Quality Assurance Manager

From our home in Janesville, Wisconsin, Impact Confections has been delighting candy lovers with bold flavors and timeless favorites for generations. We’re proud to be the makers of WARHEADS®, the iconic sour candy that dares taste buds everywhere, and the classic Melster® Candies, known for nostalgic treats like Circus Peanuts and seasonal delights that families have cherished for decades.

The Quality Assurance Manager leads the facility food safety and quality culture through their team, establishing and maintaining quality assurance standards, procedures and controls. This role serves as the site leader in creating the appropriate policies, procedures and methodologies to support quality/food safety best practices, to include regulatory compliance, HACCP, GMP’s and SQF. This is both a strategic and hands-on role with the opportunity to be involved with an innovative and growing industry leader.

• Establishes the analytic testing and auditing processes to ensure ingredients, finished products and packaging comply with order specifications and quality/food safety polices to including regulatory compliance, HACCP, GMP’s and SQF.
• Creates the processes to accurately and efficiently documents and record various measurements and test results in compliance with record keeping policies and requirements.
• Professionally and effectively communicates and collaborates with internal departments as warranted to ensure needed product or packaging quality adjustments are enacted.
• Tracks microbiological trends, sanitation program performance, and product shelf life within plant and communicate results to plant team members and corporate quality assurance.
• Develops and implements a system of statistical analysis in order to manage food safety and quality programs with an emphasis on ensuring continuous improvement.
• Organizes and oversees the internal sanitation team within the plant.
• Develops the site validation techniques and quality-based methods to ensure processes, raw materials, products and packaging operations are within specified guidelines.
• Coordinates with the Operations Department and internal stakeholder teams to investigate product and customer issues and responds in a timely manner.
• Serves as the primary contact for customer, third party and SQF audits as necessary.
• Develops, trains and mentors both department personnel and Production Operators as needed to ensure food safety and quality best practices are implemented during the production process.

• Food Science/related bachelor’s degree, or directly equivalent experience, is required.
• At least 5 years’ experience working in a regulatory compliance environment.
• Prior food manufacturing experience highly desirable.
• Must have a demonstrated thorough understanding of SQF/GMP/HACCP requirements.
• Strong employee relations, interpersonal and verbal/written communication skills.
• Strong organizational, problem solving, planning and process skills.
• Demonstrated proficiency with MS Office suite, especially Excel.

• Supervises a team of QA Technicians across all three production shifts.
• Leads and directs the off-shift internal Sanitation Team.

Knowledge of Microsoft Office Products (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Knowledge and experience using an ERP system is a plus. Ability to learn other application software essential to performing job tasks.

Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.

Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference, and fundamentals of plane and solid geometry and trigonometry. Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.

Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.