Bakkavor
work experience

Food Technology Placement Programme 

Job description

We are looking for motivated undergraduates who have a keen desire to gain experience within Food Technology, sitting within our technical department at Bakkavor. This is a 12-month placement aimed at those who elect to complete a year-in-industry as part of their degree. There are opportunities to return to Bakkavor once you have completed your undergraduate degree.

If you share our passion for great food, this placement offers you opportunities, development, and guidance to help you learn and grow. You will gain skills in areas such as food safety, microbiology, internal auditing, raw materials, technical systems and factory hygiene. This entry level placement is ideal for those studying a foodrelated or food science degree, aiming to enter this field upon graduation.You will be based at one of our sites in Cheshire, Lincolnshire or London, engaging in a broad range of activities and projects. The placement structure includes working within different functions within the technical department, these may include:

  • Technical Factory QA Team: Collaborate with our manufacturing operations to ensure high quality and food safety as part of the Quality
  • Assurance team: You'll engage in technical tasks such as GMP audits, taste panels, and micro-sampling while working within the factory environment.
  • Technical Systems team: Working with our technical systems team to help to develop robust technical systems that comply with food safety, legal and customer requirements. This could include tasks around HACCP, code of practice reviews, quality management systems and KPI’s.
  • Raw Materials and Specification team: Working in the raw material or specifications team to monitor and evaluate raw material safety through risk assessments and generate product specifications, including artwork and legal compliance checks.
  • Process Technologist team: working within our process teams to ensure the smooth transition of products from concept to launch. You will engage in factory trials, organoleptic sampling, shelf-life reviews, verifying data and product quality attribute generation.

**To confirm for all these Food technology placement roles your time with us will require you to spend a high proportion of your day within a factory environment.

  • During the Food Tech Placement you will receive career experience, skills & responsibility
  • You will work with an experienced line manager who will conduct regular performance reviews and guide you through a skills checklist to ensure your development.
  • Assuming everything progresses as planned, Bakkavor will assist you in identifying the right career opportunities upon completing your degree. This could include direct entry roles or positions within our Graduate or Apprentice programs.
  • From day one, you will take accountability for your work area and personal development, with comprehensive on-the-job training provided.

Benefits

  • Relocation Financial Assistance – Any relocation payments made will be paid back in October 2026
  • Access to Bakkavor benefits such as a discount platform

What we are looking for

  • The most important qualities we seek are a motivated attitude to develop your skills and a strong motivation to progress within the food industry.
  • Undergraduate currently studying a food science-based (Food related) degree (Must be mid degree, not mid masters)
  • Experience working as part of a team
  • Existing right to work in the UK (we are unable to sponsor visas for this placement)
  • A clear motivation to learn more about the food industry
  • A desire to learn how food manufacturing works and to get into detail of:
  • What makes food safe
  • How factories consistently produce great quality food time after time
  • An ability to demonstrate good attention to detail
  • A full UK driver’s licence and own transport is preferred and is mandatory for any Lincolnshire placements, as our locations and suppliers are not always readily accessible by public transport
  • A curiosity to explore, learn, and show initiative
  • All placements are subject to successful right to work checks, and eligibility to work in the UK.

Accepted degree subjects

Any

Additional job details

Location
Bourne
Cheshire
Devizes
Highbridge
Holbeach
London
Spalding
Salary
£25,000

Additional London weighting for London based roles.

Contract, dates and working times
Fixed term

Full-time

How to apply

  • Assessment Centers will be held at our Bakkavor Spalding Site
  • Assessment Centre will be held on Friday 12 December 2025

After applying, you can expect to complete some initial questions around some relevant scenarios at Bakkavor, followed by an online psychometric test and short video reflection. If successful, we will invite you to an assessment centre in January or February 2026. These interviews are for a July 2026 start on the Placement.

If you have any queries about this programme, or the recruitment process, please contact us at : EarlyCareers@Bakkavor.com or SP.EarlyCareersRecruitmentQueries@Bakkavor.com

Click Apply to start your application now. This job will be available on Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ»ÆÆ¬ until 16 November 2025

Don't forget to mention Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ»ÆÆ¬ to employers when you contact them.

Closing date:  16 November 2025

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