Position: Head of Technical : SA Business Unit

Reporting to: Business Partners

Full Time / Part Time: Full Time (40+ Hours per week)

Department: Technical

Location: Western Cape, South Africa

Salary / Paygrade: Confidential

Description

CTG is currently seeking an experienced, passionate, and focused technical leader to join our food sourcing and distribution company. The CTG culture is rooted in achieving results and embracing challenges within a supportive and friendly team environment. We are seeking a solution-driven technical lead to fill the newly created role of, Head of Technical – SA Business Unit. We are a fast-growing business which means that we are often wearing many hats at any given time. While some may find this extent of cooperation burdensome, we are seeking a candidate who will consider it to be an opportunity to gain new skill sets and grow individually, and as part of a team. The wide scope and exposure inherent to this position make it ideal for someone wishing to maximize their full potential in a very visible and lasting way, within a growing and dynamic young company.

The main responsibilities of this position will include:

  • Daily technical account management; exercising skills in value engineering, quality management and food safety, product knowledge, and current food science industry knowledge.

  • Create, host and lead presentations to retail customers and suppliers.

  • Confidently initiate and lead top-to-top discussions with retail customers and suppliers.

  • Manage local supplier base & development for export markets (USA, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa).

  • Share and co-create best practices to roll out across CTG.

  • Co-develop the CTG technical strategy; including guidelines, policies and standards, and embed it within the business unit and overall CTG business practices.

  • Continuously update and refine the CTG technical strategy; ensuring that the focuses are strategic and consistently customer and quality-centric.

We are seeking a professional who will contribute to the strategic direction of the South African business unit, as well as the overall business itself. Therefore, this individual must be a visionary; creative but also practical, self-motivated, driven, and team-oriented. The ideal candidate will also possess:

  • A creative flair for food and the development of new products that can be commercialized in multiple international markets and within the development guidelines of both the customer and market.

  • A talent for identifying emerging food trends and adapting them to customer requirements and markets.

  • A trade background with the ability to think progressively about the food industry.

  • An ability to understand the needs of customers and a desire to over-deliver on solutions.

  • An ability to source or develop creative solutions at specified price points in a timely manner.

  • An ability to work equally well in a team environment or individually / remotely.

  • An ability to work flexi hours to accommodate global customer time zone differences.

  • A love for travel and a valid passport.

Required Experience

  • A degree in Food Science or Food Technology.

  • Experience-based knowledge of foods and non-foods industries.

  • A minimum of 12-15 years’ experience in Food Sciences.

  • Experience in the retail industry (supplier or customer-facing).

  • Experience in foods and non-foods product development, quality and innovation.

  • An established network of strategic relationships amongst food suppliers.

Personal Attributes

  • Consistently operate with the highest of integrity.

  • Demonstrate passion and commitment to excellence for our customers, our organization, fellow team members as well as South Africa (foster true transformation and sustainability).

  • Demonstrate a commitment to high performance; being output driven, goal oriented, adaptable, and focused on performance feedback.

  • Effectively work alone, or in a team scenario.

  • Be a creative and out-of-the-box thinker; and be able to bring simple and creative solutions to the table.

  • Foster a spirit of technically-led product innovation.

  • Possess strong negotiation skills.

Leadership Style & Attributes - This individual must be:

  • Extremely self-aware; understanding the impact of your actions on the people around you.

  • Confident & consistent in leadership style.

  • Highly regarded by your peers with the ability to instill confidence in customers and suppliers alike.

  • Able to build strong networks and strategic relationships with internal and external stakeholders

Other

  • Comfortable & experienced with international travel (valid passport & ability to travel).

  • Sensory evaluation skills; possess the ability to distinguish and articulate ingredients, product quality, flavor profiles, and product attributes.

Feel like you're up for the challenge and interested in speaking further? Contact us.