What is THIS™?
THIS™ is a high-growth, VC-backed emerging leader in producing plant-based food. Meat-alternatives, to be exact. In fact, if we’re being reallllly exact – our products are at the leading-edge of the plant-based sector in terms of taste, texture and appearance. Here’s our insta, for a quick stalk - www.instagram.com/this.uk
It’s worth mentioning that since our launch in June 2019, the company has experienced extremely significant growth in revenue. Last year, in 2023, THIS™ topped The Grocer and Alantra’s annual Fast 50 list, a ranking of the country’s fastest-growing food and drink companies on two-year sales growth. We have strong aspirations to continue this growth trajectory as we aim to be the number 1 plant-based brand in the UK and beyond and we believe we have the team and investment to achieve this.
Why are we doing THIS™?
Andy and Pete are our co-founders and their last job entailed selling tonnes (literally tonnes) of meat. Then they felt bad. Also, they felt like meat-alternatives weren't really for people who love the taste of meat. So they’ve basically ended up making THIS™ for themselves, but they’d love other meat-lovers to give it a go too. THIS™ is a game-changer.
At our core, our vision is to have a world where animals aren’t food and the environment is protected.
Our mission statement to guide us to getting there is:
“We will lead a revolution with our ridiculously delicious and nutritious plant-based food.”
What’s with this role?
The successful candidate will join the company’s Operations team in a fixed-term contract for 6-9 months, reporting to the Senior Technical Manager. This role is to ensure the smooth day-to-day running of the food safety and quality processes. You’ll do this through overseeing our ways of working while supporting the improvements of existing processes and the implementation of new processes. This is an exciting opportunity to join a growing team and have a real impact on the business, driving Food Safety & Quality strategies with strong focus on supplier and material approvals as well as helping with maintaining the high quality standards we strive for with our products.
What will you be getting up to?
- Assist in creating packaging, raw material, and finished product specifications.
- Complete technical-related supplier and customer questionnaires.
- Help with supplier and product approvals.
- Coordinate, analyse and investigate quality complaints, ensuring internal and supplier corrective and preventative actions are implemented.
- Maintain supplier certification statuses and supporting approval documentation.
- Confidently liaise with suppliers to ensure requested actions resulting from process or product non-conformances are completed within specified timescales.
- Contribute towards the implementation of supplier improvement plans in line with customer requirements.
- Maintain the Quality Management System and records, in line with BRC standards and escalate non-conformances to the Senior Technical Manager.
- Maintain HACCP Food Safety plans to defined frequencies.
- Manage internal product testing schedule.
- Contribute to the continuous improvement of the FSQA function defined by THIS™ Food Safety & Quality Objectives, assist in achieving internal targets and KPIs as well as contribute to any other technical or quality projects/tasks as allocated.
What are we looking for?
- Bachelor’s degree in a science discipline (preferred)
- Preferably 1-2 years’ work experience in food safety and quality (manufacturing experience desired)
- HACCP L3 trained
- Experience in Internal Auditing is preferred
- End-to-end understanding of frozen and chilled FMCG supply chains
- Supplier (or other external stakeholder) facing experience
- Strong problem-solving skills and high numerical aptitude
- Methodical thinker with high attention to detail
- Positive attitude, proactivity and a tenacious character: things in our business can change very quickly, so being comfortable reacting quickly to unexpected opportunities and challenges is super important too!
- Ability and interest to work cross-functionally, we’re a small team and believe that strong collaboration will take us further than working in silos
Alignment with our company values:
- Be Kind: We support and include each other, we’re honest and give feedback, we’re considerate and act with love and trust, we have fun, and we look after the planet.
- Be Brave: We’re adaptable and embrace change, we’re resilient and have a growth mindset, we think creatively and speak up, we change course if we need to, and we learn and grow.
- Be Focused: We always drive towards our mission and vision, we make sustainable long-term decisions, we deliver for our consumers by prioritising the right things, we think business-minded - brand and consumer, and we own our own roles.
- Be Passionate: We’re ambassadors of our company and products, we’re THIS™ geeks and experts, we’re purpose-led, and we’re aware of our impact on the outside world.
Other stuff
As a fast-growing business, everyone who joins us needs to be ready to roll up their sleeves and carry out tasks away from their core focus because - they just need to get done. That could be helping to prepare samples for a customer meeting, trying new products and giving tasting notes, packing cold bags into boxes or a lot of other random stuff that comes up. They're not always the most glamorous jobs, but from the founders down, the whole team gets involved!
From our side
- A competitive salary that fairly recognises your experience and potential.
- 25 days paid holiday plus bank-holidays – we care about our team’s wellbeing, so we make sure you have time to fully switch off, rest, and recharge.
- Hybrid working – 2 days in the West London office = Tuesdays and you choose your second day each week.
- Flexible working hours – We're not a 9-5. Our focus is on your ability to deliver for the business, not your ability to keep strict working hours.
- Mental health support - the company pays for Spill, a mental health wellness provider that gives everyone access to mental health resources, and qualified therapists for unlimited therapy sessions.
- Access to our Freebie Freezer so you can eat as much of THIS™ as you fancy.
The chance to have a meaningful impact
As a relatively small, albeit growing, team you'll be exposed to, and have the chance to contribute towards, challenges and projects at all levels and in all areas of the business. A good idea is a good idea, regardless of the experience or seniority of who came up with it.
We'd love to hear from you, so apply with your CV and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!