Quality Assurance Manager

At Danone, Manufacturing the best products and supplying them to meet demand is a key driver for our plant teams. We are currently looking to hire a Quality Assurance Manager in our Chatsworth, California manufacturing facility. In this high visibility role, you will be responsible for leading and managing the Quality and Sanitation program at the Chatsworth, CA facility. You will also lead the Quality Improvement Program and act as the plant liaison in dealings with regulatory agencies and client companies.

Responsibilities:

Leads continuous improvement for food safety and food quality performance at the plant. Manages the internal audit program of the facility to verify that procedures mandated by the company and State and Federal governmental agencies are being adhered to. This includes GMPs, Sanitation, HACCP, Preventative Maintenance and Safety.
• Installs appropriate controls, hold/release system modifications, code rotation, batching and processing controls and other production systems where problems might exist.
• Implements and ensures conformance to Corporate Quality Assurance programs to prevent food quality or food safety issues including environmental monitoring, pest control, sanitation, GMPs, etc.
• Installs and manages the plant's quality and sanitation systems. Coordinates and manages sampling plans as per the corporate standards to monitor finished product quality, raw materials, and compositional results to ensure standards of identity are maintained.
• Serves as a Sanitation expert, providing guidance and technical support to operations teams in the area of sanitation (including MSS), pest control, pathogen / environmental control programs, Neptune methodology for evaluation of CIP effectiveness, change management control for any design equipment changes (e.g. new equipment installation or construction changes), and other food safety or quality initiatives.
• Oversees the management of all aspects of the Quality Control Laboratory, including microbiological, chemical, physical and sensory aspects of all food products manufactured at this facility. This also includes coordination of the sampling and testing effort with Production needs.
• Manages the food safety programs (ie. pest control, allergen, sanitation) and quality programs (ie. IQS) in the facility.
• Develops and maintains a plant specific QA/QC manual of Standard Operating Procedures based on the Corporate Quality Manual.
• Participates in troubleshooting events associated with quality in production, ensuring root cause/corrective actions are appropriate and are fully implemented.
• Manages the development, updates, and implementation of the plant HACCP, Food Safety, and IWS programs.
• Acts as plant liaison with regulatory agencies and client company representatives and auditors. Manages regulatory issues to include Federal and State inspections, Kosher inspections, etc. Coordinates corrective actions with Corporate QA, plant and operations management.
• Coordinates QA efforts with R&I, Food Safety, and the plant involving new product launches, trials, and installations. Coordinates all research and development testing on associated projects.
• Stays current with all key regulatory and certifying agency guidelines. Manages regulatory issues within assigned region. Ensures annual permits and certifications are renewed and kept up to date.
• Delivers company and facility performance targets in areas of food quality attributes, food safety metrics, and cost.
• Manages release of product following verification of conformance to specifications
• Provides direct supervision to subordinates, including input with employment decisions, provides training and development opportunities, and conducts performance reviews and coaching sessions
• Other duties as assigned.

The base compensation range for this position is $144K - $169K per year commensurate with experience. Danone North America additionally offers a performance-based bonus and has a strong benefits package including Medical, Dental, Vision, Prescription Drug Coverage, 401k Plan, Wellness Program, Life Insurance, Tuition Reimbursement, Flexible Time Off, and Paid Parental Bonding Leave, among other benefit plan options.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelors degree in Science / Food Science / Technical Discipline, required.
• Must have 5-10 years previous Quality Assurance and Sanitation experience within a food/beverage manufacturing environment with emphasis on ESL, HTST, UHT processing and reporting, required. Prior experience with dairy equipment, preferred.
• Prior experience leading a Quality team within a food/beverage manufacturing environment is preferred.
• Must have current SQF Practitioner certification.
• Must be well versed and have knowledge of plant production systems, FSMA, FSSC, GMP, HACCP, sanitation, plant safety, quality systems, Non-GMO Verified Project, Kosher, and organic regulations required.
• Must be well versed in FDA, CFR, FSMA, Grade A and PMO regulations, required.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: ALL required

• Must be a leader, able to motivate others, able to recognize areas of need across the company and tackle projects independently
• Must possess exceptional spreadsheet, word processing and database computer skills
• Must have excellent communication and presentation skills
• Must have excellent recordkeeping and documentation skills
• HACCP training and FSSC certification/practitioner training is preferred
• Ability to work under deadlines
• Ability to multitask
• Self-driven, results oriented, able to work independently
• Ability to work with confidential materials
• Detail oriented
• Excellent organizational skills

At Danone North America, you'll work with some of the best-known food and beverage brands in the world like Activia, Silk, Two Good, Oikos, evian, and Happy Family. You'll be part of one of the largest Certified B Corps in the world, working together to make sure our brands create real benefits for people, communities, and the planet. We have 6,000+ employees across the U.S. and Canada. Come join our movement for a healthier world: One Planet. One Health BY YOU.

Danone North America is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. It is our policy to give equal employment opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to legally protected characteristics, or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state/provincial and/or local law. For our EEO policy statement and your EEO rights under law click here.

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