FSQA Director

Aspire Bakeries is a North American baking company with a leadership position in specialty frozen baked goods. Formed from leading bakery companies, its innovative food portfolio includes breads, artisan breads, buns, cookies, donuts, muffins and pastries from beloved brands like La Brea Bakery, Otis Spunkmeyer, and Oakrun Farm Bakery. With 14 bakeries in North America, we are committed to driving innovation, predicting upcoming consumer trends and flavors, and exceeding our customers' expectations.

Aspire Bakeries champions the values of Integrity, Ownership, Customer Focus, Creativity and Care to help us deliver on People Safety, Food Safety, Quality and Collaboration.

Provide leadership and guidance to bakeries on the implementation of Food Safety and Quality Assurance programs and systems outlined in AIMS and by Regulatory guidelines. Continuously improve quality processes by developing, implementing, and enforcing food safety, quality, and consistency policies company-wide while ensuring strict compliance with Regulatory Agencies. Work in collaboration with cross-functional partnerships at the bakery and corporate level to establish and enact plans for continuous improvement of bakeries and programs.

This role is onsite at our Ontario or Santa Ana location.

• Drive continuous improvement in the area of Food Safety and Quality Assurance by supporting bakery teams in goal and key performance indicator achievement.
• Set challenging, reasonable performance expectations for microbiological performance, foreign material control, regulatory compliance, and HACCP programs.
• Responsible for the selection, motivation, and development of Quality Assurance personnel, along with DVP, to ensure all positions are effectively staffed and managed. Reviews progress with Human Resources on an ongoing basis. Conducts timely formal performance evaluations for all direct reports, in addition to recommending developmental training.
• Responsible for implementing and improving corporate food safety and quality assurance policies including Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls(HARPC), Aspire Integrated Management System (AIMS), and creating improvement strategies for the business.
• Responsible for undertaking the responsibilities of a Preventive Controls Qualified Individual as outlined under the Preventive Controls for Human Food regulation. Including overseeing the preparation of a Food Safety Plan, the validation of Preventive Controls, the Review of Records, and the Reanalysis of the Food Safety Plan in bakeries.
• Responsible for supporting the up-dating and the continuous review of existing Food Safety plans to incorporate current GMP, Process Preventive Controls, Allergen Preventive Controls, Sanitation Preventive Controls, and Supply Chain Applied Controls.
• Responsible for supporting the bakery Food Safety (HARPC) team in the evaluation and implementation of controls on all biological, chemical, physical, and economically motivated hazards to our foods. This should also include consideration for the development of defect action limits, hygienic zoning, and adequate by-product controls.
• Responsible for the effective implementation and adherence to the Aspire Bakeries Recall and Traceability Program.
• Responsible for understanding all applicable food regulations (international, national, state, and local), leading bakeries to assuring they meet all regulations and effectively interacting with regulatory personnel.
• Responsible for understanding and leading the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) standards (i.e. BRC, SQF) implementation and recertification in bakeries and responsible for facilitating and overseeing bakery preparations for all customer and third-party audits.
• Routinely interfaces with major customers to preserve and enhance the image of the company as a competent supplier of quality foods exceeding their expectations, relationships determined with DVP input.
• Responsible for assuring bakery QA Managers effectively investigate customer/consumer complaints using root cause analysis, corrective actions, and preventive measures, respond to complaints…