Quality Assurance Manager

Responsibilities:

• Manage, plan, coordinate, and direct Quality Assurance and food safety program designed to ensure continuous production/service consistent with established standards. Maintain various policies and standard operating procedures including: HACCP, GMP, CFIA regulations, food safety, pest control, internal audit procedures, etc.;
• Manage the development and analysis of statistical data and specifications to determine present standards and to establish proposed quality and reliability expectancy. Recommend corrective action necessary to ensure conformity with quality specifications and standards;
• Formulate and maintain quality control objectives and coordinate objectives with the production procedures in cooperation with other managers to maximize quality, reliability, and minimize costs;
• Lead Internal and External Audit programs, including knowledge and experience with current BRC audit guidelines and requirements to ensure plant compliance to FSEP and Corporate Food Safety and quality programs (or equivalent);
• Manage proactively, both directly and through intermediate personnel, sanitation related activities to ensure that food safety is not compromised;
• Manage, through intermediate personnel, workers engaged in activities to ensure continuous control over materials, facilities, services and products;
• Develop and implement methods and procedures for monitoring work activities such as preparation of records of expenditures, progress reports, etc. in order to inform management of current status of work activities;
• Plan, promote, and organize training activities related to quality and reliability, including QA staff development. Develop on-floor Quality Assurance technicians and complete all related quality training in a hands on manner;
• Analyze and resolve work problems or assist employees in solving problems;
• Manage installation, inspection, and testing procedures for finished products. In conjunction with the Plant Manager, investigate any product that fails to meet specifications, and develop the required improvement processes;
• Ensure nutritional, organoleptic and microbiological standards are met and monitored;
• Ensure the company’s food defense, animal welfare, and foreign animal disease policies and practices are maintained;
• Contribute to the marketing and development of new products through involvement with quality standards and production trials for existing products and/or new products;
• Investigate customer complaints regarding quality and make appropriate adjustments.
• Accountable for enforcement of company health and safety policies on the production line(s) under our direct supervision.

Employee Relations:

• Demonstrate company values in all activities and interpersonal relationships.
• Direct the training of new employees.
• Review attendance records for the department and implement discipline as required.
• Implement employee discipline procedure for other issues as required.

Promote Food Safety / HACCP

• Oversee that all production employees follow good manufacturing practices.
• Reviews frequently the monitoring and documentation of critical control point checks.
• Enforce adherence to SOP’s and HACCP requirements

Administration:

• Assist Plant Manager in the development of departmental expenditure budgets on an annual basis.
• Achieves financial objectives by monitoring results, analyzing results and initiating corrective actions.
• Reviews daily, time and attendance records for those departments under our direct supervision, authorizing for pay, hours of work and any other benefits that an employee might be entitle to.

Requirements:

• Proven leadership, team building, and interpersonal skills; success driven with a “can do” attitude.
• Ability to interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, procedure manuals, etc.
• Computer experience with Microsoft Office Applications (Excel, Word, etc.).
• Ability to effectively communicate with internal and external partners.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Fair, firm, professional and personable in dealing with a multi-ethnic workforce, and in managing QA team.
• Requires a Bachelor’s degree in a related field (Food Science, Microbiology, etc.)
• 3-5 years supervisory or managerial experience in Quality Assurance with a food manufacturing facility, preferably raw material and poultry.
• 2-5 years of experience in quality control lab analysis, food processing, Food Industry HACCP and BRC programs, and quality management.
• Broad knowledge of quality control and manufacturing operations.
• Understanding of the plant floor and the interdependencies of the operating groups.
• Extensive practical and technical knowledge of plant processing operations.
• Good knowledge of and experience with meat hygiene regulations and CFIA manual of procedures.
• Ability to professionally and confidently represent the company in dealing with CFIA personnel, auditors as well as customer and supplier issues.

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

• HACCP Plant Development and Implementation required.
• Advanced HACCP-Verification.
• Validation and Auditing of a HACCP System preferred.
• GFSI training.