Senior Manager, Quality Operations Engineer

Responsibilities

• Team Development: Manage, coach, and mentor Quality Engineers (QE II) and Quality Supervisors, focusing on high-level problem-solving and process improvement.
• Succession Planning: Guide supervisors and engineers through the manager promotion track, ensuring they achieve required SQF Certifications.
• OKR & KPI Management: Define and track departmental Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), such as achieving a 95% target score on SQF audits and maintaining 100% compliance for organic audits.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Operations, Merchandising, and Operational Excellence teams to champion a collaborative food safety culture.
• Defect Reduction: Investigate internal errors (picking mistakes, damaged goods) and external customer complaints. Perform root cause analysis to prevent these issues at the source.
• SQF Practitioner: Lead the development, implementation, and maintenance of the SQF system (Editions 9/10).
• HACCP Leadership: Lead the multidisciplinary HACCP team, coordinate monthly meetings, and perform mandatory validation checklists for all Food Safety Plans.
• Audit Readiness: Serve as the primary point of contact for third-party, regulatory (FDA/USDA), and customer audits.
• CAPA & RCA Oversight: Trigger and manage Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA) and Root Cause Analysis (RCA) for audit non-conformances, customer complaints, or product recalls.
• Final Disposition Authority: Serve as one of the few authorized personnel permitted to provide systematic release for held products and equipment.
• Traceability Excellence: Oversee mock recall and mock trace exercises (one step forward, one step back) to ensure a target recovery rate of 100% (+/- 2%).
• Sanitation & GDP Monitoring: Monitor the effectiveness of daily hygiene and monthly Good Distribution Practices (GDP) audits, ensuring facility-specific SOPs (e.g., color-coded waste disposal) are followed.
• Gold Standard Program: Enhance and implement the Gold Standard, Box experience program, leveraging consumer insights and data-driven controls to continuously improve customer experience.
• System Revamp: Partner with cross-functional teams to improve Jalapeño WMS functionality, including photo documentation for QC functions and enhanced transaction history tracking in line with FDA Traceability requirements.
• Data Analysis: Utilize advanced tools like Tableau, SQL, and Statistical Process Control (SPC) to analyze quality trends and roll up Voice of the Customer (VOC) reports.
• Enhanced Platforms: Identify and deploy new electronic Food Safety and Quality Management System.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Industrial, Mechanical, Manufacturing), Food Science, Supply Chain, or a related technical field.
• Experience: Greater than 5 years of experience in a Quality Assurance, Continuous Improvement, or Process Engineering role within a manufacturing, food production, or high-volume fulfillment environment.
• Technical Skills: Strong proficiency in Data Analysis and Statistical Process Control. Experience with Project Management methodologies. Knowledge of Lean Six Sigma principles (Green Belt is a plus).
• Food Safety: Familiarity with FDA, USDA-AMS & FSIS, GFSI, FSMA regulations, HACCP Certified, and SQF Practitioner Certified.
• Soft Skills: Exceptional communication skills—ability to translate technical quality concepts into clear instructions for warehouse associates.
• Regulatory Knowledge: Deep familiarity with USDA (AMS/FSIS) and FDA regulatory requirements.
• Physical Requirements: Ability to spend 50% of time on the warehouse floor in cold environments (36°F and below).