Quality & Food Safety Manager

Perfetti Van Melle•Covington, KY

About The Position

Perfetti Van Melle (makers of Mentos, Airheads, Dentyne, Trident and Bubblicious!) is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of confectionery and chewing gum with global brands that are being enjoyed in more than 150 countries worldwide. We're currently seeking a passionate and enthusiastic Quality & Food Safety Manager to join our growing team.The Quality & Food Safety Manager is responsible for the Quality & Food Safety Program for the Erlanger Factory. The Manager leads the Quality & Food Safety Department which includes the Internal Quality Control Lab, Food Safety, Document Control, External Quality & Food Safety Control. The Manager is responsible for performance assessments, organization design, personnel development & growth plans. Due to the fast growth of the US business, this Manager's key challenge is building capability and evolving the organization and program to ensure that the Quality & Food Safety Program is keeping up with the needs of the business growth and growing complexity, risk assessments, growing footprint, implementing latest industry learnings on food safety & quality programs/approaches, collaborating in a North America production network and a global quality & food safety network. This individual will lead the implementation of TQM and Quality best practices and all PVM NA Quality initiatives. This leader will manage and resolve all quality issues, requiring a strong partnership with all stakeholders and strong communication skills. The Quality & Food Safety Manager interacts with every functional area on a routine basis. The scope of the role includes both current business and production and future portfolio (development and qualification of new products and packaging).

Requirements

BS in an area of science and 10 years of experience in a manufacturing plant (food plant preferred) and experience managing the QA/QC function and teams preferred.
Understanding of Quality Methodology and systems, including HACCP, Good Manufacturing Practices, FDA regulations, GFSI, OSHA and EPA
Understands and demonstrated the ability to apply the principals of TQM, SPC & Lean Manufacturing.
Strong communicator with an emphasis on problem solving.
Experience in working with suppliers including resolution of quality issues, audits, etc.
Experience in working with multifunctional teams (marketing, manufacturing, engineering, R D)
Ability to travel domestically and internationally.

Responsibilities

Leader & Owner of Quality & Food Safety Program for Erlanger Factory products
Collaborates with NA Quality team to ensure Group Quality Policies/Procedures are implemented
Collaborates with NA Quality and other NA factories to identify & standardize best practices, share learnings, etc
Partners with Customer Care to follow up on consumer and customer complaints; key responsibilities include quality & food safety investigation and corrective action plan
Leads development of Quality & Food Safety training for Quality & Food Safety Department, Process & Technology Team (R D), Manufacturing employees, & all PVM Site employees
Primary liaison with external contacts regarding any quality issue - FDA, third party auditors, regional food safety authorities, suppliers, co-packers, sister units, customers and consumers.
Partners with R D & Package Development in development of quality standards for new products and leads quality & food safety risk assessment for all new products
Manages Quality & Food Safety Department & budget (food safety, external quality, quality lab, document control)
Leads food safety & quality performance & capability evaluations/audits of suppliers & co-packers