Quality Manager - Private Label

COMPANY

L&R Distributors is seeking Quality Manager that leads the end-to-end quality system for a Private Label company ensuring products meet consumer safety, regulatory, and brand standards across various beauty categories. This role owns quality KPIs, incident reporting and escalation, traceability, supplier/facility qualification, and production approval-while driving sustainability, risk management, and redundancy strategies across materials, components, and suppliers. The ideal candidate balances hands-on systems leadership with cross-functional partnership.

The Quality Manager reports to the Vice President of Integrated Supply Chain.

Key Responsibilities

1) Quality Strategy, KPIs & Governance

• Execute and maintain the Quality Management System (QMS) aligned to industry standards for Cosmetics & OTC Personal Care Products (cGMP, ISO & MoCRA).
• Establish and report Quality KPIs and dashboards including consumer incident rate, Vendor Scorecards, Blocking Failures and other standard metrics
• Lead quarterly Quality Business Reviews with leadership; translate trends into action plans for design, sourcing, and manufacturing partners.
• Own master standards & reference standards management including pre-production & production samples, COA/COCs, functional and aesthetic standards, print and color tolerances, stability/compatibility acceptance criteria.

2) Incident Reporting, CAPA & Escalation

• Operate the consumer incident intake and triage process including coding, severity assessment, evaluation routing, and response letters.
• Lead root cause analysis (RCA) and Corrective & Preventive Actions (CAPA) for consumer complaints, nonconformances, and returns; ensure timely closure and effectiveness verification.
• Maintain and communicate the Quality Incident Reaction & Escalation Matrix (e.g., safety-related incidents, foreign matter, micro failures, packaging leakage, adverse events, mislabeling).
• Coordinate field actions (holds, retrievals, recalls) with Operations, Regulatory, and Legal as applicable.
• Provide trend analytics to drive product and process improvements upstream including scrap assessment & ESG design collaboration.

3) Traceability & Product Data Integrity

• Ensure full product traceability from finished goods to batch/lot-level raw materials, components, and contract manufacturers/packers.
• Maintain and audit Batch Records, Certificates of Analysis, MSDS/SDS where appropriate, and COC/COA from suppliers.
• Lead trace exercises and mock recalls; validate traceability integrity across systems (ERP/PLM/QMS).

4) Facility Audits & Qualification

• Develop and execute the Facility Audit & Qualification program for manufacturers, fillers, testing laboratories, and key component suppliers (GMP, hygiene, allergen/contaminant controls, change control).
• Track audit findings, risk ratings, CAPAs, and requalification timelines.
• Approve pilot runs, line trials, and Process Validation where applicable; verify documentation for high-risk categories.

5) Material Sourcing Strategy & Component Specifications

• Collaborate with Sourcing to define material sourcing strategy, quality acceptance standards, COA/COC requirements, and supplier scorecards.
• Own component spec sheets (dimensions, tolerances, resin type, PCR levels, barrier properties, sealing torque, decorative specs, ink/adhesive criteria, pump output, gasket/liner material).
• Implement material and part compatibility guidelines (formula-package compatibility, migration, stress/crack testing, thermal risk & transit simulation).
• Manage sample review (ENG, pilot, pre-production, and reference sets) and first article inspection (FAI) signoffs.
• Identify and escalate development projects requiring third party Packaging Engineer support

6) Systems, Tools & Training

• Administer QMS/PLM/ERP workflows for specs, NCR, CAPA, change control, and traceability.
• Lead SOP creation and training for internal teams and suppliers; certify inspectors and line operators on critical-to-quality attributes.
• Drive continuous improvement (Lean/Six Sigma projects) to reduce cost of poor quality and elevate consumer experience.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's in Engineering, Chemistry, Quality, or related field; advanced degree or certifications (e.g., ASQ CQE/CQA, ISO Lead Auditor, Six Sigma) preferred.
• 7-10+ years in CPG beauty or closely related (cosmetics, personal care, OTC cosmetic-adjacent), with hands-on QMS leadership across suppliers and contract manufacturers.
• Demonstrated expertise in GMP for cosmetics, micro/stability/compatibility fundamentals, and packaging quality for beauty categories.
• Strong record in supplier quality, facility audits, CAPA/RCA, and production release.
• Experience implementing redundancy, risk frameworks (FMEA), and sustainability-aligned quality standards.
• Proficiency with QMS/PLM/ERP systems; strong data and dashboard/reporting skills.
• Ability to travel as needed to CM locations during production runs, located in the Los Angeles area.

Core Competencies

• Systems thinking; able to connect design, sourcing, and…