Quality Assurance Manager

Position Summary:

The  Plant Quality Assurance Manager is responsible for leading, managing, and successfully executing all aspects of the Ventura Foods Quality and Food Safety Systems at the plant level.  This will include coordinating with the Regional Plant Quality Assurance Manager and other Ventura plant QA Managers to manage the execution, communication, and training for all policy systems that relate to Ventura systems, customer systems, and all aspects of maintaining adherence to the FDA Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA), as well as USDA (if applicable), and other regulatory agencies.   This role will also coordinate projects and training support to the Operations teams and be a liaison with company functional groups of Technical Services, Operations Excellence, R&D, HS&E, Sales, Marketing, HR, and Finance.  The Plant QA Manager ensures responsiveness and timelines of projects, programs, and management of personnel to delight our customer's customers expectations.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provides the leadership and management for the Ventura Foods Quality and Safety systems.   Leads all aspects of managing plant systems for SOP's, SSOP's, training, and adhering to total product specifications.  This includes key Must Do's, Right First Time processing, and Total Product Containment.
• Maintains company and facility policies, procedures, and programs supporting food safety and quality systems.  This includes managing special focus for key customer specification requirements, HACCP/GMP's, and SQF II requirements.  Includes all second party audits and third party audits to confirm compliance to all food safety and quality systems.
• Manages and ensures direction and training for QA staff and supervisors.   Responsible for budget and costs associated with overseeing the Quality Department.   This includes compliance and schedules for training, Food Safety and Quality Systems audits, and testing methodologies.
• Leads by example in conducting and analyzing company Quality Assurance plans as it relates to HACCP/GMP's; identifying gaps to improve critical control points and preventative measures.  This includes working with the Technical Services and R&D teams in establishing relevant specifications, monitoring and reviewing analysis, corrective actions, and verification procedures.
• Manages statistical evaluation of results to help improve processing and/or product performance.  Manages projects to reduce costs, eliminate variation, and/or standardize methods.
• Participates as part of the Plant Management team in the budgeting, people planning, and capital expenditure review process.  Maintains department staff reviews and annual performance goals for individuals and self. 
• Responsible for overseeing all specifications as it relates to finished goods, processing, raw materials, and packaging.  Includes coordination of Kosher and Halal requirements.
• Manages with Operations team complaint review and corrective action resolutions.   This includes working closely with the Regional and HQ team to monitor and track complaints with the goals to reduce through continuous improvement plans.   
• Is primary plant technical point person for new products and/or test runs.   Coordinates new project work with Regional QA, Technical Services and/or R&D.   Also oversees and monitors any processing projects for the facility so that product quality is not compromised. 
• May represent Plant Manager or Regional Quality Assurance Manager at company and/or industry events. 
• Responsible for Food Safety, by following & assuring compliance and implementation of all company policies including Safety & HR policies, procedures, all applicable food regulations, including all current Good Manufacturing Practices. 
• Up to 10% domestic travel within the U.S. is required.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor degree minimum Food Science, Microbiology, or related field or equivalent experience. 
• 5+ years of management responsibilities in Quality Assurance, Regulatory, Technical Services, R&D, and/or other food science related field.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and good computer skills (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, ERP or related).

Knowledge and Skills:

• Strong leadership and team building skills.  
• Ability to prioritize decisions and actions using problem solving and creative thinking approaches.  
• Good knowledge in executing and maintaining a Quality Systems program.  
• Must have basic knowledge of federal, state, and possibly local regulations and standards relating to Food Safety and Quality.  
• This should include aspects of FSMA.  
• Good project management skills, interpersonal and supervisory skills.