Director - Milk Quality and Care
About The Position
Horizon Organic is seeking a full-time Director, Milk Quality & Care to ensure farms and producers meet or exceed on-farm standards set by the Horizon Family Brands Quality and Food Safety Milk Team. This role involves managing the Milk Quality Team, supporting their development, and collaborating cross-functionally to establish standards for farms and at the factory gate. Responsibilities include ensuring compliance with certification requirements, tracking KPIs, providing updates to leadership, managing on-farm quality notifications and troubleshooting, supporting integration transitions, and evaluating systems. The Director will also manage Cream suppliers and work closely with Milk Procurement to approve farms and resolve quality issues. Collaboration with the Milk Hauling team to ensure standards are met from pickup to delivery is also key. The role aims to drive improvements in quality and animal welfare across the farm network. Daily tasks include submitting invoices, tracking on-farm milk quality data, strategic planning, and continuous improvement. The position may also involve developing pilot projects for animal welfare and milk quality monitoring. This role is part of the QFS Leadership Team and reports to the Head of Quality and Food Safety.
Requirements
- Advanced Degree in Animal Science, Food Science, Biology, Chemistry, or related agriculture field
- 5-10 years of experience in the Dairy Industry
- Ability to successfully lead and develop a team
- Ability to work well cross-functionally
- Experience with Raw milk and cream test methods and relevance
- Working knowledge of microbiology in the milk and dairy context
- Grade A regulatory, technical, and scientific knowledge of dairy processes and equipment
- Strong quality and analytical skills
- Strong project management/organizational skills
- Success in problem solving and critical thinking
- Anticipates and is pro-active
- Enjoys developing and delivering educational materials
- Passion for excellence
- Strong communication and motivational skills
- Self-motivated with the ability to function with some autonomy
- Passionate about milk quality and animal welfare
- Aligns with Horizon Organic Dairy’s culture, behaviors, and attitudes
Nice To Haves
- Working knowledge of the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance
- Lead Auditor Certification
- FARM Certification
- Experience on farm
Responsibilities
- Ensure farms and producers meet or exceed on-farm standards set by the Horizon Family Brands Quality and Food Safety Milk Team.
- Manage the Milk Quality Team and support their needs and development.
- Develop and set HFB’s standards on farms and at the factory gate.
- Ensure compliance with all company’s certification requirements.
- Track and trend KPIs.
- Provide updates to the Horizon Leadership Team.
- Manage on-farm quality notifications and troubleshooting.
- Provide support in times of outbreaks.
- Support integration transitions.
- Conduct systems evaluations and recommendations.
- Manage Cream suppliers and other related items.
- Collaborate with the Milk Procurement team to approve and maintain farms, resolve quality issues, and resolve quality non-conformances.
- Support direct reports in quality assurance endeavors.
- Work with the Milk Hauling team to ensure all standards are met from pick up to delivery of milk and cream.
- Drive meaningful improvement in quality and animal welfare across the network of farms.
- Submit and track invoices.
- Track on-farm milk quality data.
- Engage in strategic planning and continuous improvement.
- Develop and support pilot projects exploring new methods to monitor or evaluate animal welfare and milk quality on organic dairy farms.
Benefits
- Diverse opportunities for career growth and development
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
