FSQA Manager at Ajinomoto Foods North America, Inc. – Toluca, Illinois

As a key member of the Plant Leadership Team, the FSQA Manager ensures that all products meet quality and food safety standards in compliance with AFNA policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements. This role leads the Food Safety & Quality Assurance (FSQA) and Sanitation departments, by developing and implementing foods safety, quality and sanitation programs, managing compliance with regulatory and customer standards and overseeing day-to-day operations to ensure continuous improvement.

The FSQA Manager is responsible for FSQA and Sanitation team members, ensuring audit readiness, maintaining accurate records, and upholding sanitation standards. Servicing as the voice of the customer, this role drives the culture of food safety and quality excellence throughout the facility.

Quality and Food Safety Management
• Fully implement and manage all AFNA FSQA and Sanitation policies and procedures.
• Develop, test, implement and manage quality operational procedures, practices, requirements and standards, according to scientifically sound protocols (e.g. SPC), to ensure all products meet AFNA quality, food safety, sanitation and regulatory requirements.
• Manage the monthly facility assessment process. Ensure that corrective actions are identified by the appropriate responsible person and department and verify that corrective actions are completed on a timely basis. Ensure that the facility is “audit ready every day” and represent facility during all third-party, customer and regulatory audits.
• Provides the audit response and feedback for all third party and regulatory audits.
• Implement programs to monitor and assist in response to customer complaints and potential food borne illnesses.
• Development of crisis plans and the communication of FSQA/Sanitation responses and plans to local management.
• Develop new plant Procedures as needed to facilitate implementation of the Corporate FSQA (SQF) policies and procedures.
• Knowledge of recall system, regulatory authority and crisis communications is required, along with minimum annual test of effectiveness and modification when necessary.
• Responsible for AFNA finished product micro testing procedures and results with focused root cause and corrective action analysis to eliminate issues.
• Ensure that all environmental monitoring procedures, particularly the positive swab investigation process, are fully implemented.
• Responsible for implementing all test procedures identified in the FSQA manual. Ensure testing procedures are in place that meet the company’s food safety, quality and sanitation requirements.
• Responsible for holding product that is out of specification and releasing product for sale if deemed to be within specification and regulatory requirements.
• Create, Maintain, Verify and Validate of HACCP, SOP, SSOPs, Cleaning Procedures and pre-requisite programs.
• Ensure reporting is properly conducted in a timely manner including reports that are critical to the food safety, quality and sanitation programs.
• Act as primary facility representative for all regulatory contacts and communications within the facility. Maintain positive professional relationship with local USDA inspectors or other regulatory personnel.
• Ensure all equipment responsible for food safety, quality and sanitation is functioning properly at pre-op and during production. Work with the Maintenance and Production Departments to alleviate any problems.

Maintain FSQA and Sanitation budgets.

Employee Development & Training
• Ensure that staff are well trained in all policies and procedures for their position.
• Develop, implement and manage new and on-going quality assurance and food safety training programs at the facility that raise awareness of quality and food safety and assure compliance to USDA regulatory requirements.
• Lead the development of salaried and non-salaried Quality Assurance and Sanitation personnel, create goals and objectives, and evaluate performance in accordance to the organization’s policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities may include interviewing, hiring and training employees; planning, assigning and directing work; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.
• Ensure proper GMP training for the entire facility, as well as provide effective information flow to facility senior management and Corporate FSQA.

New Product Introduction
• Work with R&D and the Product Introduction Manager for all new product start-ups and co-develop appropriate quality testing parameters to verify compliance to standards.
• Ensure all new products, procedures, equipment and/or supplies meet appropriate food safety and quality criteria (weight control, color standards, length, flavor characteristics, etc…).
• Support installation of new capital equipment and processes to meet food safety and quality expectations.

Supplier Management
• Ensure all suppliers enforce the AFNA standards for product quality & food safety. Obtain proper documentation from all suppliers (or through corporate Supply Quality) to ensure compliance with AFNA Supplier Approval Program (Letters of Guarantee, MSDS sheets – where appropriate, Inspection Approvals, etc.).
• Be available to audit local suppliers when necessary.
• Knowledgeable of all purchased ingredients, their usage and ideal product conditions, including labeling, USDA regulatory compliance, and direct quality testing for adherence to standards.

Education Level
4 Year / Bachelors Degree

• BS degree in Food Science, Meat Science, Microbiology, Biology or equivalent is required

Experience
Minimum Years of Experience - 4 to 6 years

• 5+ years Quality Control/Quality Assurance experience in USDA food manufacturing environment with at least half of the exp in frozen foods. Experience in sanitation team leadership.

Certifications
• ASQC, SQF, GFSI, HACCP, PCQI, Auditing or other professional manufacturing certifications are helpful.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Practical experience with managing complex, cross-functional projects specifically in Frozen Foods Industry is preferred.
• Must have strong Leadership skills. Ability to act as team leader for special task assignments. Demonstrated ability to develop subordinates by driving, delegating, supporting, coaching, and empowering.
• Must have good Judgment/Decision Making skills. Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, draw valid conclusions and make appropriate business judgement and recommendations.
• Must have strong interpersonal skills and ability to manage salaried and non-salaried employees.
• Must have well developed written and verbal skills, organizational and time-management skills, an outgoing personality, an ability to work in a team environment, and an ability to work under pressure.
• Willingness to travel to other facilities in support of product development, product transfer, process improvement, and cost reduction projects is required