External QFS Sr Scientist - Post Consumer Brands

Headquartered in Lakeville, Minn., Post Consumer Brands, a business unit of Post Holdings, Inc., is dedicated to providing people and their pets with delicious food choices for every taste and budget. The company’s portfolio includes beloved brands such as Honey Bunches of Oats®, PEBBLES®, Grape-Nuts® and Malt-O-Meal® cereal, and Peter Pan® peanut butter, as well as Rachael Ray® Nutrish®, Kibbles ‘n Bits® and 9Lives® dog and cat food. As a company committed to high standards of quality and to our values, we are driven by one idea: To make lives better by making delicious food accessible for all. For more information about our brands, visit www.postconsumerbrands.com and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest news.

Post Consumer Brands recently acquired several iconic pet food brands, venturing into a new market while remaining true to our purpose to provide delicious and accessible food that our consumers love. We’re always searching the center store for the next exciting product to add to our portfolio, and right now, we’re growing and need passionate, driven individuals with diverse perspectives to help us reach greater heights. That’s where you come in. Join a team where your voice is not only heard but valued. Make a real impact on brands enjoyed by millions of people and their pets.

Post Consumer Brands corporate headquarters in Lakeville, Minn. is about 20 miles south of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Lakeville has all the benefits of smaller town living with access to everything a large metropolitan area has to offer. Join more than 400 team members collaborating on the two-building campus to help put breakfast on the tables of millions of consumers in North America. 

OVERVIEW

The role of Sr. Scientist for External Quality & Food Safety (xQFS), Pet Co-Manufacturing provides critical leadership, strategic and executional, across all Pet co-manufacturing locations both domestic and international for ensuring compliance to all requirements, supporting new business growth, and collaborating cross functionally on focus improvement initiatives.

Location: this position offers hybrid flexibility out of our Lakeville, MN, corporate campus OR remote with close proximity to a large airport.

Responsibilities and Accountabilities

• Provide strategic insights around food safety and quality for the optimization of the co-manufacturing network.
• Develop and foster strategic partnerships within the Pet co-manufacturing network (across QFS grocery and cross functionally across Operations, and Procurement) and establish shared continuous improvement goals and KPI metrics related to food safety and quality.
• Support new product start-ups to ensure sustainable executional success at the co-manufacturing location.
• Schedule and conduct on-site audits, write and circulate audit reports, review, approve and file corrective actions.
• Quantitatively oversee the risk portfolio of the co-manufacturing network (both inherent product design risks and manufacturing risks) and communicate risk remediation plans and results to key business partners.
• Provide routine feedback to co-manufacturing sites on their monthly scorecard results.
• Identify and drive project opportunities around cost savings, improving work efficiencies, and improvement food safety and quality systems.
• Build strong partnerships both internally and externally.
• All other duties as assigned.

Education

• 4-year college degree, preferably in engineering, food science or food safety.
• Certification in Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI)

Experience

• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in food manufacturing in food safety and quality.
• Thorough understanding and practical experience with the requirements in 21 CFR Part 507 - Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Food for Animals.
• Co-Manufacturing experience is preferred.

Skills

Must have/be:

• Organizational skills and the ability to prioritize work.
• Results-oriented with strong attention to detail.
• Solutions oriented with strong problem-solving skills.
• A team player with strong interpersonal skills who demonstrates good judgment, initiative, and works with a sense of urgency. 
• Ability to read, write and communicate in the English language.

Travel

• Must be able to travel both within the United States and internationally up to 75% of the time.