Quality Assurance Manager- Albert Lea, Minnesota, Full Time/Per (MK)

Central Business Solutions•Albert Lea, MN

27d•Onsite

About The Position

The Quality Assurance Manager is a key member of the manufacturing site leadership team, providing leadership for the development, implementation, and administration of Quality Assurance and Quality Control functions. This role ensures safety, integrity, and conformance with regulatory, corporate, site, and customer requirements. The position collaborates with plant and Balchem leadership to formulate and execute a strategic quality plan, integrating quality priorities into the operational excellence process. Responsibilities include managing the CAPA program, customer and vendor complaints, holds, site audit non-conformances, and root cause analysis. It also involves management of change control and aspects of the commercialization process, as well as leading the development and implementation of food safety, preventive controls, and prerequisite programs (e.g., HACCP/HARPC, Pest Control, Recall, Allergen, Sanitation, and environmental monitoring). As part of the plant leadership team, this role requires a comprehensive understanding of their functional area and basic knowledge of relevant related areas to resolve cross-functional issues.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a relevant field.
Project Management & Change Management Experience.
5+ years of experience in the food, supplement, or related industry.
Familiarity with FDA GFSI Scheme (e.g., SQF, BRC).
Certification focused on Quality and Food Safety for Supply Chain requirement: PCQI or HACCP.
Ability to lift 50 lbs; required to stand, walk, sit, and reach.
5 years+ Quality Assurance experience.
Solid FDA, HACCP, SQF, and industry best practices experience.
Bachelors Degree.
Creates and maintains a Quality culture.
US citizen or permanent resident.
5+ to 7 years experience.
Seniority Level - Mid-Senior.
Management Experience Required - Yes.
Willingness to Travel - Occasionally.

Nice To Haves

Experience managing a Quality team.

Responsibilities

Maintaining customer quality satisfaction through programs to control raw materials, in-process materials, production process, environmental conditions, and finished products.
Empowering and developing their team and cross-functional teams, performing evaluations, creating development/training plans, and managing employee relations.
Ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations (FDA, EPA, OSHA, etc.) and third-party certifications (GFSI, Kosher, Halal, RSPO, etc.).
Conducting or coordinating customer, vendor, and third-party audits and regulatory inspections.
Executing plans that drive operational excellence.
Preparing for and overseeing customer site visits and audits.
Interacting with other Quality Managers and corporate leadership, ensuring timely issue escalation.
Leading the quality team in commercial product onboarding, trial reviews, specification creation, formula and label reviews, and inspection plans for raw materials, in-process materials, and finished materials.
Managing departmental staffing, management commitment and review process, budget & expenses, and capital projects.
Partnering with site leaders and cross-functional partners for goal setting, decision-making alignment, and training and development needs.
Supporting Supply Chain, Learning and Development, and Commercialization functions as needed.
Developing and managing the site quality team, ensuring training programs are in place for cross-functional teams.
Building strong cross-functional relationships and influencing site strategy execution.
Developing a culture that drives quality improvements and interfaces efficiently with operational excellence processes.
Communicating effectively with internal and external customers, including timely escalation of food safety, quality, and financial issues.
Cascading goals using tools such as SMART goals and aligning teams on standard work.
Making determinations and decisions on performance and pay for team members.
Ensuring effective application of site Product Safety, Product Quality, and prerequisite systems, and their interface with change control and commercialization processes.
Root causing issues and implementing engineering or systems improvements for robust prevention.
Executing the internal audit program and ensuring systems reduce risk and corrective actions are completed.
Driving priorities that positively impact key performance indicators and metrics (e.g., Inspection/Compliance performance, First Pass Quality, Complaints, Disposals, Inventory Health, Customer Responsiveness, CAPA closure and effectiveness, systems performance, environmental & sanitation performance).
Ensuring professional, timely, and in-scope responses to customers, inspectors, and auditors.
Collaborating with R&D, Production, and commercial teams in the development and preparation for production of new Products, Processes, and Equipment to support new product/customer launches.
Quantifying the probability of success and communicating risks and proposed mitigations for first-time makes.
Interfacing with operational excellence programs to maximize effectiveness.
Providing support and aid in preparation for customer visits and external audits.