Quality Associate - Raw Materials

Saturn Petcare Inc•Terre Haute, IN

11h

About The Position

saturn petcare, inc. operates a state‑of‑the‑art pet food manufacturing facility. The Quality Control Associate – Raw Materials plays a critical role in preventing raw‑material‑driven quality and food safety issues through rigorous testing, incoming material verification, and proactive supplier management. This role is responsible for identifying raw material nonconformances, ensuring timely containment, driving supplier root cause investigations, and enforcing effective corrective and preventive actions (CAPA). The position partners closely with Procurement, R&D, and Operations to ensure all inbound materials consistently meet SPI’s specifications, and that suppliers are held fully accountable for issues, recurrence prevention, and continuous improvement in material quality.

Requirements

5–10 years of experience in manufacturing; food or pet food experience preferred.
BS degree in Food Science, Biology, Microbiology, Chemistry, Meat Science, Industrial Engineering, or related field preferred.
Strong experience in raw material testing, supplier quality, and RCA/CAPA management strongly desired.
Ability to conduct internal and supplier‑related quality and food safety audits.
Proficiency with MS Office, SAP (QM module preferred), Minitab, and document management systems (DMS).
Ability to interpret and communicate technical specifications, testing requirements, and supplier expectations.
Ability to write clear reports and present investigation findings.
Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference, and ability to apply concepts such as: fractions, percentages, ratios and proportions to practical situations.
Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.
The employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel and reach with hands and arms.
The employee is required to stand, walk, sit, and talk and hear.
The employee must regularly lift and / or move up to 15 pounds, frequently lift and / or move up to 30 pounds and occasionally lift and / or move up to 50 pounds.
Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distant vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

Nice To Haves

Preferred training: HACCP, PCQI, SQF, Allergen Control, Food Recall, Root Cause Analysis, Auditing
German language skills are an advantage.

Responsibilities

Leads and documents supplier nonconformance investigations, ensuring structured root cause analysis (5 Whys, Fishbone, etc.) is completed.
Holds suppliers accountable for timely and effective corrective and preventive actions, with verification of implementation and evidence of recurrence prevention.
Maintains accurate and organized records of supplier quality issues, trends, and CAPA performance.
Provides clear feedback to suppliers on failures, expectations, and improvement responsibilities.
Supports supplier qualification and ongoing performance monitoring, with a focus on preventing raw‑material‑driven disruptions.
Performs comprehensive raw material sampling and testing to ensure compliance with quality and food safety specifications.
Identifies and escalates raw‑material‑related issues rapidly to prevent production impact.
Supports updates to raw material specifications, test methods, and acceptance criteria.
Manages incoming material NCMRs and communicates material disposition decisions (hold, release, rework, reject).
Supports raw‑material‑related food safety and risk assessments.
Develops and updates SOPs, Work Instructions, and documentation related to raw material inspection and testing.
Trains QC and Operations teams on raw material specifications, testing procedures, and supplier‑driven changes.
Provides support to production for raw‑material‑related deviations and helps drive corrective actions to closure.