Quality Assurance Assistant Manager

Reporting to the Quality Assurance manager, the Quality Assurance assistant manager is accountable for overseeing all the technical, quality, food safety aspects pertaining to the QC department, as well as all the quality and food safety aspects in the Manufacturing and Warehouse areas Ensure that the Company’s objectives for food safety, quality assurance and regulatory compliance meet or exceed internal policies, regulatory requirements, third party audits, GFSI standard and customer requirements. **Responsibilities** - Promotes and advocates quality assurance and food safety across the organization. - Supervises Quality Assurance Technicians on their daily responsibilities. - Leads and prepares all QC Lab daily activities to ensure ingredients, work in process and finished goods complies with internal specifications, and with customer, regulatory and GFSI requirements. - Leads the training program for all QC personnel, including yearly review and update of QC procedures. Completes trend analysis to ensure proper control of the program. - Perform QA Lab Technician tasks and any other activity related to the Quality and Food Safety Plan as needed. - Conducts on-site verifications for QC Lab. activities. Follow-up on non-compliance and communicate results to Quality Assurance manager. - Ensures accurate data entry in Unipoint software by reviewing and verifying all quality control test and internal calibration results, to ensure compliance with ingredients, equipment, in-process products and finished products specifications. - Ensures all production batches are logged in Unipoint software and SYSPRO inventory system in a timely manner. - Conducts statistical process control to ensure all measurable parameters are under control and compliant with the specification and requirement. - Verifies Pest Control Program is maintained and any findings are addressed in a timely manner. - Coordinates the retained sample program as customer requirements; and selects samples for shelf life validation studies including sending samples to an external Lab and internal sensory evaluation. - Ensures Hold procedure and returned goods programs are controlled and disposition of products determined in a timely manner for all held and returned goods. - Manages Expired Inventory Control (Finished Goods and Ingredients). - Manages Rework Inventory Control to utilize rework materials in current production when applicable. - Works with Quality Assurance manager to investigate and resolve customer complaints due to product quality issues, including the completion of complaint reports, verification of corrective action effectiveness when applicable, and communication of findings with Sales team when applicable. - Interface directly with customers on quality matters including but not limited to alignment on standards, issue resolution and continuous improvement initiatives. - Maintains all correspondence with customer’s requirement including documentation, and customer’s portals updates/requests. - Maintains all correspondence with customers and contractors pertaining to QC/QA issues. - Prepares "Certificate of Analysis" documentation as required. - Leads and reports mock recall and traceability exercises, to ensure compliance with internal, customer, regulatory and GFSI requirements. - Coordinates and participates in the yearly internal and customer driven Laboratory proficiency testing - Conducts trend analysis, root cause, preventive actions and corrective actions of assigned quality programs. - Ensures all production scheduled formulas are accurate and printed in a timely manner; ensuring current release with correct ingredients/quantities is used. - Reports defects, food quality and food safety issues to Production Supervisor and/or Quality Assurance Manager. - Supports production and warehouse on any quality issue, deviation to ensure compliance with food safety and quality standards. - Review all quality issues with the management and ensure all preventative measures and corrective actions have been taken - Actively participates in W.T. Lynch foods internal audit program - Assists and participates during customer or 3rd party audits on assigned tasks. - Back up for QA/QC Manager - In the case absence, the QA/QC Manager will cover for the QA/QC Assistant Manager **Qualifications/Skills/Job Requirements** - Bachelor of Science Degree or post-secondary Diploma in Microbiology, Food Science or Chemistry or related fields. - Extensive knowledge of Food Safety and Quality Assurance practices, with a working knowledge of HACCP, SFCR and GFSI. - Ability to work in a fast paced, high pressure, challenging environment - Long term standing required - Decision making abilities - Excellent time-management skills - Strong interpersonal and communication skills - Ability to work autonomously and part of a collaborative team. - Have the ability to perform duties with mínimal supervision. - Demonstrate analytical, problem solving and tim