The position also plays a team role in assisting the Plant Operations group in problem solving, cost savings and productivity improvement initiatives.

Acts as the liaison between the Plant and Corporate Quality, outside regulatory agencies, and third-party auditors in the areas of food quality and food safety.

Coordinates, organizes, and schedules the day-to-day activities of the Quality Department to ensure meeting/exceeding the entire department and overall plant goals of quality, customer service, and throughput.

All work is to be performed in a manner that complies with all federal, state, local, SQF 2000, and company rules and regulations and with optimum regard for quality, safety, service, and cost.

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Essential Job Functions

1. Provide vision and leadership for the Quality Department (set direction, build capability, and maintain action plans) and serve as the Quality Department representative to the leadership team.

2. Perform annual performance appraisals for all direct reports and develop key personnel through coaching, training, and organizational development.

3. Establish, maintain, and improve programs and policies designed to ensure compliance to all Federal, State, and local regulatory requirements.

4. Drive continual quality improvement as measured by Quality key performance indicators including internal and external audits, and company quality metrics.

5. Leadership in change management as quality gatekeeper and quality champion for projects.

6. Supervises departmental supervisors, leads and technicians. Schedules, and assigns daily work to provide efficient support for production, shipping, and receiving.

7. Responsible for developing, validating, verifying & maintaining Food Safety Plans (HACCP), Pre-requisite programs, and Food Quality Plans as described by SQF.

8. Develop and implement new programs, policies and procedures around Quality Control and Food Safety.

9. Maintains a relationship with Corporate Quality and establish, manage, and maintain programs, procedures and policies designed to ensure that the plant remains in compliance with all corporate and SQF requirements involving food quality and food safety.

10. Provide technical support to the manufacturing facility in relation to quality and food safety requirements.

11. Partner with plant operations to investigate all quality outages to root cause and implement corrective actions to prevent incident reoccurrence.

12. Provides all initial and ongoing quality and cGMP training programs for quality inspectors, as well as the general employee population. Performs performance appraisals, needs analysis, and corrective action for all quality inspectors as required.

13. Continuously monitors, maintains, and/or improves all aspects of quality department and lab work, including specifications, sampling, procedures, methods, deviations, equipment, supplies, records, books, files, etc.

14. Develops and implements the facility environmental testing program to assure compliance with all customer and regulatory requirements.

15. Works closely with production, maintenance, and warehouse supervision and employees on problems for effective resolution and elimination.

16. Spends time daily on the production floor providing guidance and training to supervisors, maintenance, warehouse and operations personnel. Participates in daily leadership GEMBA walks, ensure quality and food safety issues on the production floor are identified and addressed in a timely manner.

17. Continuously develops the skill set of the supervisor and hourly staff to identify, address and report quality and food safety issues in a timely manner.

18. Audits, reports, and makes recommendations on raw materials/production runs/lab results to satisfy all internal needs for documentation and study, and to fulfill customer requirements.

19. Works in conjunction with production and cross trains additional quality inspectors for adequate coverage across all shifts in the event of absences and vacations.

20. Coordinates Test/Approve/Hold/Reject/Disposition of all raw materials, in-process, and finished product. Works with production and warehouse to control, maintain, and/or improve as appropriate the handling, storage, and usage of rework and all other materials.

21. Verifies and approves new and revised formulas. Assists in plant trials and critical process improvements as needed. Provides for supplier deficiency improvements, problem cause identification and correction, customer complaint resolution, etc.

22. Manage co-packer relationships with customers to ensure that internal quality systems align with customer requirements.

23. Oversees and manages the pest control program, works with contractor to ensure the plant complies with SQF and FDA standards.

24. Ability to effectively collaborate across various departments to ensure quality system compliance.

25. Monitor quality of manufactured products using consumer complaint data, including complaint investigation, root cause analysis, complaint response and corrective action.

26. Develop and control the capital and operating budget for the quality department.

27. Performs all other duties, responsibilities, and special projects as assigned.

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Other Responsibilities:

Responsible for maintenance of the MSDS program

Active participant of the facility security team

Required: B.S./B.A. with some secondary laboratory training, HACCP qualified, SQF Certified or equivalent experience.

Preferred: B.S. in Food Science, Microbiology, or related Science field

Experience/Knowledge/Abilities:

Required: Technical knowledge of quality systems, along with supervisory skills in a food manufacturing and packaging environment.

• 5 to 7 years’ experience in a bakery/quality management position.

• A working knowledge of FDA regulations, including cGMPs, and FSMA.

• Experience with GFSI audits.

• Ability to lead, coach, and develop salaried and hourly personnel including performing bi-annual performance appraisals for all direct reports and key personnel.

• Ability to work collaboratively across departmental boundaries.

• Strong technical, problem-solving, and problem-resolution skills.

• Ability to understand complex process operations as it relates to quality, food safety, and troubleshooting.

• Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and capacity to multitask efficiently.

• Excellent communication skills (both oral and written) and effective listening skills.

• Strong interpersonal skills and supervisory skills

• Project management capacity

• Working knowledge of MS Office products

Employees Supervised: Quality Supervisor, Inspectors, sanitation employees.

Contacts: Internal employees, External suppliers/vendors/customers