Quality Manager - 8th Ave Food & Provisions

8th Avenue Food & Provisions is a growing organization made up of businesses that produce and sell quality products including pasta, peanut butter, granola, and fruit and nut trail mixes to retail, foodservice and ingredient customers. The company was formed in October 2018 through a combination of Post Holdings’ private brands businesses and is owned by Post Holdings and funds affiliated with Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. (“THL”), a private equity firm.

The Quality Manager is responsible for managing the plant Quality program. Assists Operations in the identification and implementation of quality improvements. Assists Engineering in the identification and implementation of structural and mechanical designs to support food safety and GMP practices. Assures compliance with applicable quality, food safety and regulatory standards. Support, implement, and maintain food safety and quality practices as required through GSFI programs. This role is responsible for completing job duties in a manner that supports all plant safety, food safety, quality, and environmental practices.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provides leadership in the development, training, execution, and verification/validation of all quality systems.
• Ensures compliance to all regulatory, customer, and corporate programs. Leads and participates in regulatory, customer, and internal audits. Provides leadership in the development, training and maintenance of the plant quality and food safety (QFS) programs.
• Act as the primary contact for internal and external customers and investigate consumer and customer complaints while providing written communication regarding the findings.
• Responsible for developing and monitoring plant sanitation and product safety programs to ensure a safe and wholesome product supply, lead teams through product recall management process.
• Collaborates with cross-functional teams on a proactive and ad hoc basis to identify and provide practical and compliant solutions to quality issues.
• Provides leadership to help ensure a safe work environment throughout the plant. Adheres to all safety policies and procedures and drives safe work behaviors in leadership and front-line staff.
• Coordinate the activities of engineers and contractors in complying with GMP’s during construction activities.
• Work with vendors to correct noncompliance issues concerning ingredients and supplies.
• Investigate, manage and resolve employee relation issues in partnership with Operations Business Partners.
• Partner with Plant Manager and Human Resources Manager to identify current state of technical and leadership gaps; prioritize opportunities for improvement of capabilities in front line staff, and develop plan to improve front-line staff through training, process development, process improvement, and experiential learning.
• Other duties, as assigned.

Education and Experience Required:

• Bachelor’s Degree in food-related field required (Food Science, Chemistry, Microbiology, Biochemistry)
• 7+ years’ quality and/or food safety experience.
• 3+ years’ project or team leadership experience.
• Experience with quality regulatory requirements (HACCP, FDA, SQF, GFSI, FSMA).
• Must be able to work weekends, holidays, and extra hours, as needed.

Preferred Education, Experience, and Skills:

• Comprehensive knowledge of GFSI standards.
• Demonstrated problem solver with ability to implement effective solutions.
• Previous experience designing and deploying training programs.
• Effective management and supervisory skills.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills in English language.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Strategic planning skills.
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Able to work all shifts (AM, PM, Graveyard), as needed.

Physical Requirements: Qualified candidates must be able to perform the following physical job requirements, with or without reasonable accommodation:

• Must be able to balance, bend, crouch, kneel, stand, stoop, and walk Must be able to reach above shoulders, climb, and work off ladder, as needed.
• Must be able to perform simple grasping and fine manipulation for 6+ hours per shift.
• Must be able to sit, stand and walk for 6+ hours per shift.