Operations Quality Manager for Butter and Milk Powder

This position will work with butter and milk powder dairy manufacturing sites to ensure compliance with Land O’Lakes QMS, food regulatory requirements, and customer quality/food safety requirements at Land O’Lakes.  This role guides plant quality teams in creating, implementing, and maintaining quality and food safety programs for new and existing products and manufacturing processes, partners with cross-functional teams (R&D, Sales & Marketing, Regulatory, Legal, Distribution, Operations, and others) to ensure a culture of quality and food safety throughout the organization.  This position requires about 50% to 75% travel.  Position can be based out of Arden Hills, MN, Tulare, CA, or Carlisle, PA (preferred) or virtual.

Responsibilities: 

• This position will support butter and milk powder manufacturing sites 

• Guide plants in monitoring and analyzing product safety and quality data, including customer complaints and feedback, product testing results, ingredient issues, audit results, and product and processing parameters.  Communicate and work with customers as needed. 

• Guide plants to complete root cause investigations and CAPA plans for product safety and quality issues, audit findings, and customer complaints.  Verify closure of CAPAs. 

• Guide plant on product disposition. 

• Report on quality and food safety metrics and communicate with cross functional leaders on quality issues/events and customer concerns.   

• Assist with hiring and onboarding new quality staff and plant quality training.   

• Assist with customer audits, 3rd party audits and regulatory inspections as needed. 

• Coach, mentor, and direct work of plant quality teams at the manufacturing sites.   

• Engage corporate and external technical experts to partner with site Quality Assurance teams to ensure the robust QMS programs are developed and implemented.  

• Work with cross functional teams and maintenance of product specifications, ingredient and supplier issues, design and commercialization of new products and manufacturing processes.  Support line trials and first production runs as needed. 

Experience/Skills/Education requirements: 

• Bachelor's Degree in Food Science, Dairy Science, Chemistry, Microbiology or related discipline. 

• Seven (7) years of experience in production, quality assurance, or sanitation within the food or pharmaceutical industry. 

• Five (5) years of experience in a progressive leadership role in plant quality or corporate quality roles. 

• Strongly prefer experience with butter and/or milk powder manufacturing 

• Extensive experience in HACCP, GFSI certification, quality assurance standards, food laboratory testing, and statistical process control techniques, and food processing sanitation. 

• PCQI certified or ability to become certified 

• CQE, LEAN, or Six Sigma certification and/or experience preferred 

• Experience managing quality for multiple sites is preferred 

• Experience in dairy processes and sanitation, such as raw milk receiving, butter and milk powder 

• Excellent organizational, communications, interpersonal and team interaction skills