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As we continue our mission to make people happy through chocolate, we’re looking for a Line Operator (Chocolate Technician) to join our Chocolate Manufacturing Team on a permanent basis.

Working as part of a collaborative & multi-skilled team, you will be responsible for ensuring compliance to the production plan to deliver product on time in full, within agreed quality and health & safety measurements.

Flexibility is key in this role as you will be managing the production of chocolate across several of our lines – including the infamous Velvetiser™. Responsibilities will include ensuring that all machinery settings are correct, changing over equipment when needed as well as mixing and depositing chocolate alongside monitoring samples. All of this helps us to continue manufacturing world class chocolates in line with specification and agreed parameters.

Salary: £28,411.50 per annum

Shift Pattern: Monday to Friday on a weekly rotating shift pattern of 6am – 2pm and 2pm – 10pm.

As well as a competitive salary and a range of company benefits, you’ll receive 50% discount on all products, and a 70% discount for you and your guests when you stay at our Rabot Estate hideaway on the paradise island of Saint Lucia.

The onsite location for this role is at our Factory ‘Hadley Park’, in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, right in the heart of where our chocolates are made and where weekly, we can produce between 4 to 6 million of the chocolates we all know and love.

Hadley Park is just 5 minutes off the A141 and 1.3 miles from Huntingdon train station, with direct rail links to London King’s Cross.

What you’ll be doing….

Material Availability

• Ensure all materials, equipment and resources are available before shift and during the day to complete the plan.
• Ensure is aware of material usage and equipment handling.
• Any shortages and discrepancies are communicated to your line manager on time.

Training Completion

• Write and update relevant SOPs / Standard Work.
• Driving a culture of asset specific standards and setting across all shifts.
• Training and mentoring new starters within the business on your asset / process.

Internal Customer / Supplier

• Accountability and control of received and sent produce. Ensure good clear proactive communication to ensure minimal disruption to either customer or supplier from your asset / process.

Handover

• Accept and provide structure information between shifts to ensure no confusion or losses down to poor communication.

Daily Plan Attainment for Asset

• Plan delivered on time in cost with targeted quality loss of less than 1%

Cross Line Machinery Proficiency

• Confidence of running all assets on the line or same grouped assets in all departments allowing for future moves across lines with HP.

Daily KPI Report

• Quality
• Delivery
• Cost
• TRAKSYS data input/SIC sheet input.
• Action completion

Material Variance / Yield Control

• Record and review data highlighting any trends and concerns.
• Ensure all Elucid transactions are accurate and completed on a timely basis.

Asset Care

• PPM requirements recorded with Engineering to ensure asset downtime is minimised.
• Clear controlled storage control of any moveable parts.
• Tool control where applicable.
• Proactive care and targeted hygiene work with the Hygiene Team to ensure work area and asset stay in the best standard.

Safety and Quality Standards

• Ensure compliance with all Health and Safety Systems and to always be responsible for your own Health and Safety and that of others around you.
• Perform start-up checks and escalate any concerns.
• Ensure all international work is delivered to the right standard and with the right accuracy.
• Ensure the asset / process removes risk of foreign body contamination proactively.
• GMP compliance in your work area.
• Ensure 100% compliance with product specification.
• Food safety standard compliance, hygiene and PPE policies adhered to.
• All paperwork compliance in line with technical requirements for Food Safety.
• Being an ambassador for driving the culture of pride for the produce by setting and ensuring high standards.
• Ability to talk an external auditor through your process / procedure around utilising your asset.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities, plan how a process can be improved.

• Yield / material variance / packaging waste / line efficiency etc.
• Working project to show saving from improvements on the line / process.

• Involvement in 5S and other Kaizen instruments developed for site.
• Ability to challenge constructively and receive feedback openly.

Who you are…

• Food Safety Level 2 qualified.
• HACCP trained.
• Knowledge of KPIs.
• Knowledge of continuous improvement tools.
• Good English language skills – both written and verbal.

Who are we?

We’re one of the UK’s favourite premium chocolate brands, with a range of products spanning luxury gifts, alcohol and our pioneering drinking chocolate system, the Velvetiser™.

A cacao pod takes years to grow – it can’t be rushed if it’s going to be just right for our products. The same can be said for Hotel Chocolat, which originally started as a mint production company before we realised it was luxury chocolate that we were really passionate about.

Now, we’re market leaders in the industry. What began as an online-only business grew to over 100 stores across the UK, and we’re still growing… Today, we’re multi-category, multi-channel, and multi-territory, and our customers, colleagues, cacao farmers and suppliers all benefit from the success we make together.

To learn more about us and read about our People Pledge – our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion – click here: hotelchocolat.com/uk/engaged-ethics/our-people.html