Quality Assurance Manager

Your Opportunity as a Quality Assurance Manager

Ensure food safety and quality of all ingredients packaging and finished products. Take responsibility and accountability for the safe and effective use of materials and equipment and ensure compliance with defined policies and procedures including regulatory, GMP’s, HACCP, and GFSI. SOP’s. Fulfill role of company Practitioner for a GFSI recognized Quality System developing, validating, verifying, and maintaining that system. Train and mentor employees towards individual and team continuous improvements.

Location: 1525 Industrial Rd, Emporia, KS 66801 (Hostess Manufacturing Plant)

Work Arrangements: 100% on-site. Day Shift, Mon-Fri (flexibility required)  

In this Role You Will:  

• Act as a leader in the organization, actively champion and role model our site vision which focuses on the safety and well-being of our employees, our products and our equipment

• Develop and lead programs that ensure compliance to all company quality and food safety policies, and all Federal, State, and local regulatory requirements; ability to teach and translate these requirements into daily operation

• Ensure compliance to company quality procedures, ingredient specifications, process control specifications and finished product specifications

• Be responsible for people management and leadership development to include coaching, developing and empowering leadership team members and technicians to enhance peak performance

• Lead the Quality Team for the plant through data driven direction setting, prioritization, building capability, maintaining a Quality master plan and 90-day plans

• Build skills and capabilities in Quality subject owners

• Ensure effectiveness of site QA training program (new hire and ongoing QA training)

• Drive continual quality improvement as measured by Quality key performance indicators including internal and external audits, and company quality metrics, and site lead and lag measures

• Provide consistent and standardized technical support to the manufacturing facility in relation to quality and food safety requirements

• Perform quality audits at supplier facilities in the U.S., Canada and internationally, including working with each facility to implement corrective actions

• Participate in JMS initiatives and projects for supply chain changes and new product introductions

• Coach Quality Assurance team members and oversee the Food Safety and Food Defense programs for the plant; responsible for the site Food Safety Plan; lead the GFSI Audit program

• Communicate JMS quality, food safety and food defense guidelines and present training as applicable to all employees

• Manage Quality Non-Conformance Events with the goal of investigating root cause and implementing corrective actions to prevent incident reoccurrence

• Coordinate holds, product disposition, product withdrawals and recalls

• Monitor quality of manufactured products using computer complaint data, including complaint investigation, root cause analysis, complaint response and corrective action

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

• Manage Quality Assurance Budget

• Oversee documentation management and change management for all Quality and Environmental programs

• Manage the department using principle-based decision making and the Basic Beliefs as a foundation to preserve the Smucker culture

• Build relationships internal and external to the site for personal development

• Represent our organization in a professional, positive manner with our contract manufacturing partners and regulatory agencies

The Right Role for You 

We are bold, kind, strive to do the right thing, we play to win, and we believe in a strong community that thrives together. Our culture is rooted in our Basic Beliefs, and we believe in supporting every employee by meeting their physical, emotional, and financial needs. 

What We are Looking For:  

Minimum Requirements: 

• A Bachelor’s Degree is required

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in food manufacturing operations is required

• Minimum of 2 years of QA/QC management experience is required

• Experience with GFSI, USDA, FDA, SQF, or BRC audits

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

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

Additional skills and experience that we think would make someone successful in this role:  

• Working knowledge of FDA regulations, including GMPs and FSMA is desired

• Risk based decision making and data driven priority setting

• Proactive issue resolution, loss analysis and problem solving

• Ability to work collaboratively across departmental boundaries

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

Work Environment

This job operates in a manufacturing environment. The noise level in the work environment and manufacturing sites can be loud.

Learn More About Working at Smucker   

Our Total Rewards Benefits Program 

Our Thriving Together Philosophy Supporting All Impacted by Our Business 

Our Continued Progress on Inclusion, Diversity and Equity 

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