Quality Assurance Manager

PURPOSE OF POSITION:

The Quality Assurance Manager leads a team of individuals to ensure effective quality execution, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement. Embrace a servant style leadership that values and cares for Anchor employees. They will provide leadership within the facility to drive positive change through influence and example. Must be a collaborative leader who can partner with plant operations to build and maintain an effective culture of Food Safety and Quality. This individual must be a curious and holistic thinker who loves solving problems and tackling new challenges. Be a highly organized effective communicator with an proactive mindset with the capacity to investigate and lead solution-based decision making in the plant.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

Quality and Food Safety

• Ensure daily plant Quality and Food Safety operations follow Anchor’s policies, procedures, customer requirements, and local, state, and federal regulations.
• Responsible for implementation, improvement, and effectiveness of the Food Safety and Quality Plans.
• Enhance and maintain plant policies, procedures, and practices to safeguard quality and food safety.
• Own the plant continuous improvement functions utilizing data/information to ensure holistic management of quality and food safety issues.
• Direct and oversee plant sanitation activities.
• Ensure plant compliance to all local, state, and Federal requirements.
• Interface with government representatives and forge strong working relationships.
• Ensure the plant pest control programs are current, followed, and enable proactive maintenance.
• Manage the facility’s change control program to enable robust risk assessment and decisions.
• Collaboratively lead investigations relating to non-conforming events driving to root cause(s) and effective resolution.
• Utilize data and trends to proactively address quality and food safety concerns.

Customer Centric

• Partner in with sales and operations to implement customer centric changes such as new products or process improvements.
• Serve as the point of contact for customer related issues, complaints, or inquiries.

• Manage plant complaint investigations ensuring a thorough, effective, timely, and customer facing response.
• Monitor compliance to customer expectation and specifications, communicate any issues/concerns.
• Maintain plant preparedness customer and regulatory visits.
• Utilize data and trending to drive improvements in the customer experience.

Provide Leadership

• Partner with Operations to build an effective food safety & quality culture.
• Foster a positive and effective work culture with direct reports.

• Identify and retain highly effective personnel through proper selection, training, and expectations.
• Track and report on plant quality Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
• Participate in the annual plant budgeting process.
• Partner with the plant manager on identifying key capital projects that support food safety and quality initiatives.
• Provide training to the plant personnel concerning food safety, FSMA and regulatory compliance.
• Provide quality leadership during unplanned events or emergencies.
• Provide visible leadership by participating in walkthroughs and internal audits.
• Engage and interact with all personnel on a regular basis assisting them with their challenges and questions concerning quality & food safety.

Quality Control

• Overall responsibility for all qualitative, analytical and micro activities performed at the facility.
• Ensure GLPS are utilized to ensure a high performing on-site laboratory.
• Develop strategies for external QC testing to supplement internal programs.
• Perform data analysis to identify critical trends or find leading indicators to enable proactive decisions.

Travel Requirements

• 50% travel required to other Anchor owned facilities.
• Overnight trips (1 to 2 nights) to Wisconsin and Culbertson.
• Must have valid driver’s license and personal car insurance.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field (ideally Food Science or Biological Science) or experience commensurate to the position demonstrating sufficient technical knowledge.
• Experience implementing or managing GFSI based quality programs. SQF preferred.
• 5 years of experience in food processing environment
• 3 years of supervisory experience
• Certification and/or Licenses

1. HACCP certification
2. PQCI certification
3. Prefer SQF Practitioner

• Knowledge of 21 CFR Part 117
• Knowledge of USDA regulations and functions.
• Knowledge of both laboratory and plant cGMPs.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite.
• Knowledge of basic ERP system functions and utilization
• Must be able to read, write, and speak English.

WORK ENVIRONMENT & PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The work environment characteristics and physical demands described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee will be exposed to machinery and moving parts, airborne particles including grain dust and hazardous materials or fumes, which may require the use of PPE. The employee may be exposed to adverse weather conditions, extended seasonal hours, high precarious places and confined spaces. The noise level in some of the work environments may require the use of hearing protection. While performing the duties of this job inside the office, the employee is frequently exposed to normal working conditions for an office environment with a noise level that is usually quiet to moderate.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand for long periods of time as well as use hands or fingers to reach or handle, and to talk or hear. The employee is regularly required to stand, walk, climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee will occasionally lift and/or move up to 75 pounds. All vision abilities are required to encompass close-up work. On occasion, employee must be able to tolerate and endure extended seasonal hours and maintain alertness to meet deadlines.

ABOUT THE COMPANY:

Headquartered in Fargo, ND, Anchor Ingredients is the most customer-centric, innovative and transparent farm-to-food partner, dedicated to delivering premium ingredients and added value services to the food and pet food industries. Our farm-level relationships, combined with our global reach, allow us to efficiently procure and process ingredients from around the region and throughout the world, uniquely positioning us to fulfill our customers' diverse ingredient requirements. We take pride in our world-class team which boasts extensive industry experience combined with an unwavering dedication to our company’s mission, vision and values, and a commitment to delivering quality and innovation throughout the entire food supply chain.

DISCLAIMER:

The tasks detailed within this Job Description are not intended to represent an exhaustive list of duties that the job holder may be required to undertake. Anchor Ingredients reserves the right to require the job holder to perform any other task which the Responsible Manager may reasonably deem necessary. Anchor Ingredients reserves the right to revise the job description as circumstances warrant. Anchor Ingredients is an at-will employer, which means that either the employee or the company may terminate the relationship at any time, with or without notice, and with or without cause. We are an equal opportunity employer.