Our client is a leading brand manufacturer of jams, fruit preparations, sweets and custard-based desserts worldwide. In North America, they are the leading fruit processing company with major facilities in Philadelphia, PA, Plymouth, IN and Gardena, CA. They specialize in fruit preparations for a variety of customers including yogurt, ice and bakery manufacturers. They have a new opportunity for a Director of QA. This position will be located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Director of QA serves on the Leadership Committee to ensure understanding and engagement of all Quality, Food Safety and Regulatory risks, strategies, plans and results at a leadership level. In this role, the Director of QA seeks, maintains and continuously improves organizational awareness of risks while leading and enabling implementation of comprehensive QA systems to assure compliance and customer satisfaction. The Director of QA actively engages outside of the organization to ensure that the Company is knowledgeable in emerging science, regulations, industry trends, tools and methodology to continuously improve their systems. The Director of QA leads and develops a team to ensure technical, organizational, interpersonal and problem-solving capabilities within the organization.

Primary Responsibilities:

  •  Organizational planning, development, mentoring and coaching to ensure bench strength, performance and succession planning.25%
  • Develop, improve and manage comprehensive Quality Assurance systems. Elements include policies, procedures, training, controls, measurements, corrective actions, training, reporting and continuous improvement. The scope covers all suppliers, manufacturing and distribution across all three plants.25%
  • Develop, maintain and improve company metrics for Quality Assurance. Scope includes all supplier, internal and customer measurements of compliance and performance across all three plants.20%
  • Proactively engage with customers to align goals, expectations and plans to assure compliance and satisfaction. Build strong relationships across functional teams with customers.10%
  • Engage outside of the organization to ensure that the Company is knowledgeable in emerging science, regulations, trends, tools and methodology.10%
  • Plan and communicate the department budget and ensure that all activities are completed within the budget constraints.10%

Formal Education Required:

Minimum BS Degree in Food Science or related discipline.

Specific Experience and Key Knowledge Requirements:

  • 15-20 years of Quality Management experience.
  • 10 years of team building and people management experience.
  • Thorough knowledge of US food regulatory systems, the Global Food Safety Initiative, Halal, Kosher, GMO, HACCP, FSMA.

Skills and Abilities Required:

Microsoft Office, SAP knowledge required. Conflict management and team building skills required.

English language proficiency.

Estimated Percent of Annualized Travel Required:  Both local and international  40%

Direct Reports:

—–Management: 1-5

Indirect Reports:

—–Professional/Supervisory: 6-20

All applicants for this position must be authorized to work in the U.S. without requiring sponsorship.

For additional information, please contact Susan Canarick, (954) 428-3888 or susanc@foodscience.com