Manager III, Risk, Product Safety Assurance, WWGS Private Brands

Description Reporting to the Executive Leader of Product Safety Assurance (PSA), this person will help lead the PSA Team under WFM Ops and Food Safety (FS) supporting World Wide Grocery Stores (WWGS) Private Brands (PB) business. This leader will drive product safety, quality, and regulatory compliance, continuous improvement, and efficiency optimization in support of WWGS PB North America categories and products.

They will provide strategic direction and oversight to Product Safety Assurance Analysts across multiple product categories. Will partner with cross-functional teams including NA PB Sourcing & Product Development, Supplier Quality Assurance, Legal, and supplier partners to execute product safety and quality programs, ensuring alignment with federal and state regulatory requirements, and WWGS Private Brands quality standards. Accountable for successful commercialization of products through technical specification development, testing protocols, and compliance verification in collaboration with stakeholder teams.

Description Reporting to the Executive Leader of Product Safety Assurance (PSA), this person will help lead the PSA Team under WFM Ops and Food Safety (FS) supporting World Wide Grocery Stores (WWGS) Private Brands (PB) business. This leader will drive product safety, quality, and regulatory compliance, continuous improvement, and efficiency optimization in support of WWGS PB North America categories and products.

They will provide strategic direction and oversight to Product Safety Assurance Analysts across multiple product categories. Will partner with cross-functional teams including NA PB Sourcing & Product Development, Supplier Quality Assurance, Legal, and supplier partners to execute product safety and quality programs, ensuring alignment with federal and state regulatory requirements, and WWGS Private Brands quality standards. Accountable for successful commercialization of products through technical specification development, testing protocols, and compliance verification in collaboration with stakeholder teams.

• Lead and execute strategic alignment of product safety and quality initiatives with Annual Planning roadmap for WWGS Private Brands
• Provide leadership and oversight to Product Safety Assurance leaders, and team members
• Lead and advise Product Safety Assurance team activities across multiple product categories, providing technical guidance to ensure products meet WWGS Private Brands quality and regulatory standards
• Oversee and ensure effective system monitoring, team member project workload and capacity management, identification of issues/concerns, root cause identification, and sharing and application of lessons learned
• Serve as primary point of contact for evaluating and resolving complex, sensitive and difficult-to-solve supplier issues regarding product safety
• Collaborate with Leaders of PSA and Principal PSAs on short- and long-term strategies and initiatives including those that drive efficiency and continuous improvement
• Advise and support WWGS Private Brands supply chain and process improvements by collaborating with Category Merchants, Private Brands Leadership, Supplier Quality Assurance, Legal and supplier partners to drive regulatory, safety, and quality standards compliance and product consistency
• Support and advise Product Safety Assurance Analysts to ensure specifications demonstrate full understanding of appropriate chemical, microbiological, physical, and shelf-life test requirements based on supplier data, regulatory requirements, food safety risk, and WWGS Private Brands claim validation requirements
• Oversee development of Product Safety Assurance processes, methods, and technologies
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to problem-solve and troubleshoot issues directly affecting WFM Ops and Food Safety Teams and WWGS Private Brands Teams
• Identify and lead collaborative opportunities with key stakeholder groups across WWGS Private Brands including Supplier Quality Assurance, Quality Standards, Business Process Improvement, and Incident Management
• Represent Product Safety Assurance teams on cross-functional leadership working groups
• Ma…