Quality Assurance Manager

Position Summary:

The Quality Assurance Manager (QAM) is responsible for the food safety, quality, and regulatory compliance of the assigned manufacturing facility while managing the QA Department programs and team members. This role drives a culture of continuous improvement and is a key site collaborative leader. The QAM is crucial to ensure our products meet the highest standards of safety, quality, and regulatory compliance- while fostering a robust food safety culture tied to operational excellence. The QAM will work closely with cross-functional teams, including R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, and Sanitation, to maintain and enhance food safety and quality standards.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership & Oversight:

• Lead, mentor, develop, and performance manage a high-performing Food Safety & Quality team, cultivating a passionate food safety culture that encourages team collaboration, growth, and continuous improvement.
• Own and drive overall FSQA performance, ensuring alignment with corporate goals, strategy, and regulatory standards.
• Lead the team in food safety audits, inspections, and assessments, both internal and external, to ensure ongoing compliance and readiness.
• Serve as authority for onsite food safety, quality, and regulatory compliance decisions and keep up to date with latest food safety news and trends.
• Represent food safety and quality in cross functional initiatives and ensure appropriate FSQA requirements are met for any construction, new equipment, or new process in the site.
• Maintain necessary skills matrices and associated development programs to ensure clear career paths for all QA team associates.

Food Safety & Quality Management:

• Implement, and continuously improve FSQA programs and procedures as well as support the SQF practitioner and serve as a back up SQF practitioner for the site.
• Partner with Operations and Sanitation to ensure food safety requirements are met when it comes to Master Sanitation Schedule, Environmental Monitoring performance, and critical to quality processes.
• Evaluate and approve specifications for new products and processes understanding the impact that proposed changes may have on nutritional panels, sensory, and regulatory compliance with necessary feedback for any changes required.
• Responsible for understanding, driving, and delivering KPIs and FSQA Metrics as well as preparing and presenting as needed regular reports to the site leadership team.
• Ensure the verification and validation activities associated with FSQA plans and SQF system elements are completed.
• Analyze trends and data to identify risks, opportunities, and areas for improvement.
• Investigate, provide response, and trend complaints utilizing proper root cause analysis tools to prevent recurrence.
• Execute and communicate necessary environmental monitoring and finished goods testing as required by FSQA programs.
• Escalate serious incidents to senior leaders in accordance with escalation protocols and provide necessary updates until the issue is resolved.

Operational Integration:

• Mentor Operations on ownership of quality processes that lead to improvements that enhance product quality, consistency, and safety while optimizing costs.
• Collaborate closely with Plant Operations leadership to embed FSQA culture into daily plant activities, fostering a proactive, quality-first mindset.
• Serve as a facilitator for the execution of robust root cause analysis (RCA) and effective corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) when required.
• Participate in Operational Excellence programs as an extension of the plant teams.
• Support plant teams in troubleshooting events in sanitation, product performance, and quality or food safety issues.

Strategic Influence:

• Act as a key site leader and partner to the Site Leader, contributing to Delphos site FSQA strategy and organizational direction.
• Champion food safety culture, influencing cross-functional teams and site leadership.
• Foster strong relationships with customers, ensuring adherence to quality standards through active feedback ongoing communication both in written and oral capacities.
• Recommend new technologies and best practices which will support key objectives.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Chemistry, or a related field.
• 5 years of progressive experience in food safety and quality assurance, within the food manufacturing industry, with at least 2 years in a supervisor type of role with direct report oversight.
• In-depth knowledge of food safety regulations (FDA, USDA, FSMA, GFSI, SQF) and quality management systems.
• Building 1700 specifically requires:
• Knowledge & certification of seafood HACCP
• Dairy experience (PMO, Appendix N antibiotics, culturing, and butterfat)
• Experience with Ready-To-Eat refrigerated foods and associated risks
• Experience working with complex allergen handling and controls.
• Ability to manage multiple complex projects simultaneously as required by the needs of the business.
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret data and drive data-driven decisions.
• Good understanding of root cause analysis and basic lean problem-solving tools.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with a demonstrated ability to influence and collaborate across functions.
• Ability to travel as necessary to support operations and FSQA initiatives.