooth transition of food and drink products from farm to fork. They ensure that technical and quality standards are achieved whilst maximising profitability to meet customer requirements. They have a set of skills, knowledge and behaviours providing the opportunity for an exciting and rewarding career in the food industry

Employers involved in creating the standard:

2 Sisters Food Group, Cargill Meats Europe, Fermex International Ltd, Greencore Food to Go, Haribo PLC, Nestlé UK Ltd, Oscar Mayer Ltd, Produce World Ltd, Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd, Tulip Ltd, Warburtons

eco

Mid Green occupation

Typical job titles include:

assistant food technical manager
food scientist
food technician
hygiene manager
product innovation and development technologist
quality manager
shift quality manager

Keywords:

Biochemist
Biologist
Biotechnologist
Degree
Food Industry
Food Preparation
Food Production Management

Knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs)

K1: The microbiology and microbial ecology in a range of foods
K2: Food allergy and intolerance management, including labelling requirements and management systems for control of allergens in manufacturing
K3: Food legislation & regulation as appropriate to own organisational context
K4: Microbiological and chemical testing procedures relevant to food safety and quality, including sampling and interpretation of results
K5: Principles of commonly used laboratory chemical and physical test methods: analysis of fat, moisture, carbohydrate, protein, energy, density and melting point
K6: Scientific principles underpinning food chemistry and physics: composition of food and its nutritional value and trends; including rheology, fluid dynamics, thermodynamics
K7: Enhancing nutritional impact of food components - macro- and micro-nutrients; preserving and enhancing nutritional values in processing, distribution and sale; delivering nutritious products meeting dietary requirements, habits and consumer trends
K8: Technical knowledge of physical attributes and chemical constituents of commonly used ingredients: sugar, flour, fat, starch, yeast, milk, meat, fruit, vegetables and additives
K9: Underlying principles of various common food processes: mixing and blending, batch and continuous cooking/baking, aseptic processing, canning, pasteurisation, retorting and UHT, enrobing, cooling and freezing
K10: Supply chain management practices and systems to assure the safety, quality and legality of all raw materials, ingredients, goods and services in the work setting. Food safety management systems, specifications, traceability systems, recent scientific developments and techniques to substantiate fraudulent or malicious activity
K11: Physical hazards and their control in foods
K12: How to plan, manage and review operational processes, monitor costs and Key Performance Indicators
K13: How to collect, interpret and analyse technical data, use mathematical techniques and present technical information; how to carry out statistical process control studies, and how to interpret the data to improve the process
K14: How to appropriately select laboratory test methods and interpret results
K15: Characteristics of packaging systems to control food safety hazards and quality, including understanding of ultra-heat treatment/aseptic/Cook-Chill/modified atmosphere systems and managing product flow to assure shelf life compliance at all stages
K16: New Product design: specification, scaling-up and technical feasibility and cost analysis
K17: Factors governing food safety, integrity and sustainability within the global supply chain
K18: Problem solving techniques, including root cause analysis and investigation methods
K19: Ethical issues in the food industry, including the environment
K20: Hygienic design of factories/equipment and procedures, including Cleaning In Place
K21: How to lead, develop and manage resources, people and budgets
K22: How to develop, implement and review Continuous Improvement Plans

S1: Lead, develop and implement the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point system and team on site
S2: Interpret microbiological results; spot and analyse trends to diagnose or a nticipate issues; define and implement action plans
S3: Develop product specifications taking into account the key risk factors in product design; ensure customer pre-requisites are implemented and followed
S4: Manage, develop and implement internal audit schedule to ensure compliance with legal, industry and customer standards; keep abreast of new standards; credibly host third party audits
S5: Select the most appropriate tools and methodology to demonstrate compliance, food safety culture and delivery of consistent quality of products
S6: Establish cleaning and hygiene programmes and audit methodology; set up monitoring programmes; interpret data; identify different risk zoning in an operational area and the different hygiene requirements; manage internal and external cleaning contractors
S7: Manage complaint performance through the identification of trends and the design of corrective action programmes to improve credibility with customer
S8: Design and implement site procedures to ensure legal compliance with current food law; lead any investigation into legal contravention with the relevant enforcement authorities
S9: Establish process parameters and control requirements; measure the impact of process on product, set limits and take action to deal with process and product non-conformance
S10: Optimise and control parameters that influence common industry processes: washing, mixing, heating, cooking, cooling/chilling, freezing, drying, freeze drying
S11: Be able to liaise and co-ordinate with other functions to deliver New Product Development projects. When appropriate take the lead and drive the project
S12: Use project management tools to deliver projects to time, cost, specification and quality
S13: Coordinate investigations into and responses to non-conformances and participate in incident management teams; implement incident management procedure
S14: Review and select relevant scientific techniques taking into account cost and practicalities; experiment, collect and analyse data and formulate solutions
S15: Manage supplier intake controls; carry out supplier a udit & performance reviews and risk assessment; maintain approved supplier, contractor and vendor performance process
S16: Design and implement traceability system fully compliant with customer and legal requirements; monitor to verify validity of process
S17: Lead and develop a small technical team on site
S18: Develop and demonstrate critical evaluation/analysis of complex information and data

B1: Ownership of work: accepts responsibility, is proactive, plans work, demonstrates integrity, aims for excellence
B2: People development: proposes objectives to support the business, seeks learning, drives the development of self and others
B3: Inspire others through leading by example
B4: Integrity & respect: respect for colleagues, effective communication at all levels, adapts style
B5: Influence and persuades key stakeholders effectively: drive effective relationships
B6: Working in a team: builds good relationships with others, works collaboratively, contributes ideas and challenges appropriately
B7: Problem solving: works to identify and ensure root causes of problems are resolved, demonstrating a tenacious approach
B8: Responsiveness to change: flexibility to changing working environment and demands
B9: Company/industry perspective: knowledge of company and food industry, acts as an ambassador both internally and externally
B10: Innovation: Demonstrates curiosity to foster new ways of thinking and working; seeks out opportunities to drive forward change and improvements for the business

Occupational Progression

This occupational progression map shows technical occupations that have transferable knowledge and skills.

In this map, the focused occupation is highlighted in yellow. The arrows indicate where transferable knowledge and skills exist between two occupations. This map shows some of the strongest progression links between the focused occupation and other occupations.

It is anticipated that individuals would be required to undertake further learning or training to progress to and from occupations. To find out more about an occupation featured in the progression map, including the learning options available, click the occupation.

Progression decisions have been reached by comparing the knowledge and skills statements between occupational standards, combined with individualised learner movement data.

Technical Occupations

Levels 2-3

Higher Technical Occupations

Levels 4-5

Professional Occupations

Levels 6-7

This is the focused occupation.
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Level 6

eco

Health and science