Apprentice Technical Operator

Level 3 – Food and Drink Technical Operator Apprenticeship - Herefordshire

Whether you’ve just finished your GCSEs (or equivalent) or are ready for an exciting career change, this is your chance to gain valuable skills, earn recognised qualifications, and kickstart your future—all while earning.

From day one, you’ll receive exceptional career support and guidance, helping you grow in a friendly and supportive environment where you can be your authentic self and achieve your best. Let’s brew an incredible future together!

Salary and benefits: £19,000 first-year salary & award-winning double-matched pension plus a fantastic benefits package including all accommodation costs paid for and a food allowance when you're studying.

Application Closing Date: 7th May 2025.

Apprentice Start Date: 1st September 2025.

About the role:

Our Level 3 Food and Drink Technical Operator Apprenticeship programme is based at our Herefordshire Brewery, within our Milling team at our Ledbury Site, helping to produce our well-loved brands.

In this role, you’ll develop expertise in operating, identifying, and diagnosing faults, and carrying out basic maintenance of our equipment, while also covering key areas such as continuous improvement, food safety, and quality assurance. From managing production processes to fine-tuning the operation of advanced machinery, you’ll build the skills and confidence needed to ensure smooth and efficient operations.

This apprenticeship offers the ultimate blend of hands-on learning and real-world experience, giving you the perfect launchpad for an exciting and rewarding career in the brewing industry.

What you can expect:

Technical Operators are essential to our supply chain, playing a vital role in controlling our manufacturing processes through equipment or process operation, frontline fault diagnosis and resolution, asset care, and basic maintenance tasks. A key priority is upholding food safety standards by monitoring Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) and accurately recording results.

You’ll work as part of a wider team to manufacture safe and compliant products, meeting deadlines, productivity, efficiency, hygiene and environmental requirements whilst making sure health and safety remains everyone’s top priority.

What your day-to-day may look like:

Throughout the duration of your apprenticeship, you’ll be learning from technical experts of our manufacturing processes and our current Technical Operators who have decades of experience within our breweries.

As part of the apprenticeship, you’ll attend blocks of off-site learning and training with our best-in-class training provider, Lincoln University. You’ll spend up to 3 weeks per academic year at their state of the art campus, gaining underpinning knowledge of our processes which you’ll then apply back on site.

Be prepared for a dynamic work environment, which will include 12-hour shifts, alternating between days and nights.

What you need to apply:

Education: All applicants must have 5 GSCEs all at Level 4 or equivalent – including Maths at Level 6 and English at Level 4.

Right to Work: All applicants must have a valid right to work in the UK for the duration of their apprenticeship

Other Criteria: All applicants must be 18 years of age or older on or before the 1st September

To qualify for an apprenticeship, you must have been a resident of the UK for a minimum of three years as of 1st September 2025.

How to apply:

We’ve made our application process simple.

All you need to do is apply with a CV and a cover letter telling us why you want to join our HEINEKEN Apprenticeship programme.

Please note that we won't accept any applications without a cover letter as this is where you can sell yourself and your interests to us!

A cover letter is your time to shine and tell us why you’re a great fit for the role and the company. We’ve put together a few tips to get you started: