Quality Food Safety Manager

Lactalis USA is currently seeking candidates to join our Corporate Quality team. This position can be based either in Buffalo, NY or Nampa, ID.

Lactalis, the world leader in dairy, is a family-owned business with more than 85,000 pragmatic and ambitious professionals worldwide, committed to nurturing the future by providing healthy and delicious dairy products that bring people together every day. We produce award-winning dairy products that bring people together every day. We offer an enviable range of dairy brands including Galbani, President, Kraft Natural Cheese, Cracker Barrel, Black Diamond, Parmalat, Siggi's, and Stonyfield Organic in addition to several brands imported from our affiliates in Europe.

At Lactalis, our core values of AMBITION, ENGAGEMENT, and SIMPLICITY are at the heart of everything we do. We are dedicated to building a safe, diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace and we know that our candidates come from many different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. If you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job posting, we still encourage you to apply and share with us your STORY, your PASSION, and your EXPERTISE! You may be just the perfect candidate for this or other roles within our company.

Lactalis is an equal employment opportunity employer. We will not discriminate against applicants with regard to any legally-recognized basis including, but not limited to: veteran status, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, and physical or mental disabilities.

From your PASSION to ours

The Quality & Food Safety Manager is responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining food safety programs to ensure compliance while supporting product innovation and R&D initiatives. This role involves developing and implementing robust food safety and quality systems, conducting risk assessments, and providing technical guidance for new product development. The position also focuses on leveraging digital tools to optimize quality management systems and enhance efficiency across the organization.

From your EXPERTISE to ours

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

* Documentation: Create, update and maintain corporate policies, procedures, forms and work instructions

* Risk Assessment: Analyze with manufacturing quality teams the food processing and handling practices to identify/map all critical hazards to put under control with a solid HACCP system.

* Compliance: Collaborate with the Quality teams in operational sites to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal food safety regulations guidelines.

* Audits and Inspections: Coordinate and conduct regular audits/inspections of food facilities to support Quality Manufacturing teams in the preparation of yearly food safety audits, as well as regular customer audits (Kosher, Halal, Military, Organic, Gluten Free, etc.).

* Test traceability system: Initiate mock recalls, with manufacturing plants but also commercial teams. Put actions in place to close gaps, if any detected.

-- Communication: Informs all interested parties on new/changing regulations related to the Quality and Food Safety topics and standards within organization.

* Process Improvement: Lead with manufacturing quality teams the optimization of food safety processes. Establish a Food Safety Roadmap to implement all essentials standards defined by Quality Corporate. This roadmap will include assessment, training, monitoring of investment and confirmation of risk elimination.

* Safety-Focused Innovation: Partner with R&D teams to provide guidance on food safety and quality during product development research. Offer technical support for product innovation projects, ensuring safety and compliance standards are embedded in the design and execution phases.

* Problem Solving: Support manufacturing quality teams in investigation of critical food safety incidents and recommend corrective actions to prevent future occurrences.

* Training and Education: Develop/deliver training programs for manufacturing and R&D staff on food safety practices.

* Digitalization of Quality & Food Safety:

-- Documentation: Oversee the architectural design of the Quality & Food Safety documentation management system (Goals, users, document types, IT system, compliance to State/Fed standards, Integration with ERP)

-- Digital tools: Implementation of digital tools to streamline our Quality Management systems to provide Improved Compliance, Enhanced Efficiency, Better Visibility, Increased Accountability and Risk Reduction.

-- Real-Time Reporting and Analytics: Use data visualization tools to provide insights into compliance and performance of food safety programs.

* Quality & Food Safety reporting:

-- Generate food safety dashboards to visualize key performance indicators (KPIs) on inspections, incidents, and corrective actions.

-- Prepare comprehensive reports and presentations for senior management on digital quality initiatives, project status, and compliance outcomes.

* Budget and Capex Support: Participates in operating budget, goals, and objectives of the department and works toward meeting and/or exceeding these expectations. Propose QFS improvements for the department and division.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

Incumbent is responsible for the overall coordination and evaluation of the Food Safety System across all Manufacturing units of Lactalis American Group, in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include training employees; planning, assigning and coordinating work; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

From your STORY to ours

Qualified applicants will contribute the following:

Education

* Bachelor's degree in quality management, Food Science, or a related field;

* Master's degree is preferred; or equivalent experience to include a minimum of five (5) years job related experience

Experience

* 5+ years of proven experience in quality management, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance within the food industry, preferably with knowledge of FSMA regulations.

* Good understanding of digital quality management systems (QMS), data integrity principles, and regulatory requirements.

Specialized Knowledge

* Strong experience in food safety system and digital tools and technologies for quality assurance and compliance purposes.

* Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret complex regulatory requirements and drive continuous improvement initiatives.

Skills / Abilities

* Effective communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to collaborate with diverse stakeholders and influence decision-making processes.

* Certification in quality management (e.g., Six Sigma, Lean, ASQ) and/or project management (e.g., PMP) is advantageous.

* Experience with SAP, ERP system, MS Office, Power BI analytics

* Deep knowledge on software platforms specializing in quality (EHSQ) management