Quality Manager

Company profile: A UK flexible packaging manufacturer who supply packaging for household names, including products for all the main retailers is looking for a Quality & Food Safety Manager to join their team.

Role and Responsibilities:

• The main role will be to lead the Quality agenda within the business unit.
• Reporting to the Plant Manager, this role will play a key part within the site Leadership Team by ensuring the full deployment of the quality strategy, improvement plan and that the quality systems and processes are designed to deliver industry leading quality performance.
• Leading the QA team and resources, the QM will ensure full compliance to UKFC certifications, standards and the divisional integrated management system.
• The Quality team will hold the Operational and functional teams to account by ensuring processes and activities have clear standards which are rigorously enforced, with any quality failures subject to robust investigation and corrective action activities.
• Where external quality failures occur, the Quality Manager will lead the response to the customer ensuring timely and appropriate responses through a clear and well managed complaints process.
• An improvement mind-set is critical, along with a requirement to be willing to help implement and drive CI within the QA / Customer care areas and support CI throughout the business as a whole.

Strategic Input and Business Improvement:

• Quality strategy deployment.
• To co-ordinate activities required to meet agreed quality standards.
• To be able to demonstrate organisational and management skills to help investigate quality issues and relate these back to the relevant areas of the business.
• To liaise with, communicate with and hold to account all departments and areas of the business regarding adherence to agreed quality standards, managing a corrective and preventive action process across the business.
• To understand and manage the customers expectations in regards to the quality of the product, and ensure that these expectations are enshrined within the site Quality Management system.
• To ensure the internal audit schedule is kept fully updated and all recommendations and NCRs are relayed back to the relevant areas of the business and actioned accordingly and closed off.
• To ensure that the product is fit for purpose and meets external and internal requirements.
• To ensure compliance with specific external standards being BRC/IOP, ISO 9001, 14001 (in conjunction with H & S Manager) and the films division IMS.
• Ensure sites are audit ready at all times.
• Networking and influencing site Quality, food safety, technical and Operational teams.
• Engagement with Continuous Improvement activities.
• Quality departments Involvement with technical teams and site projects to achieve successful product launches.
• Principle role in all Quality related activities; CAPA, QMS Audits, Risk Assessment, Quality Reporting, Best Practice Doing, Risk reduction in supply chain with an emphasis on the elimination of non-conformances, Customer point of contact.
• Q&FS strategy setting and deployment.
• Incident Management (BCP).
• Quality & Food Safety KPI tracking and reporting out.

Team / Direct Reports Responsibilities:

• Represent the Quality Function within the Site Leadership Team.
• Ensure the Site Quality Management system is accurate and well communicated and trained out to all appropriate co-workers.
• Management for administering and co-ordinating the Non Conformance system and customer returns system, via a monthly Corrective and Preventative Action forum and process.
• To generate monthly cost of non-conformance reports of both production figures and customer returns numbers to identify trends thereof.
• To attend daily operations meetings and report on all Quality related issues arising in the previous 24 hours across the site, including non-conformances, in-house rejects, customer returns, customer issues, etc.
• Provide timely administration of, Q&FS KPIs, control of documentation, maintain the approved supplier information, maintain site level BRC and ISO certificates, maintain the divisional integrated management system and sites SOP, SOC etc.
• Manage production hold bay, inspecting / releasing material promptly.
• Quality personnel development and training plan to ensure the investment in the team is robust for the business future needs.

Effective Management:

• To monitor and advise on the performance of the quality management system and regularly report on performance against set standards back to the site team.
• To liaise with other managers and staff throughout the organisation to ensure that the QA System is effective in delivering value to the business.
• To help ensure that the site is audit ready at all times.
• To ensure immediate response to any customer complaints both internally and externally, followed by a thorough diagnosis, implementation of relevant corrective actions and feedback to the customer in accordance to the divisional criteria.
• Ensure that staff focus on Loss Control management techniques, protecting people, plant, process, product and pounds through sound economic management practices.

Standards of Performance:

• Assure that the manufacturing unit complies to the QMS, SOPs, BRC / ISO, divisional IMS and customer requirements at all times.
• Drive a culture of compliance, quality and continuous improvement across the site.
• Develop and maintain quality assurance metrics for performance improvement across the business unit.
• Monitor and analysis of KPIs, review key areas such as in house quality failures, returns, waste etc., working with the KPI owners to drive improvement plans.
• Liaise with all relevant staff to drive and deliver quality and waste reduction plans across site.
• Ensure all quality investigations are managed effectively, professionally and within agreed timelines, including reporting back to customers.
• Manage corrective and preventive action process.
• To achieve agreed objectives with the Plant manager.
• Non-Conformance Reduction, Identify, align and implement Best Practices, Ensure effective implementation of Corrective and Preventative Actions to ensure compliance across the site.
• Improve and drive the sites performance against expectations.
• Ensure the Change Management Process is fully deployed and accountable.
• Drive via leading or sponsoring site quality improvement charters to completion.
• Effective management of the BCP from minor incidents to crisis.
• Influence appropriately up and down, and across and within the unit.
• Build a competitive case for change, and change management.

Skills and experience:

• Strong leader who can drive the Quality and Food Safety strategy whilst recognising that the owners of quality are the operators / people themselves.
• Be comfortable in holding to account the quality owners whilst ensuring that the influencing relationship is maintained.
• Demonstration of business awareness and commercial acumen.
• Effective and skilled communicator, comfortable in front of customers (including when managing complaints).
• Effective interfacing with external resources as well as with colleagues within the division.

Qualifications and knowledge:

• 5-10+ years in a Quality Related Field.
• Ability to work and influence cross-functionally, up and down the organization.
• CI Green Belt or above would be an advantage.
• Must have a good working knowledge of Quality systems and expectations with experience of BRC, ISO stds, and HACCP.
• Have the ability to manage multiple projects and priorities.
• Knowledge and practical experience utilizing Quality systems and programs.
• Knowledge and practical experience utilizing continuous improvement methodologies and tools.
• Knowledge of the converting process would be an advantage.
• Practical ability to push agenda and priorities either within the business or at the Customer.

In addition you should be able to demonstrate the following behaviours and skills:

• Customer-centric, easy to work with and flexible.
• Intensity and speed.
• Empowerment and accountability.
• Demonstrates commitment and a passion to succeed.
• Integrity and fairness always.
• Safe environment for everyone.

Salary: £60,000 - £65,000, EV car, BUPA, Bonus up to 10%, Medicash.