Buffalo - Western NY  Rochester - Finger Lakes  Syracuse - Central NY  Albany - Capital District  National Jobs

Director of QA                                        Salary: $95,000-$110,000 Rochester, NY 
                                                       
Submit resume to Greg Taylor:  gtaylor@excelsiorsp.com
Reference Job Id 01613893-1022

Description
Manage the quality assurance and sanitation groups including leadership for the development, implementation, and coordination of company-wide food safety, quality, and sanitation systems / programs to prevent or eliminate defects and inconsistencies in new or existing products while ensuring compliance with federal codes and regulations. Establishes the strategy and direction for these respective areas to achieve key business objectives by performing the following duties:

• Manage employees who are engaged in activities pertaining to the safety and quality of food products. Plan, assign and direct the work of subordinate staff. Resolve employee grievances, as required.
• Develop key metrics with subordinate staff that are aligned with company objectives including quality holds, waste, AIB or other audit targets, CIP downtime, HACCP targets, etc. Formulate and establish department goals and objectives and assure accountability for their successful outcomes.
• Be the QA / food safety role model for the organization and provide hands on guidance and support for the quality principals of the company.
• Provide leadership for all QA & Sanitation relations both internally and externally and oversee all food safety & quality audit initiatives including 3rd party, customer, internal, etc.
• Support and initiate change in QA and sanitation to promote continuous improvement. Manage the evaluation of continuous improvement and recommend capital requirements as justified by the business plan. Conduct appropriate benchmarking to evaluate and present opportunities.
• Develop and implement QA & Sanitation department procedures and processes including: HACCP, GMPs, food safety initiatives and programs, pest control, SOPs internal audits, etc.
• Analyze, evaluate, and present information concerning the cost of quality including recommended improvements.
• Utilize root cause analysis and other quality / problem solving techniques to resolve quality issues including product holds, customer complaints, GMPs issues, etc.
• Oversee analytical and micro laboratories to assure required objectives are met.
• Develop the fiscal QA & Sanitation budget and assure they are met and improved upon.
• Oversee the audit and approval of vendors related to their ability to meet our quality standards.
• Support management meetings with department heads to establish, delineate, and review policies, pertaining to QA and Sanitation objectives. Provides ongoing communication of depts. Performance toward its key measures to senior management.
• Coach and encourage subordinate staff.
• Carry out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with company's policies and applicable state and federal laws.
  Monitor employees attendance. Review and approve vacation time. Verify and sign time cards.
• Evaluate and appraise employees performance and follow-up with proper documentation.
• Participate in planning personnel and plant safety activities and ensure compliance to applicable safety regulations.   

QUALIFICATIONS:

(1) To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE
Bachelors Degree and seven years of related Quality Assurance experience including a minimum of 4 yrs QA Management experience in a food production facility that uses thermal and non thermal food processing techniques and/or an equivalent combination of education and experience in food production and thermal food processing techniques. Applicable certifications desired.

LANGUAGE SKILLS
Ability to read, analyze and interpret common trade journals, financial reports and legal documents. Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from customers, regulatory agencies, or members of the business community. Ability to effectively present information to top management, employees, managers, vendors and customers.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS
Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference. Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios and proportions to practical situations.

REASONING ABILITY
Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or written form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, SOFTWARE
Intermediate skills in Microsoft Office. HAACP certified. SPC certified. Trained in federal food standards, thermal and non thermal food processing and micro-lab coordination.

Preferred Additional Skills:

• The position requires a good grasp of Manufacturing processes, must be able to turn requests into requirements, and assist with delivering a technical solution to meet the requirements.
• Demonstrated leader in IS, influencing the appropriate application of business systems and processes to meet business requirements, working with IS and business to manage changing priorities with work requests/projects
• Experience with outsourced delivery of IS projects/developments (working with contractors and consultants) a plus
• Positions may require citizenship for purposes of obtaining clearances.