Quality Assurance Manager
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The Quality Assurance Manager leads the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of quality systems and food-safety programs at an assigned SunGold or SunButter facility. This position oversees facility quality operations, ensures products meet regulatory requirements, industry standards, company expectations, and customer requirements, and leads a cross-functional approach to quality management. The role develops the quality team, champions a culture of safety and compliance, and serves as the primary facility contact for audits, certifications, customer quality concerns, and corrective actions.
Key Responsibilities
Quality Program Leadership
- Direct and manage the facility quality-assurance program, including product inspections, testing protocols, documentation, food-safety programs, and regulatory compliance.
- Ensure effective execution and continuous improvement of HACCP, GMP, sanitation, preventive-control, and other applicable quality-management systems.
- Establish facility quality priorities, objectives, standards, procedures, and performance expectations.
- Maintain strong quality oversight for raw materials, in-process production, packaging, finished goods, storage, and shipment.
Team Management and Development
- Lead, coach, and develop quality employees, including supervisors, leads, technicians, or other assigned team members.
- Establish team objectives, clarify responsibilities, provide ongoing training and feedback, and support professional development.
- Build a culture of accountability, collaboration, food safety, product quality, and continuous improvement.
- Partner with leadership on staffing, onboarding, cross-training, performance management, and succession needs within the Quality function.
Regulatory Compliance and Certification
- Ensure compliance with applicable FDA, USDA, OSHA, customer, and other regulatory or industry requirements.
- Maintain required facility certifications and food-safety programs, including HACCP, GMP, SQF, or other applicable standards.
- Prepare the facility for internal, customer, third-party, certification, and regulatory audits and inspections.
- Serve as the primary facility contact for quality audits, certifications, customer quality inquiries, and regulatory interactions.
- Ensure audit findings and corrective actions are documented, completed, verified, and sustained.
Quality Investigations and Corrective Action
- Lead investigations of product defects, process deviations, nonconformances, customer concerns, and food-safety issues.
- Facilitate root-cause analysis and implement timely containment, corrective, and preventive actions.
- Monitor corrective-action effectiveness and identify additional controls needed to prevent recurrence.
- Escalate significant product, regulatory, food-safety, or customer risks to leadership promptly.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner with Production, Supply Chain, Engineering, Maintenance, Sanitation, Procurement, Warehousing, and other teams to integrate quality into each stage of operations.
- Collaborate with facility leadership to improve product quality, operational efficiency, food safety, and customer satisfaction.
- Provide quality guidance for process changes, new products, equipment changes, supplier issues, and improvement initiatives.
Data Analysis and Continuous Improvement
- Analyze production and quality data to identify trends, risks, recurring issues, and improvement opportunities.
- Develop, monitor, and communicate quality KPIs and related performance measures.
- Lead or support facility quality and food-safety improvement projects.
- Use data, audit findings, complaints, nonconformances, and employee feedback to prioritize improvements.
Customer and Supplier Quality Management
- Manage customer complaints and quality claims, ensuring timely investigation, documentation, communication, and resolution.
- Oversee supplier-quality activities, including raw-material verification, incoming-quality trends, supplier concerns, and vendor performance reviews.
- Partner with Procurement and Supply Chain to address supplier nonconformances and improve material quality.
Documentation and Reporting
- Maintain accurate, controlled, current, and audit-ready quality procedures, food-safety plans, inspection records, testing results, investigations, and corrective actions.
- Prepare and present reports on facility quality performance, risks, trends, compliance, and improvement priorities.
- Ensure employees follow approved documentation, record-retention, product-hold, traceability, and escalation procedures.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Quality Management, Chemistry, Engineering, or a related field preferred.
- Three or more years of quality-assurance experience, including at least one year in a leadership or management role, preferably in food manufacturing or agriculture-based processing.
- Advanced knowledge of HACCP, GMP, applicable OSHA requirements, food-safety regulations, and quality-management systems.
- Experience preparing for and managing internal, customer, third-party, certification, or regulatory audits.
- Strong leadership, cross-functional collaboration, problem-solving, analytical, communication, and project-management skills.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office, quality-system software, reporting tools, and root-cause analysis methodologies.
- Experience with SQF, preventive controls, supplier quality, sanitation programs, product holds, traceability, recalls, or customer-quality management preferred.
Work Environment and Conditions
- The position is assigned to either a SunGold or SunButter food-manufacturing facility based on business needs.
- Work is performed in both office and production environments with regular presence on the manufacturing floor.
- The position may be exposed to machinery, noise, dust, food ingredients, allergens, food-grade oils, wet areas, sanitation activities, and variable temperatures depending on the assigned facility and process area.
- Frequent standing, walking, bending, reaching, climbing stairs, and other physical activity may be required during inspections, audits, investigations, and employee support.
- Required personal protective equipment and all facility safety, sanitation, food-safety, allergen-control, and security procedures must be followed.
- On-demand pay available through Tapcheck
- Paid time off
- Paid Holidays
- 401k & company match
- Profit Sharing
- Employee Assistance Program
Company Benefits:
At Red River Commodities, we value our employees and are committed to providing a supportive and rewarding work environment. As a member of our team, you will enjoy a competitive salary, comprehensive health benefits, and opportunities for career growth and development. Below are some additional benefits that we offer.
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