POSITION SUMMARY

The Regional Manager of Quality Assurance Operations for 1800 Food Brands will lead the Food Safety and Quality operational functions across a specific region (Illinois, Ohio or Coastal). This position is responsible for establishing, maintaining and auditing Quality Policy for the regional facilities. The QA Operations team inspects incoming materials, production runs and validates food safety through testing, internal audits and on-site presence throughout the facilities. This team also is responsible for maintenance and management of expiring product and QA hold activities to control the food safety standards throughout the many manufacturing, packaging and storage movements through the supply chain all the way to the end customer.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Major responsibilities of the position are listed below. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Other duties, assignments and specific projects may be assigned at the discretion of executive management.

• Oversee the regional food safety program, maintaining top level certification, including procedure verification and maintenance, training, process review, and program validation
• To create a working environment that recognizes and rewards innovation and cost containment
• Support during new product initiation (test pack) to review specification clarity and execution
• Organize & evaluate product testing including shelf-life and sensory evaluation
• Manage incoming product inspection teams to ensure that product entered into inventory meets requirements
• Monitor inventory expiration to ensure that perishable inventory is optimally utilized, and that product which no longer meets requirements, is properly removed from available inventory
• Manage internal audits and online process inspection teams to verify that stated procedures are being followed and that requirements are consistently being met
• Maintain programs to verify cold storage conditions with regards to temperature, air flow, and ethylene contents are monitored and guidance given when deviations occur
• Work to solve issues as they occur to maintain the safety, legality and quality of products and services.
• Responsible for the direction and supervision of staff.
• Manage the analyzing of customer service adjustments, product issue investigations, audit results and other data to identify safety, legality and quality issues and creatively seek continuous improvement.
• Coordinate product supply efforts across departments to optimize fruit quality delivered to customers, for both in house and outside pack situations. Provide technical expertise on fruit quality and expiration
• Respond in a timely fashion to customer questions with adequate information to satisfy customer quality issues/concerns
• Other duties as assigned

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• A technical four-year degree in Quality Control, Quality Assurance, Food Science or a related discipline preferred
• Minimum of 5 years of technical experience with food and food-related products within a Manufacturing environment
• 3-5 years' experience building and managing staff
• 2-3 years' experience in a fresh fruit or produce production environment preferred
• Knowledge of fruit quarantine requirements highly beneficial
• Knowledge of GFSI/SQF certification criteria
• Project Management experience
• Proficient in Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Effective communicator (written and oral) who can build consensus
• SAP/Oracle WMS knowledge preferred

Physical Demand

• Must be available for travel.
• Must be able to lift, push or pull up to 50 pounds on an occasional basis.
• Be physically able to stand and walk on hard and irregular surfaces for extended periods of time.
• Perform light lifting, bending and reaching activities as required.
• Must be able to withstand working in cold storage type environments as well as warm outside environments in temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

#INDATL