Director of Quality

Crofters is growing and we are seeking an energetic, reliable & flexible team player to join our Team. Here’s your chance to join a highly skilled team of professionals at one of North America’s pioneering brands in the organic food movement! Crofters Food Ltd, known in the grocery aisles as Crofters Organic Fruit Spreads, is the leading manufacturer of organic jams, jellies and fruit spreads in North America. Headquartered in picturesque Parry Sound, Ontario, about two hours north of Toronto, we manufacture a vast array of fruit-based spreads sold in stores across Canada, the United States, and select international markets. From the way we source our fruit, to the way we carefully manufacture our products using forward-thinking sustainable processing techniques, to our innovative, health-conscious formulations, every aspect of our operations receives the care and attention they deserve. A small but mighty team, with the support of a US-based private equity firm, join us as we look to aggressively scale our business on our mission to become one of the leading organic food brands in North America.

Position Overview:

As the Director of Quality (FSQR), you will be responsible for the integrity, design, and management of the Food Safety, Quality, and Regulatory Compliance programs including the Quality Management System and certifications. The role has overall management accountability for the QA department and is responsible for championing the effort to continuously improve the FSQMS as the advocate for Crofter’s Foods, our consumers, and our customers.

This position reports directly to the Vice President of Operations. The duties and responsibilities of the Director of Quality will be as follows:

· Design, implement, and continuously improve the quality management system including establishing measurement methods, KPI, and improvement priorities and plans that are aligned with Crofter’s and/or customer quality requirements and approved specifications.

· Design, implement, and continuously improve the food safety program including establishing measurement methods, KPI, and improvement priorities and plans that ensure the achievement of GFSI certification through the SQF audit process.

· Responsible for leading the HACCP team and all Food Safety programs by working closely with all key stakeholders within other departments.

· Create, maintain, and execute cross-functional Quality processes/solutions/support for new product introductions (NPD) and commercialization.

· Oversee the product complaint process including reporting, investigating, tracking, and trending to ultimately reduce complaint rates with specific action plans.

· Design, lead & maintain Crofter’s product recall process that forms part of the food safety program.

· Design and lead internal quality and food safety training and education programs that inform, motivate, and empower team members with the knowledge, competence, and confidence necessary to avoid, mitigate, and manage food safety and quality risks across our plants, processes, and products. Monitor and improve the success and effectiveness of such programs.

· Lead customer specification compliance and assess, develop, and implement processes and methodologies required to continuously reduce product variability and improve overall product quality through alignment and collaboration with operations teams at all Crofter’s facilities.

· Responsible for ensuring the Quality team, in conjunction with plant personnel, continually monitor and improve appropriate GMP’s and execute accurate and efficient quality testing within Crofter’s standards.

· Responsible for ensuring all inbound material sampling and testing methodologies as well as appropriate documentation are validated and ensure compliance with all written specifications.

· Proactively scans the quality/food safety/regulatory landscape to ensure that Crofter’s FSQMS is built to ensure that our products comply with federal, state, provincial, and local regulations in the markets where our products are produced, distributed, and sold.

· Champion the continuous improvement (CI) journey through root cause analysis investigations, current process/SOP evaluation, data analysis, and definition of measurable KPI standards and documented process methodologies/standard operating procedures (SOPs).

· Makes decisions with a natural bias for action while assuring food safety, regulatory, and quality requirements are met along with a balanced consideration for the needs of the business and cross-functional stakeholders.

· Smoothly navigates and influences product safety and integrity decisions across all departments and stakeholders, while delivering functional objectives and product standards.

· Responsible for the structure, training, and education, and strategic vision for the Quality department and staff. Train and orient staff in the specific functions and tasks of their job, as well as all Health and Safety Practices and procedures.

· Responsible for the development and management of the overall Quality budget within approved parameters.

· Promote and comply with Crofter’s Health and Safety policies and procedures including the wearing of PPE, Lockout/Tagout, WHMIS, etc.

· Other duties may be assigned to the Employee as required.

Experience, Qualifications, and Educational Requirements:

· Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, Food Science, Engineering, or a related technical field. A master’s degree within a related discipline is considered an asset.

· 10+ years’ experience in a quality/food safety role managing technical disciplines such as food safety, laboratory management, quality management systems, food process engineering, product commercialization, and commodity specification within a fast-paced food manufacturing environment.

· 10+ years’ experience managing/developing succession-ready Quality teams.

· Proven experience elevating a company from a small scale entrepreneurial-driven company to medium sized structured organization.

· Demonstrated successful delivery of HACCP/GFSI (SQF) /PCQI/BRC compliance and Audit experience. Clear passion for food safety.

· Demonstrated success delivering Quality requirements via new product/innovation/commercialization teams cross functionally.

· Proven Continuous improvement CI methodology experience (Root Cause Analysis, Lean/CI tools, TPM)

· Practical knowledge and detailed understanding of food law in both Canada and the USA.

· Integrated sanitation and pest control management experience.

· Capable communicator across and within disciplines. Proven collaborator, influencer, coach, educator, decision maker, and conflict mediator.

· Comfortable influencing and building collaborative relationships at all levels of the organization from the shop floor to the boardroom internally, and with regulators, suppliers, and customers externally.

· Appetite for pushing the status quo on quality and food safety standards through analytics, measurement, and critical thinking.

· Capable project and change manager who enjoys building just the right amount of process and structure.

· This role is required to be 100% onsite

Job type: Full-time, Permanent, On-site (not remote)

Rate of Pay: $95,000.00 – $150,000.00

Benefits: Basic Benefit Plan including Health and Medical, Vision Care, Dental, Wellness & Preventative Services. RSP and Bonus Program.

Please submit your resume to hr@croftersorganic.com indicating your experience and interests

Crofter’s Food Ltd. welcomes and encourages applications from people with disabilities.

Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

Job Type: Full-time

Salary: From $95,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Casual dress
• Company events
• On-site parking
• RRSP match
• Vision care

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Work Location: In person