Director of Quality Assurance

About the Company:

R.M. Palmer Company, LLC designs, produces, packages, and ships seasonal chocolate novelties. Its products include filled chocolates, solid chocolates, chocolate bars and balls, chocolate cups and coins, chocolate patties, and seasonal products. In addition to their own branded products, the Company co-manufactures both seasonal and everyday products for other large branded companies. Today, the Company operates out of two manufacturing facilities and one distribution facility with ~600 full-time employees. R.M. Palmer Company, LLC has some of the most differentiated manufacturing capabilities in the industry as one of the only companies in the U.S. able to make hollow molded chocolate candy products and multicolor chocolate candy novelties.

The Director of Quality Assurance and Food Safety is responsible to organize, direct, control and evaluate the operations of the Quality Assurance and Food Safety (QAFS) systems across manufacturing facilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Coaches, develops, and supports the QAFS leaders at each manufacturing location; is the direct manager to these positions

• Develops cascading goals aligned with company business objectives and delivers annual performance reviews

• Collaborates closely with the RM Palmer QAFS team members to develop, execute, monitor, and improve RM Palmer LLC. QAFS programs

• Ensures adherence at each manufacturing location to all R.M. Palmer, QAFS programs, including but not limited to:

• GFSI programs and policies (SQF)

• FSMA, PCQI, HACCP programs

• Local, state, and federal regulations

• New product commercialization

• New line/equipment qualification

• Continuous improvement, root cause problem solving, and preventative actions

• Works closely with Customer Care on consumer complaint reporting, investigations, trending, and action plans. Responsible for meeting quality targets and driving cross-functional projects to address negative consumer complaints trends

• Engage with and provide leadership to cross-functional teams at all levels (site-specific and enterprise-wide)

• Partner with peers across departments - supply chain, procurement, engineering, value creation, etc. - to plan, execute, monitor, and verify project implementation

• Visit manufacturing site regularly for the purpose of collaboration, culture building, auditing, and verification of program adherence

• Respond and escalate quality and food safety events as needed; direct facility teams on crisis management and reaction

• Coordinates multiple projects at a time; able to delegate tasks as needed

• Advising the Senior Leadership and other Management members of any quality or food safety issues and provides potential solutions

• Responsible for reporting QAFS KPIs including but not limited to:

• KPI development and education

• Action plans based on KPI results

• Verification of KPI accuracy

• Routinely reviews QAFS program outputs to ensure compliance and effectiveness including in-process and finished good attribute testing, consumer complaint data, site-level KPIs, and audit results

• Acts as back-up to the site QAFS Manager as when needed

• Manage and oversee QAFS Manager’s responsibilities and tasks

• Ability to analyze QA data to make suggestions on process improvements

• Assists in the inspection of food processing areas to ensure compliance with government and company regulations and standards

• Works with facility leadership team and fellow associates to ensure QAFS programs are followed and team members are held accountable

• Responsible for quality and food safety tasks for their position

• Responsible for ensuring food safety in all actions and responsibilities

• Follows food safety practices and all applicable requirements of the SQF System and local, state and FDA regulations

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in food science or other science related field or equivalent experience

• Knowledge of food manufacturing procedures and equipment and skills in analytical procedures acquired through 7 - 10 years of experience

• Knowledge of Federal and State food manufacturing with emphasis on the Food Safety Modernization Act, PCQIs and GFSI Standards

• Deep experience in preparing and leading audits (internal, third-party, and regulatory)

• Functional understanding of continuous improvement mindset including root cause investigations, environmental micro control programs, SPC data analysis, and other value creation tools

• Experience in multi-site leadership of Quality Assurance and Food Safety

• Experience leading direct reports remotely strongly preferred

• Organizational skills to plan, record, submit and file necessary documents

• Able to balance priorities and manage multiple projects on an on-going basis

• Able to effectively listen, communicate and interface across all organizational levels

• Proven leadership and development of teams; ability to clearly communicate expectations

• Skilled in the use of Microsoft Office Suite, Microsoft Outlook, databases and business enterprise software.

• Demonstrated ability to make decisions based on available information using risk-based principles

• Ability to develop forward-thinking strategies and drive execution

• Able to work well in a team environment or independently

The R.M. Palmer Company provides safety education and training to all our employees in GMP Regulations, Food Safety Guidelines, Food Quality Programs, Employee Safety, and SQF (Safe Quality Food) Requirements on an annual basis. In return, the company expects and insists that all employees recognize their individual obligation to conduct themselves with due regard not only for their own safety but for the safety of their fellow employees and to incorporate the food training to the products that are being produced for public consumption. Additional training may be required depending on the job assignment. More detailed information will be given about the essential functions of this job description.