QA Manager

Just Food Recruitment, part of The JFR Group is recruiting for a Quality Assurance Manager to join this innovative and employee friendly Food Manufacturing based in Bedfordshire

Main Purpose of Role

Reporting to the site General Manager, supported by Head of Technical, you will be responsible for leading and motivating a small professional team. As a champion of quality, you will manage your team of QA professionals to drive the quality performance across this key manufacturing site. The emphasis of the role will be on further developing quality and food safety systems in order to meet customer and legal requirements, whilst working with all relevant colleagues to ensure their total commitment to the highest possible standards. You will also make added value contributions across the site, solving any technical related problems, trend analysis and providing solutions for quality improvements

Key Accountabilities

• Lead, manage, coach and develop all members of the QA team including managing workload, rotas, absence, performance, training and recruitment

• Work in conjunction with the Technical Compliance Manager to ensure the site quality and process management system is fit for purpose and meets the required standards and customer COPs, and its continued ability to produce products to the desired quality standards

• Owner of the sites traceability system, ensuring its robustly challenged to defined testing requirements and frequencies

• Owner of site customer portals for uploading production batch information for export requirements

• Development of the sites product quality assessment programme to ensure continued improvement

• Owner of site quality and food safety KPIs (complaints, Micro, GMP, Audits etc..) effectively measuring, communicating & driving focused actions to achieve and better targets set

• Understand and deliver customer requirements – COPs, be actively involved in trials and site visits.

• Management of the sites calibration programme ensuring all tests are conducted to defined schedules

• Site HACCP team leader ensuring the plan is devised and implemented to ensure product safety

• Conducting internal audits at the clients sites as required

• Conducting, coordinating, interpreting and communicating all relevant laboratory testing results to the technical team and site management

• Assistance in conducting any relevant and suitable training to the wider business

• Development and communication of key technical reports, trending and analysis to relevant internal and external contacts

• Work closely with the site Hygiene Manager to ensure site standards are maintained.

• Lead customer and third party technical audits

• Become a pro-active member of the overall LUUK technical team

• Support and play a leading role in the site’s management team

Key Performance Measures/Indicators

• Competency and development of the site’s QA team

• Successful management of KPIs, (complaints, Micro, GMP, Audits etc..) communicating & driving focused actions to achieve and better targets set

• Improved product quality scores and assessments

• First class quality system that delivers real improvements in efficiently and clarity

• Good working relationship and supportive of the operations team

Skills and Knowledge

• Demonstrable leadership and people management skills

• Sound factory knowledge, good understanding of principles of hygiene, interpretation of microbiological results

• Excellent communicator who can influence throughout all aspects of the business, with strong oral and written abilities

• The ability to liaise with people at all levels

• Effective time management with ability to meet tight deadlines Methodical, questioning nature in order to find and solve root cause

• Ability to make pragmatic decisions and solve problems based on a data-given process

• Ability to carry out specific tasks with minimum of supervision

• Proven planning and organisation skills with good attention to detail

• Competent user of IT software including MS Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook

Experience

• Manufacturing experience, food environment required

• Minimum of 3 years in a similar technical or QA manager/supervisory role

• Experience of working in a customer focussed environment

• A proven track record of effective product quality management

• Any food related experience which shows commitment to food safety and quality

If you would like to learn more about this position, please apply and one of our candidate managers will be in touch.

The JFR Group is an employment agency working on behalf of our client. Should you be seeking a new permanent position, temporary assignment, or contract you will find our staff professional and courteous and our interview process straightforward.