Emirates Flight Catering (EKFC) — one of the world’s largest and most prestigious airline catering operations — is seeking a passionate and technically exceptional Food Engineering Manager to join its world-class Concept Development & Research team in Dubai, UAE. You will lead the design, development, and optimization of food processing technologies and systems company-wide — covering scale-up from pilot to commercial production, food safety and quality standards implementation, team coaching, and budget management. This is a high-impact leadership role for a senior food engineer with FMCG or CPG background who is ready to deliver innovative, efficient, and compliant food processing solutions at the highest level of global culinary excellence.
About Emirates Flight Catering — Dubai’s Global Culinary Leader
Company: Emirates Flight Catering (EKFC) — one of the world’s largest airline catering companies, serving global airlines from Dubai International Airport
Team: World-class Concept Development & Research team — responsible for creating exceptional dining experiences for a global clientele of international airline passengers
Product Lines: Bakery, processed meats, frozen ready-to-eat meals, and diverse food categories produced at scale for airline catering and commercial distribution
Standards: HACCP, GMP, QMS, QA/QC, food safety, nutrition labelling, and regulatory compliance across all food processing and development operations
Scale: Pilot plant to full commercial production scale-up — one of the most technically demanding and prestigious food manufacturing environments in the Middle East
Why Join EKFC as Food Engineering Manager in Dubai?
Global Prestige: Lead food engineering for one of the world’s most recognized and operationally complex food production organizations — serving international airlines and global passengers
Tax-Free UAE Income: Highly competitive compensation in Dubai’s zero-income-tax environment — senior food engineering managers are among the most valued professionals in UAE’s F&B sector
Unique Technical Scope: Apply fluid dynamics, heat transfer, freezing, refrigeration, and thermodynamics at genuine commercial scale in an unparalleled aviation catering manufacturing environment
Team Leadership: Build and develop a dedicated team of food technologists — growing your leadership credentials at one of the UAE’s most respected food companies
Position Overview
This Food Engineering Manager role at Emirates Flight Catering in Dubai is a senior full-time, on-site management position leading the design, development, and optimization of food processing technologies and systems across EKFC’s entire food production operation. You will manage the scale-up of products from pilot plant to full commercial production across bakery, processed meats, and frozen ready-to-eat meal lines; lead product preservation strategy development; provide technical expertise in mixing, freezing, heat transfer, mass transfer, and refrigeration; implement HACCP, GMP, and QMS frameworks; and manage a team of food technologists to deliver consistently high-quality and compliant food engineering outcomes. The role demands a minimum of seven years of FMCG or CPG food engineering experience, deep technical knowledge spanning food science and engineering principles, strong project management skills, and the leadership capability to develop and grow a specialist technical team in one of the world’s most demanding and prestigious aviation catering environments.
Why This Role Matters: As Food Engineering Manager at Emirates Flight Catering Dubai, you lead the technical backbone of a food manufacturing operation that serves millions of passengers on global airlines every year — work with genuine real-world scale and impact, apply the most advanced food engineering principles spanning fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, freezing technology, and preservation science in a commercially demanding environment that pushes technical boundaries daily, build and develop a team of food technologists whose combined expertise directly determines the quality, safety, and consistency of food products consumed at 35,000 feet across the world’s busiest international routes, and position yourself at the pinnacle of food engineering leadership in the UAE — combining FMCG technical depth with the unique prestige and complexity of world-class aviation catering production.
