Red Tractor is searching for a new chair of its pork sector board to replace Mike Sheldon, who will complete his three-year term in the role in November 2018.
The post is being formally advertised, with a closing date of May 25. You can view the advert here.
Assured Food Standards (ASF) is seeking a candidate with ‘experience of the pork industry while also being able to demonstrate independence’. The Red Tractor chair, expected to work around 25 days a year, will also be appointed as a director of ASF. They will be paid £10,000.
The new chair will take over at a time when the role of Red Tractor comes under scrutiny as the UK prepares to leave the EU.
The job description says a key objective for the Red Tractor team is to ‘develop the scheme into the ‘Flagship for British Food & Farming’, using the high standards of British Agriculture, independent auditing and robust compliance at its core’.
Key responsibilities will include working with the sector board so that it ‘contributes to the Red Tractor vision and purpose and ensuring the effective functioning and continued development of the Red Tractor Assurance Pigs Scheme and its standards’.
NPA chief executive Zoe Davies urged anyone who believes they are capable of performing this critical role to give it a go.
Red Tractor will be launching a nationwide advertising campaign in the autumn, which it expects to bring additional scrutiny to the scheme.