Innovation Technical Manager
Dominos · Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
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Why this role matters
How close this job is to real sourcing and menu decisions.
Every new topping, filling or recipe Domino's launches passes through technical sign-off like this before it reaches 1,300 UK and Ireland stores. This seat sets the acceptance criteria and can block a launch on safety or standards grounds. That gatekeeping power over product specifications is real, but as described here it's aimed at food safety, allergens and regulatory compliance rather than at the sourcing standards behind the meat and dairy ingredients involved. It's a seat worth knowing about for the technical fluency and supplier-facing authority it builds: product specification writing, supplier approval processes, risk assessment. These skills transfer directly into a role where supplier sourcing standards are explicitly part of the brief. Think of it as building the technical credibility and vocabulary that opens the door to a more targeted sourcing or supplier-standards role later, rather than a lever over what gets bought today.
Where this role can take you
What this job teaches you, and the jobs it can lead to.
What you'd build
- HACCP leadership and food safety validation
- Product specification and supplier approval
- Regulatory compliance (UK/Ireland food law, HFSS)
- Technical risk assessment and launch governance
- Cross-functional project coordination
Where it can lead
- Head of Technical
- Supplier Quality Manager
- Technical and Quality Director
Senior technical and quality roles set the specifications and supplier approval criteria a business holds its meat and dairy suppliers to, including any standards written into them.
About the role
Domino's is hiring an Innovation Technical Manager based in Milton Keynes within its Supply Chain Centre, on a permanent full-time Band E contract. The role is technical lead for Domino's innovation portfolio, taking new products, ingredients, packaging, processes and equipment from concept through to launch and post-launch review, working across Innovation, Operations, Marketing, Procurement, Supply Chain, Regulatory, IT and Supplier Assurance. Responsibilities include leading technical assurance from concept to launch (setting acceptance criteria and ensuring evidence, specifications, procedures, training and store controls are ready); owning food safety risk and validation (leading HACCP reviews and commissioning microbiological, chemical, physical, allergen, sensory, shelf-life, temperature, cooking, holding, handling and transport validation); and supporting confident launch decisions (confirming launch readiness with suppliers, approving technical data and customer-facing allergen and calorie information, resolving emerging issues and capturing lessons learned). The role also contributes to supplier selection, manages technical testing budgets, provides information for governance and Steerco approval, and can recommend pausing a supplier, trial or launch when safety, legality or Domino's standards could be compromised. Essential requirements: a degree or equivalent in food science, food technology, microbiology, nutrition or a related discipline; HACCP and food safety training at Level 3 or above; current knowledge of allergen management; at least five years' technical or supplier assurance experience in food manufacturing, retail, hospitality or QSR including concept-to-launch product work; strong knowledge of UK and Ireland food law covering food safety, allergens, nutrition, claims, labelling, packaging and HFSS; experience of shelf-life validation, microbiological risk assessment, product specifications, supplier approval, traceability, withdrawal and recall; confidence assessing technical risk and presenting recommendations to senior colleagues; and strong organisation and project coordination skills across multiple teams and external suppliers. Desirable: lead auditor or project management training, and knowledge of Primary Authority arrangements, ethical sourcing and sustainability requirements. Domino's describes support including induction into its innovation process, technical standards, supplier requirements and Food Safety Management System, access to specialists and operational teams, exposure across the innovation lifecycle, and recognition schemes including the Domi Awards.
This is an extract. Read the full advert on the employer's site.
Key terms to include in your CV and cover letter
What this employer is asking for, in their words. Applications are often screened by software looking for exact phrases, so if these describe your experience, use their wording.
- HACCP
- allergen management
- food safety risk assessment
- microbiological risk assessment
- shelf-life validation
- product specifications
- supplier approval
- traceability
- product withdrawal and recall
- UK and Ireland food law
- project coordination
- technical risk assessment
- Primary Authority arrangements
- ethical sourcing
How to position yourself
The language that works with hiring managers for this kind of job.
Position your experience in product specification writing, HACCP, supplier approval and risk assessment as the technical credibility that lets you speak with authority on raw-material and supplier standards. This is the foundation a responsible sourcing or supplier assurance career builds on. Worth building toward lead auditor training or deeper supplier ethical sourcing knowledge, both mentioned as desirable here, to position for a next move into sourcing-focused technical roles.
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