Key Responsibilities
Food Processing System Design & Optimization
- Design, develop, and optimize food processing systems and machinery for new and existing products — covering bakery, processed meats, and frozen ready-to-eat meal production lines
- Provide deep technical expertise in key food manufacturing processes — leveraging engineering principles to optimize parameters for mixing, freezing, heat transfer, mass transfer, refrigeration, and preservation
- Design, maintain, and optimize detailed food process specifications, equipment parameters, and workflows to maximize efficiency, safety, and sanitation standards
- Ensure all food processing systems comply with established Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), regulatory requirements, and EKFC’s internal quality standards
Product Scale-Up & Shelf-Life Management
- Manage the full scale-up lifecycle of products from pilot plant development through to full-scale commercial production — ensuring consistency, efficiency, and quality at every production volume
- Lead research and implementation of product preservation strategies — including reformulation, process optimization, and packaging interventions — to extend shelf-life while maintaining sensory attributes and microbiological safety
- Identify, analyze, and lead process improvement projects to enhance yield, minimize waste, optimize resource utilization, and strengthen the safety and efficiency of production lines
- Support the Senior Manager in managing project budgets to ensure cost control and efficiency, contributing to initiatives that impact overall operational expenses
Food Safety, Quality & Regulatory Compliance
- Develop and implement food processing technologies that incorporate quality and food safety procedures including QMS, QA, QC, HACCP, and GMPs as defined within EKFC’s operational framework
- Ensure full integration of food safety standards, nutrition labelling requirements, and quality management frameworks into all product development and production activities
- Drive rigorous compliance with food safety and regulatory requirements across all production lines, processes, and engineering interventions
- Maintain high attention to compliance detail — ensuring every engineering decision meets and exceeds EKFC’s quality commitments to its global airline customers
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Collaborate cross-functionally with Nutritionists, Microbiologists, Production Chefs, and Operations teams to ensure product quality, nutritional integrity, and process efficiency
- Communicate technical findings, engineering decisions, and project updates clearly and collaboratively to diverse cross-functional stakeholder groups across the organization
- Contribute to the Concept Development & Research team’s mission of creating exceptional dining experiences for EKFC’s global airline clientele through technically excellent food engineering
- Support the integration of innovative food processing techniques and technologies that elevate EKFC’s product quality and production efficiency at a global scale
Team Leadership & Development
- Manage and develop a team of food technologists — enhancing their technical expertise, managing project workloads, and actively supporting their professional career development
- Coach team members on food engineering principles, process optimization methodologies, and food safety best practices to build a consistently high-performing technical function
- Set clear performance expectations, provide constructive feedback, and create development pathways that grow the food engineering team’s collective capability over time
- Foster a culture of technical excellence, continuous improvement, innovation, and safety consciousness across the entire food engineering team
Qualifications & Requirements
Educational Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Food Engineering, Food Process Engineering, or a closely related engineering discipline
- Master’s degree in Food Engineering or Food Science is preferred and will significantly strengthen a candidate’s application for this senior management role
Experience Requirements
- Minimum 7 years of experience in a food processing or food engineering management role within an FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) or CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) environment
- Proven experience managing and developing a technical team and overseeing project budget management in a food manufacturing context
- Aviation catering or hospitality industry experience is a significant added advantage — though not a mandatory requirement
Technical Skills
- Strong technical expertise in fluid dynamics, heat transfer, mass transfer, freezing technologies, refrigeration systems, and thermodynamics as applied to food processing
- Solid knowledge of food science, food microbiology, and food safety standards including HACCP, GMP, QMS, and QA/QC frameworks in industrial food manufacturing
- Proven analytical and problem-solving ability in complex process environments — identifying root causes and implementing effective, sustainable engineering solutions
- Effective project management and multitasking skills with a track record of delivering food engineering projects on time and within budget in demanding production environments
- Innovative mindset for developing and improving food processing techniques — combining scientific rigor with practical commercial awareness
About Emirates Flight Catering — Dubai’s World-Class Culinary Operation
Emirates Flight Catering (EKFC) is one of the world’s largest and most technically sophisticated airline catering operations, headquartered at Dubai International Airport and serving a diverse portfolio of international airlines and global passengers. EKFC’s Concept Development & Research team combines culinary creativity with food science excellence to create exceptional dining experiences at 35,000 feet — supported by world-class food engineering, quality assurance, and production systems that operate at genuine global scale. The company is committed to innovation, food safety leadership, and the professional development of its engineering and culinary talent — making it one of the UAE’s most respected and ambitious employers in the food manufacturing and aviation services sectors.
Who Should Apply?
- Senior Food Engineers: With 7+ years of FMCG or CPG food processing engineering experience and a proven record of managing technical teams and complex projects
- Food Process Engineering Managers: With deep expertise in fluid dynamics, heat transfer, freezing, refrigeration, and thermodynamics applied to industrial food manufacturing
- HACCP & QMS Specialists: With strong food safety compliance credentials and experience implementing quality management systems across multi-product food manufacturing operations
- Scale-Up Engineering Leaders: With a track record of successfully transitioning food products from pilot plant through to full commercial production scale
- UAE-Based or Relocating Engineers: Ready to join one of Dubai’s most prestigious and technically demanding food engineering environments at Emirates Flight Catering
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