Quality Food Safety Manager - 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.

The Meadville, Pennsylvania facility is 135,000 square feet and home to about 290 hard working team members who are proud to produce iconic pet food brands like Rachael Ray® Nutrish®. Located along the banks of French Creek in Northwestern Pennsylvania and 45 minutes from Pittsburgh, Meadville is home to more than 13,000 full time residents and 2,000 Allegheny College students. Meadville is an active center for business, industry, education, the arts, recreation, service and tourism. Conneaut Lake, Pymatuning State Park and the Erie National Wildlife Refuge are wonderful places to appreciate the area's natural beauty. 

Responsible for managing the plant Quality and Food Safety program at a pet food plant. Assists Operations in the identification and implementation of quality improvements. Assists Engineering in the identification and implementation of structural and mechanical designs to support food safety and GMP practices.  Assures compliance with applicable quality, food safety and regulatory standards. Support, implement, and maintain food safety, food safety culture, and quality practices as required through GFSI. Will be responsible for completing job duties in a manner that supports all plant safety, food safety, quality, and environmental practices. This position has shared responsibility as a BRC practitioner and/or back-up practitioner.

Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

1. Assure that all raw materials, process parameters, sanitation procedures, and finished products comply with Customer, Company, State and Federal standards.
2. Must have HACCP certification and meet the requirements for PCQI and BRC Practitioner responsibilities.
3. Manage and audit quality programs and maintain proper documentation.
4. Administer hold product dispositions. Follow-up and coordinate the release and/or removal of hold product through the proper channels.
5. Assure that HACCP/Food Safety plans are fully implemented and monitored for all processing lines. Responsible for validating changes to food safety fundamentals (prerequisite programs).
6. Assure the training of employees in the areas of noncompliance, metal detection, GMP’s, preventive controls, color code, sanitation procedures, net weight, and quality requirements
7. Along with Engineering and Maintenance, coordinate the activities of engineers and contractors in complying with GMP’s during construction activities.
8. Work with vendors to correct noncompliance issues concerning ingredients and supplies.
9. Provide managerial and technical leadership to Quality Assurance technicians and other appropriate plant QFS staff.
10. Provide technical assistance to team members regarding the use of chemicals and sanitation protocol. Duties to include verification of cleaning methods for control of microbial, allergenic, and organic product cross contamination risks.
11. Support the necessary retrieval of suspect product involved in a product recall.
12. Direct the implementation, process and follow-up to corrective action items for audits, and inspections by customers, state regulators, FDA, etc.
13. Collect quality data and develop reports for business units.
14. Research and approve temporary approvals and R&D trials.
15. Investigate consumer and customer complaints and provide written communication regarding the findings.

EDUCATION

Minimum of 4 year B.S. degree in Food Science, Microbiology or related field.

EXPERIENCE

Minimum of 10 years’ experience in food manufacturing business, preferably in the Quality Assurance or Production environment. Minimum of 3 years supervisory experience. Must have working knowledge of HACCP, FSMA requirements, GMPs, quality systems, and experience working with and leading team in a manufacturing environment. Must possess understanding of FDA and local regulatory requirements.

OTHER SKILLS

Effective management and supervisory skills. Must have excellent facilitating skills in a team environment, and effective communication skills, both written and oral. Training skills with ability to develop own curriculum. Must be a demonstrated problem solver with the ability to implement effective solutions.  Working knowledge of statistical and other advanced analytical problem solving tools. Must be able to read, write and communicate in the English language.  Experience with canning/thermal processes is preferred.