External Manufacturing Quality Assurance Technologist

As the primary interface between Mars and our External Manufacturing (EM) partners. You will lead as the “face” of R&D between Mars and the EM stakeholders to safeguard great products and brands that are manufactured at EM’s are guaranteed to always delight consumers and customers and always meet Mars and legal requirements.

• Bachelor’s degree in food science/technology, a related technical field or equivalent.

• 3+ years working experience in a Food Development/Manufacturing environment, preferably within Quality & Food Safety and with (lead) auditor experience and qualification

• Visible passion, leadership, and behaviors in line with MARS’ first principle – QUALITY

• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability

• Proven and effective project management & organizing experience

• Strong communicator & relationship builder with good commercial awareness and supplier management skills

• Knowledge of Quality & Food Safety (HACCP, GMP/GHP, FSSC
  22.000)

• Non-conformance and incidents management skills

• Up to 40% travel required

• Knowledge of Quality & Food Safety (HACCP, GMP/GHP, FSSC
  22.000)

• Sound risk assessment & management skills

• Basic food microbiology, analytical chemistry, and sensory methods

• Translating and embedding MARS principles and culture

• Partnering with commercial to drive the performance and continuous improvement of our External Manufacturers, with focus on their adherence to MARS Q&FS requirements and best practices to ensure that we protect our brands and corporate reputation.

• Process specific supplier development and implementation of new products at External Manufacturers.

• Collaborate with functions to mitigate any Change Management impacting the product compliance to quality, legal, and food safety requirements

• Own the PRIMP Incident Owner or NCMGT responsibilities regarding non-conformances impacting MARS product at External Manufacturers.

• Detailed responsibilities include:

• Assess and drive MARS quality culture and behavior

• Perform all co-manufacturing Q&FS audits verifying the quality and effectiveness of their quality management systems and compliance to MARS EMQM Procedure and QMS requirements
  Assess and ensure continuous improvement culture is in place

• Ensure that the supplier has robust and affective quality management systems and processes in place e.g., HACCP, Supplier Quality Assurance, Allergen Management and Foreign Material Management

• Creation of implementation action plans and monitor progress to ensure completion in line with mandated time frames

• Develop External Manufacturers to agreed status

• Set Q&FS measures in line with targets like Total Conformance Index and Consumer Complaints and ensure clear action plans are in place to meet KPI’s.

• Implement best practices and learning from relevant serious and critical incidents within the targeted time frame

• Responsible for gathering and reporting of all food safety and quality related metrics and driving necessary improvement programs

• Responsible for the analysis of microbiological and analytical laboratory data related to the safety of raw materials and finished goods and carrying out the correct escalation procedures

• Lead Risk Assessments to ensure that all Q&FS and legal hazards have been identified and effective control measures are in place

• Create Technical Product Specifications based on risk assessment output, product…