Area Supplier Quality Assurance Leader

Roquette•Newark, NJ

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

Roquette is seeking an Area Supplier Quality Assurance Leader to manage supplier quality for Cellulose and chemical suppliers. This role ensures supplier quality practices align with regulations, standards, customer expectations, and Roquette's requirements, while driving continuous improvement. The position involves collaboration with Purchasing, Supply Chain, Quality, Regulatory Affairs, manufacturing plants, and suppliers to manage risk assessments, supplier qualification, audit planning, performance monitoring, and corrective actions. This is a hybrid role based in Larkin, Michigan; Newark, Delaware; Plaquemine, Louisiana, or other eligible U.S. locations.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree minimum.
5 to 10 years of professional experience in Quality, Supply Chain, or Purchasing, ideally within process, food, feed, or pharmaceutical industries.
Strong knowledge of quality standards and regulations such as ICH Q7, IPEC GMP/GDP, Excipact, ISO 9001, and FSSC 22000.
Solid audit capabilities, risk-based approach, root cause analysis, and deviation management experience.
Ability to influence, engage, and align stakeholders in a multicultural and matrix organization.
Pragmatic, analytical, autonomous, and result-oriented mindset.
Fluent English is required.
Ability to travel 50% to 70% of the time, including a minimum of approximately 25 audits per year.

Nice To Haves

Master’s or Engineering degree is a plus.

Responsibilities

Define, prioritize, and monitor the annual supplier audit schedule for suppliers serving Cellulosics manufacturing plants.
Act as the regional Supplier QA reference for plants and key stakeholders, ensuring clear communication, KPI follow-up, and alignment on supplier quality priorities.
Lead supplier risk assessments and determine appropriate qualification, monitoring, and control measures.
Review supplier documentation, Quality Agreements, and RFQI responses, and approve or reject supplier qualification when applicable.
Plan and conduct supplier audits, issue reports, monitor CAPA closure, and escalate critical quality or product safety risks when needed.
Contribute to supplier performance reviews, quality management reviews, and continuous improvement actions.
Develop supplier quality culture by partnering with Purchasing, Supply Chain, technical experts, and suppliers.
Provide regular reporting on KPIs, audit plan progress, category actions, risks, and priorities.
Serve as Global SQA Specialist for Cellulose (Pulp), supporting the category quality roadmap, governance documents, supplier quality tools, and annual process reviews.