Jillian Atkinson

Highly motivated and resourceful Group Specifications Manager, responsible for Middlesbrough and Ebbw Vale sites, reporting directly to the Group Technical Services Director. I have over 30 years experience in the food industry, 26 of those working for SK Chilled Foods that was recently bought by The Compleat Food Group.

Employed as head of the technical services department, managing a team of specifications technologists and interims (as workload demands change). Responsible for the team’s production and approval of finished product specifications, and their associated artwork on packaging, in accordance with deadlines set by a £multi-million portfolio of retailers.

Retailers include Aldi, M&S, Sainsbury, Asda, Morrisons, Co-op, Waitrose and Lidl.

Other responsibilities include:

• managing our raw materials system with over 400 raw materials,
• ensuring legal requirements are met for all specifications and artwork,
• department representative at audits for British Retail Consortium (BRC) and retailers,
• monitoring and completing allocated Key Performance Indicators (KPI),
• responding to retailer and supplier queries and associated changes,
• reporting soy, palm oil, coco and packaging usage annually.

NPD Technologist for Geest Foods in Spalding. Developing chilled salad recipes for M&S. Taking them from concept through factory trials to the shelf.

Additional QA responsibilities.

Laboratory Technician using chemical testing to produce nutritional results for food packaging.

Testing for fat, protein, sugars and more.

Testing food for the presence of micro organisms such as e-coli, Salmonella, yeasts and moulds and others. To provide a shelf life for the finished product.