Central Quality & Food Safety Manager

The Lauridsen Group, Inc. (LGI), is a collection of independent companies with each dedicated to discovering and producing products to enhance health and nutrition. These companies have the ability and charge to be entrepreneurial, to seek out new markets, to develop new products and applications, and to discover new ways to add value through fractionation and novel applications. LGI is headquartered in Ankeny, IA and maintains fifty manufacturing and sales locations in twenty countries and sales in more than sixty countries.

The purpose of this position is to develop, coordinate and maintain supplier approval program for domestic manufacturing facilities and co-packer facilities of five LGI companies.

JOB QUALIFICATIONS:

Education

A BS degree in animal or food science, food technology, chemistry and/or microbiology is required. Advance degree highly desired.

Experience

At least 5 years’ experience auditing GMPs, HACCP and Food Safety programs/audits in the food or feed industry. Knowledge of food safety with excellent verbal and written communication skills required. Prior supervisory experience strongly preferred.

JOB DUTIES

• Provide leadership in building an effective central quality support team for Shared Services that interacts professionally and effectively with other departments across the LGI companies.
• Provide direct supervision for the corporate quality personnel to ensure quality activities, e.g., product release, COA’s, EtQ Reliance support, etc., are completed and reported timely, e.g., monthly time allocations and metrics.
• Manage the development and maintenance of the vendor (supplier) assessment program across the LGI companies. This includes working closely with the quality leaders for the various LGI companies to create processes to support their supplier assessment needs.
• Responsible for supplier audits for compliance with SOPs, SSOPs, formulas, government compliance procedures, recall procedures, HACCP/Food Safety Plans, and similar type programs.
• Oversee supplier nonconforming materials and corrective actions, which includes trending reports as part of the supplier management program and following up on supplier corrective actions (SCAR’s) to ensure sufficient changes have been implemented.
• Work closely with the Directors of Quality & Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs with central quality support needs by the manufacturing sites and businesses.
• Assist QA/RA personnel with troubleshooting plant related quality or regulatory issues, as needed.
• Coordinate supplier quality assurance projects with internal departments and customers as needed.
• Support QA/RA special projects as needed.
• Assist QA/RA in working with customers and sales staff to resolve questions related to product quality and food safety.
• Crosstrain on QA/RA systems to familiarize and support personnel as needed.
• Train personnel across the LGI companies in specific areas of expertise, as needed.
• Consistently model, promote, and enforce a committed team environment through empowerment and positive reinforcement.
• All other duties as assigned.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

• Knowledge of food technology, microbiology, and chemistry sufficient to fulfill the needs of this position. An overall knowledge of quality assurance management procedures, HACCP, FSMA and GFSI.
• Ability to work effectively cross functionally in a professional manner. Ability to work with minimal supervision and execute job expectations timely.
• Ability to communicate effectively with plant personnel, raw material suppliers, sales staff, customer service personnel, and QA/RA team.
• Ability to manage and motivate direct reports in a positive and productive manner.
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills.
• Ability to work on projects independently and work as a team member.
• Ability to seek rational solutions to quality and food safety issues.
• Up to 30% travel time required.