QA Manager

About the Role

As the QA Manager of our manufacturing plant in Halle, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring the highest standards of quality and food safety. Leading a team of 20 dedicated employees, you will oversee the entire QA department, driving excellence and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities Include

Take leadership and Train & Develop QA staff:

• Lead and inspire a team of 20 employees within the QA department.
• Your direct reports are: Quality Support Coordinator, Sanitation Manager, Quality Systems Coordinator, Food Safety Coordinator (has a team of 4 QA Leads) and Lab Coordinator (has a team of 11 Lab Technicians).
• Provide guidance, training, and support to the QA staff, ensuring their knowledge and skills are up-to-date and aligned with best practices.
• Recruit personnel for positions within the quality department.

Analytical and Microbiological Laboratory:

• Establish, together with the Lab Coordinator, a monitoring program for finished products, raw materials, and environmental conditions within the plant's internal laboratory.
• Guarantee the operational efficiency of the production laboratory, consisting of analytical and microbiological functions.
• Coordinate research activities with external laboratories as needed (e.g., customer claims, product declarations).
• Advise the Lab Coordinator on implementing 5S and improve the laboratory work-flow cycle.

Quality Assurance and Food Safety:

• Ensure compliance with applicable laws, customer specifications and internal requirements, overseeing the release of finished products and maintaining quality and food safety.
• Work in collaboration with the Food Safety Team on topics like: identifying QA KPI's, performing root cause analysis of incidents, implementing new machinery, analyze quality of packaging, handling customer complaints etc.

Audits and Inspections:

• Successfully navigate regulatory inspections, food safety audits, and customer audits, ensuring readiness and adherence to standards.

Systems and Process Improvement:

• Develop and implement an effective food safety system, together with the Quality Systems Coordinator.
• Drive a culture of continuous improvement, implementing initiatives to enhance quality systems, processes, and procedures. Execute PQP (Process Quality Plan) initiatives for industrial control programs.
• Translate and implement new processes and systems coming from Global QA to your local QA team.

Budget management:

• Manage the budget of the quality department, including expense management and procurement.
• Implement CAPEX projects related to quality and food safety.

Collaboration:

• Foster strong cross-functional collaboration with other departments (Production, Supply Chain, R&D, Customer Care...).
• Organize events to promote a culture of quality and food safety within the organization.

About you

We are looking for an experienced QA Manager to take on this challenging position within an international organization going through change. Eligible candidates will find themselves in the profile below:

• You have at least 5 years' experience in a general leading role within QA or at the level of laboratory manager, preferably within food manufacturing.
• You get energized from leading a team effectively. You are able to enhance collaboration between the QA teams and new and existing colleagues, particularly in times of change.
• You have excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• You can use your experience to help the Lab Coordinator and Food Safety Coordinator in leading and motivating their team effectively.
• You have experience with quality management systems (QMS), food safety regulations, industry standards and leading QA audits.
• You are committed to excellence and continuous improvement. Experience with 5S and CI methods within QA is a strong plus.
• You are willing to travel for work.
• You work fluently with SAP (or other ERP software), Google Docs, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Proficiency in French, Dutch, and English is required.
• You have obtained a Master or Bachelor degree in Chemical, Biotechnology, Microbiology or Food Production. Or you are considered equivalent through several years of experience.