Manage supplier approval and assurance for food suppliers to Pilgrims Europe, driving continuous improvement in food safety, quality and integrity.Risk assess, approve and integrate new suppliers.Monitor risk and performance continuously, report findings and drive supplier improvement.Responsibilities: Obtain and evaluate supplier records & questionnaires to assess suitability to supply and support risk assessment process. Maintain approved suppliers list.Maintain risk assessment data; requesting updates from suppliers and challenging data as required.Establish programme of supplier assessments: audits, traces, third party audit reports, questionnaires etc to maintain ongoing approval.Carry out supplier audits to schedule, evaluating and reporting against requirements.Carry out supplier traces to schedule and ad hoc as required.Follow up and close out corrective actions from audits, traces, non-conformances, maintaining records on Foods Connected.Escalate concerns where suppliers are not performing to the expected standards.Build good working relationships with suppliers developing a collaborative approach.Share learnings and promote continuous improvement.Ongoing maintenance and administration tasks to ensure suppliers are compliant with Pilgrims Europe standards.Work closely with procurement team to improve standard of supply base.Lead/participate in initiatives to develop our systems and processes to deliver continuous improvement.Ensure information is provided in an easy to find, easy to understand format for sites to support third party audits etc.Support Pilgrims Europe factory audits as required in the area of Supplier assurance.Support issue/incident investigation and resolution with suppliers.Evaluate supplier performance and support scorecard process.Maintain and report KPIs.Provide support for the wider team as requiredEssential Criteria:Food-related qualification or experience in a similar role.Practical experience of systems auditing.Practical understanding of BRCGS Food and key customer expectationsWorking knowledge of food legislationGood communication skills (written and verbal) and ability to influence.Open minded – able to make decisions based on evaluation of risk.Natural coaching abilityUnderstanding and experience of root cause analysis.Ability to challenge and question in a positive way without causing offence.Drives high standards with good attention to detail.Uses initiative, self-motivated and assertive.Computer literate – familiar with Office 365 (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and SharePoint, comfortable using computer systems such as Foods ConnectedConsiderable travel required to visit/audit suppliers.Desirable Criteria:Level 3 food qualificationVACCP understanding and experience.HACCP level 4Experience dealing with external bodies, such as auditors, suppliers, customers.Breadth of experience in food industry categoriesAble to demonstrate experience in establishing and maintaining relationships with suppliers