Quality Assurance Manager

Company and Position Information:

Del Monte Foods (DMFC) is a multi-national food company headquartered in Walnut Creek, CA, with a powerful portfolio of brands, including iconic Del Monte, Contadina and College Inn. Our premium-quality meal ingredients, snacks and beverages can be found in six out of ten U.S. households.

At Del Monte Foods, we believe in supporting one another. In helping our people shape their own careers - in letting them grow outward, upward and across disciplines. We are tending to the greater good, providing accessible, nourishing, great-tasting food for all. We are Del Monte Foods - Growers of Good.

The salary range for this role is:

Responsibilities:

The ideal salary range will be $120k - $130k, dependent upon experience.

Del Monte Foods is seeking a Quality Assurance Manager to serve as the primary subject matter expert on product grading and compliance with company, customer, and regulatory standards. This role will lead training, oversee lot approvals, manage product specifications, and support internal and external manufacturing partners to ensure consistent product quality. The position partners cross-functionally with R&D, Procurement, Marketing, and operations teams, and plays a key role in quality audits, customer documentation, product certifications, and regulatory compliance. This is a highly important and visible role that will help uphold Del Monte's reputation for delivering safe, high-quality products to consumers.

• Primary contact and subject matter expert on finished product grading to verify adherence to Del Monte Foods Quality Standards and Specifications.
• Lead Instructor to plants and other cross-functional teams on how to grade finished goods against quality standards. May include travel to manufacturing locations to teach sites how to grade finished goods and/or calibrate between production site and corporate.
• Manage the lot approval and surveillance sampling with internal and external manufacturing partners. Includes providing grade recaps to internal locations and communicating the pass or failure of lot approvals to co-packers.
• Manage finished product specifications to meet customer, regulatory and quality requirements. This includes verifying adherence to USDA Commodity Grade Standards where needed.
• Lead and engage in cross-functional collaboration with R&D, Procurement, Marketing and other technical teams to review innovation and legacy finished goods
• Manage Del Monte Licensee program. Work with external manufacturers who license the Del Monte Brand and verify through samples and other records that the licensee is adhering to quality standards.
• Lead and assemble an Executive Cutting at a minimum annually. This may include pre-cutting samples, procuring samples, and educating senior leadership on quality and sensory attributes for respective commodities.
• Manage and maintain workflows for Del Monte Quality Systems Routings and work cross-functionally to ensure the workflows are completed. Includes maintaining Del Monte internal share point folders and document repositories.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams as needed the review of non-conforming products at manufacturing locations. Set-up and organize cuttings to review with teams and report back results to organization
• Support customer documentation requests. Maintaining annual statements, this may include work with legal, regulatory and other departments to draft position statements.
• Support Del Monte's internal audit program of internal or external facilities. Coordinate with plant and corporate team members to conduct audits internally to identify conformance to internal and external requirements.
• Support the maintenance of the Del Monte Quality Systems Manual. Includes rolling out revision to current or new company policies and training company team members. Participate 3-Year review of all corporate quality documents with internal team.
• Manage the Annual Corporate Quality and Food Safety Quality Plan. Lead quarterly and year end reviews of the fiscal year's quality plan and recap actions and results.
• Coordinate the company mock recall program for internal and external facilities. Issue, review and support corrective actions for gaps identified in traceability systems at plants and DCs.
• COA creation and product registrations for customers upon request. Satisfy export requirements as needed for documentation and COA analysis.
• Coordinate shipping and testing of samples for customer samples, pesticide and heavy metals upon request.
• Create technical product specifications for customers. Work closely with R&D and regulatory to maintain specifications for all DMFI items.
• Review and Approve label graphics to verify accuracy for internal and external customer labels.
• Assist with obtaining and maintaining certifications, including but not limited to: Kosher, Halal, Non-GMO Project, Organic.
• Other Duties as Assigned

Del Monte Foods Leadership Behaviors:

As leaders we:

Ground Our Teams

• Connect our teams to a clear strategy.

• Provide the support our teams need for success.

• Hold ourselves and our teams accountable.

Create the Climate

• Solve problems together with our teams.

• Enable smart risk taking.

• Empower our teams to make decisions and take action.

Nurture the Good

• Are intentional about building trust.

• Lead with empathy.

• Grow and develop our teams.

Qualifications:

Required Education and/or Certifications

• BS in Nutrition or Food Science or related fields. Advanced degree preferred.

Years of Experience

• 3-5 years of quality management experience preferably within in food or beverage processing.

Skills

• Solid understanding of Quality and Food Safety Documentation.
• Experience in evaluating finished products against standards and specifications.
• Experience with USDA Commodity and Grade Standards.
• Strong knowledge of GFSI audit standards, specifically the BRC standard
• Experienced Food Safety and GMP Internal Auditor. Ability to travel and work on production floor in hot and humid environments for prolonged periods of time.
• Knowledge of FDA traceability requirements
• Thermal Processing experience and Better Process Control School Certification Preferred
• Preventive Controls for Human Food Qualified Individual Certification (PCQI)
• Experience in leading continuous improvement activities, root cause investigations and implementation of corrective and preventive actions.
• Must be a results-oriented team player capable of working in a fast-paced environment with a strong attention to detail.
• Ability to use, maintain, and leverage data and technical information systems (i.e. SAP, PDM, GDSN, Genesis, LSAS).
• Ability to develop robust claim substantiation protocols with the R&D team, and execute complex calculations by interpreting regulations, and or federal guidance documents to substantiate fruit/veg/tomato/juice serving equivalencies and product claims.
• Excellent analytical, oral, and written communication skills, and a strong aptitude of Microsoft Office applications, SAP/PDM and regulatory label development applications.
• Experience TraceGains customer management system.
• Proven ability to work cross functionally and to coordinate with customer technical resources.
• Domestic travel up to 10-20% required at times.

WE OFFER:

• Competitive salary.

• Comprehensive benefits package including Medical, Dental, Vision, and 401(k).

Please be advised that your application is not complete until you fill out, sign, and submit an Application for Employment for a specific position for which Del Monte Foods is actively recruiting. Your application must reflect that you possess the required qualifications for the position.

No sponsorship is available for this position.

No agencies or 3rd party vendors.