Quality & Food Safety Contract Manufacturing Director

This position works within Danone’s Quality & Food Safety Department and cross functionally within our Design to Deliver Organization.  The primary responsibility is to ensure the Quality and Food Safety of product being produced at third party manufacturing locations in North America.  This position must ensure that all Comanufacturing locations produce safe products of the highest and most consistent quality by assuring compliance with Danone standards and operating protocols.  This role will also lead the management of ongoing performance improvement, compliance to standards and adherence to specifications.  This position has direct reporting and managerial responsibility of 3-6 Regional 3PM Managers and Sr Managers.

• →Lead and directly manage a team of Regional 3PM managers who oversee the 3PM network.
• →Manage team developmental plans and performance issues.
• →Participate as member of functional leadership team, supporting strategy development and driving implementation. 
• →Develop, manage and improve on key performance metrics. 
• →Lead as key point of contact for 3PM network relative to quality and food safety issues.
• →Act as main point of contact with Global QFS team to coordinate, lead, and track qualification of new 3PM manufacturing sites, processes, and new Raw and Pack materials.
• →Build and grow 3PM cross-functional Supply Chain relationships and strengthen ways of working.
• →Lead assessments and implementation of new standards and improvement initiatives. 
• →Partner cross functionally to ensure that manufacturing process instructions, finished good and raw material specifications exist, are current, and enforced.
• →Deliver Danone Quality & Food Safety Compliance and improvement across 3PM network. 
• →Troubleshoot problems associated with production across all facilities; ensure root cause / corrective actions are appropriate and are fully implemented.
• →Install appropriate controls, sample plans, hold/release system modifications, code rotation, batching and processing controls, and other production systems that will drive a reduction in variability and improvement in product consistency across all facilities.
• →Collaborate with internal functions including Cycles & Procurement, Research & Innovation, Environmental Health and Safety, Sustainability, Regulatory, Food Safety, Project Management, Operations and Commercialization & Industrialization to deliver products to the market that meet Danone’s standards
• →Represent the region on Global QFS Contract Manufacturing committees for audit coordination, performance reporting, and scorecard management.
• →Stay current with all regulatory and certifying agency guidelines. Manage regulatory issues across 3PM network.
• →Act as point of contact and develop strong partnerships with global functional peers and participate cross CBU as applicable.
• →Manage Veeva process for consumer complaint, RCA, Product Non-conformity (PNC), and Supply Quality issue tracking.
• →All other duties as assigned. 

• Trained in SQF or FSSC (GFSI) auditing schemes.
• Prior experience with Consumer Affairs and/or Customer Service in CPG company
• Working knowledge of SAP and/or similar ERP databases
• Previous experience in Food or Food Packaging Research and Innovation

• Bachelor’s degree in science, Food Science, or similar major
• 10+ years combined experience with food, ingredients quality and manufacturing

• Prior responsibility as QA Manager/Engineer for a food manufacturing facility
• Experience managing external suppliers/contract manufactures

• Experience in problem solving and driving conflict resolution

• Advanced understanding of QFS Management Systems, Pre-requisite programs, Food Safety principles, Hygienic Design and Food Production processes
• Experienced level of knowledge in region and category specific regulations.
• Ability to work under deadlines, with multiple priorities
• Ability to work cross-functionally within organization
• Must be adaptable and flexible
• Self-driven, results oriented, able to work independently
• Ability to work with confidential materials
• Excellent communication / presentation skills
• Excellent record keeping / documentation skills
• Detail oriented.
• Able to quickly learn new systems, tools, and programs