Mid Green occupation

Health and science

Food industry technical professional

View occupational standard

View occupational progression

Explore courses linked to this occupation

Ensuring the safety and quality of food and drink products.

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

Typical job titles include

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

Technical Educational Products

: ST0197: Food industry technical professional (integrated degree) (Level 6) Approved for delivery

Reference:: OCC0197

Status:: Approved occupation

Average (median) salary:: £44,134 per year

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

SOC 2020 sub unit groups:
- 2129/06 Food technologists
- 2129/99 Engineering professionals n.e.c.
- 3111/04 Laboratory food technicians

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

Technical Educational Products

: ST0197: Food industry technical professional (integrated degree) (Level 6) Approved for delivery

Reference:: OCC0197

Status:: Approved occupation

Average (median) salary:: £44,134 per year

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

SOC 2020 sub unit groups:
- 2129/06 Food technologists
- 2129/99 Engineering professionals n.e.c.
- 3111/04 Laboratory food technicians

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

Technical Educational Products

: ST0197: Food industry technical professional (integrated degree) (Level 6) Approved for delivery

Reference:: OCC0197

Status:: Approved occupation

Average (median) salary:: £44,134 per year

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

SOC 2020 sub unit groups:
- 2129/06 Food technologists
- 2129/99 Engineering professionals n.e.c.
- 3111/04 Laboratory food technicians