Job Description

Whitbread is the owner of the UK’s best‑known hospitality brands, including Premier Inn and a portfolio of leading restaurant concepts. Across the UK and Ireland, Whitbread serves millions of customers every week, with food safety, quality and integrity at the heart of everything they do.

NSF has partnered with Whitbread for over 20 years, delivering expert food safety guidance, technical leadership and practical solutions through an embedded technical and advisory team. As Whitbread’s trusted technical partner, NSF provides the food safety expertise, industry knowledge and professional network that supports robust food safety governance, strong supplier standards and continuous improvement across the operation.

We are now looking for a Technical Food Advisory Manager to lead NSF’s Whitbread technical team. This role is responsible for overseeing the delivery of contracted technical and advisory services, ensuring high‑quality advisory support and continuous improvement across a complex, fast‑moving food operation. This is a strategic, senior position combining people leadership, stakeholder management and technical oversight, working closely with senior colleagues across both NSF and Whitbread.

What We Offer:

• Hybrid Working: This role is primarily aligned to Whitbread HQ in Dunstable, with a hybrid working arrangement and flexibility to work from home.

• Comprehensive Benefits: Including private health cover, death‑in‑service benefit, company sick pay and income protection.

• Wellbeing Support: Access to our Employee Assistance Programme and a paid annual Mental Wellness Day.

• Volunteering Time: Paid time off to support causes you care about.

• Career Development: Opportunities to grow and develop within a global organisation, with exposure to senior stakeholders and complex, high‑profile client work.

Including, but not limited to:

• Leading NSF’s technical team supporting the Whitbread account, ensuring a strong, cohesive and high‑performing operation.

• Providing technical leadership and expert judgement on food safety, legality and quality matters, acting as NSF’s senior technical voice with Whitbread.

• Ensuring effective food safety governance, robust advisory support and continuous improvement across Whitbread’s supplier base.

• Building and maintaining strong collaborative relationships with key stakeholders across Whitbread and their supply chain.

• Supporting technical decision‑making, issue resolution and, where required, food safety or quality incident management.

• Overseeing delivery against contractual SLAs, KPIs and budgets for the account.

• Contributing to technical policy development and strategic improvement initiatives in collaboration with Whitbread stakeholders.

• Coaching, mentoring and developing team members, setting objectives and promoting accountability and progression.

• Planning, coordinating and tracking projects using sound project management principles.

• Maintaining oversight of documentation, data systems and technical records to ensure quality and integrity.

• Undertaking occasional travel to other client locations and suppliers as required

• A degree (or equivalent experience) in Food Science, Food Technology, Food Safety or a related discipline.
• Strong working knowledge of food safety legislation, industry standards and regulatory frameworks.
• Significant experience in a senior technical or technologist role within food manufacturing, retail, hospitality or supply‑chain environments.
• Proven people leadership or team‑lead experience.
• Confidence operating in a client‑facing or account‑based environment.
• Strong stakeholder engagement, communication and influencing skills.
• Experience applying technical judgement in complex or fast‑paced operational settings.
• Solid organisational, project management and decision‑making capability.
• A practical, solutions‑focused mindset, with a commitment to continuous improvement.

Our Culture:

At NSF, our mission is to improve human and planet health. Our culture is rooted in four central values:

• Do the Right Thing

• Treat People Well

• Relentlessly Pursue Excellence

• We Are One NSF

These values underpin everything we do — from client service to internal collaboration. You’ll be part of a high‑purpose, high‑performance team that takes pride in delivering exceptional results.

Apply now and send us your CV and cover letter. Come join our team – we look forward to hearing from you!

About NSF:

NSF is an independent, growing services organization dedicated to improving human and planet health worldwide. We deliver our mission by facilitating standards development and providing world-class testing, inspection, certification, advisory services and digital solutions to the food, water, life sciences and personal care industries. We’re passionate about the work we do, because together, we have a broad impact on our world.

#LI-JW1

With a legacy spanning more than 80 years, NSF leverages science and innovation to improve human and planet health. We provide science-driven, independent testing, inspection, certification, and advisory services and develop the very standards that drive the food, water, and life sciences industries worldwide. We empower our clients to navigate shifting regulations to improve consumer health, safety, and quality of life.

One of our core values is We Are One NSF. This means that while we’re one team, we embrace the cultural, ethnic, language, and demographic diversity that reflects the societies in which we live and work.

Come join a team that makes a difference in the world. More information about NSF can be found at nsf.org.

NSF is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, among other things, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, status as a protected veteran, or disability.

Notice to Agency and Search Firm Representatives: Please note that NSF is not accepting unsolicited resumes from agencies/search firms for this role. Resumes submitted to an NSF employee by a third-party agency without a valid written & signed search agreement between NSF and said third-party agency will become the sole property of NSF. No fee will be paid if a candidate is hired as a result of an unsolicited agency or search firm referral. Thank you.