Director of Food Safety and Quality

Overall Responsibility:

The Director of Food Safety and Quality Assurance will be responsible for the oversight and management of all food safety, regulatory, and quality aspects for Grupo Chilero.

Key Areas of Responsibility:

• Lead quality and food safety teams for all facilities
• Evolve and establish appropriate food safety and quality programs for the La Fiesta operations and warehouses, including, but not limited to:
  • Manage and evaluate activities related to the Safe Quality Food Program and HACCP.
  • Participate and prepare for all food safety audits.
  • Manage and improve current product lot control and traceability system.
  • Collaborate with purchasing team to ensure vendor compliance
  • Assess and suggest recommendations to improve the efficiency of the GMP’s, SQF and HACCP programs.
  • Train the workforce on GMP’s, SQF and HACCP.
  • Conduct root cause analysis and corrective action reports on defective materials.
  • Ensure consistent and thorough follow-up to non-conformities as it relates to quality food safety.
  • Manage and improve current pest control programs.
• Oversee the QA Manager at the Chef Merito operation, providing guidance and leadership to continue successful practices, successful BRC audits, lot traceability and QC management.
• Serve on the product development committee for both plants and support new product development activities for the combined organization.
• Collaborate with marketing and product development teams to oversee the label approval process to comply with FDA regulations.
• Support new ERP transitions to ensure lot traceability.
• Ensure that Quality System programs, processes and procedures are implemented successfully and function as designed throughout the operation to ensure the quality and integrity of manufactured products and services.
• Establish
• Interface and provide feedback to customers when required.
• Conduct internal and external facilities Audits including co-packers in the USA and Mexico.
• Help establish a product donations program.
• Collaborate with operations management on establishment of KPI’s, complaint tracking and root cause database
• Work closely with senior management on budgeting of expenses and capital expenditures for operations.
• Other duties and tasks as assigned

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Bachelor’s Degree in a related field or equivalent work experience required.
• Minimum 10 years’ experience in food safety and/or quality management in a food production environment.
• Bilingual, English/Spanish and ability to present and train in Spanish.
• Experience in creating and managing compliance of systems such as GMP, SQF, BRC, HACCP, TQM, ISO, and other quality programs.
• Strong technical ability to interpret and implement regulations, laws and standards.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, with willingness and ability to learn new systems.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate and communicate effectively with and build trust in all levels in the organization.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including professional presentations.
• Problem solving skills including the ability to lead the Quality team and support the operational needs of the business.
• Ability to make risk-based decisions and act when issues arise.
• Works well under pressure and manages adverse situations, conflict resolution when necessary.
• Strong leadership skills and ability to train and develop a team.
• Advanced organizational and personal skills.
• Ability to travel within the LA area and within the US as needed.

Physical and Environmental Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to occasionally alternate between sitting and standing positions. The employee frequently is required to reach with hands and arms, use hands and fingers to handle controls, computer and mouse; talk and hear. The employee is occasionally required to walk, stand, stoop, and lift as required to file documents or store materials throughout the workday. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus. Proper lifting techniques required. May include lifting up to 25 pounds for files, computer printouts on occasion.

La Fiesta Food Products is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and gives all applicants for employment equal consideration regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, arrest record, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, transgender status, genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, veteran status, pregnancy, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law. Upon request and consistent with applicable laws, La Fiesta Food Products will provide reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities who need accommodation to fully participate in the application process.?