Description
About us.
We're Tovala, a food-tech company completely reinventing home cooking to save consumers time. Through an innovative combination of hardware, software, and food, we give our customers a way to enjoy really good, good-for-you meals without sacrificing time to do whatever matters to them. We've amassed a loyal, rapidly growing following in just three years, radically changing the day-to-day lives of people across the country and successfully creating a new model for the food industry. We're looking for great people to join our team of hard-working, food-loving nerds.
About the job.
The Food Safety & Quality Assurance (FSQA) Director will be responsible for all strategic and operational activity of Tovala's QA team. This role is responsible for providing leadership and guidance for all food safety, quality assurance, and compliance aspects to assure the production of high quality, safe and legally compliant products that meet the desired product design and customer expectations. This position will also ensure company good manufacturing practices are followed and are continually being met in daily operations in Tovala's production facilities. The expectation for the Director of FSQA is to lead continuous improvement for the company - always making improvements! We're looking for a strong collaborator who will work cross functionally to further drive the food quality culture throughout the organization.
Note: This position will be on-site at our production facilities 5 days a week - one facility is in Carol Stream and one is in Chicago.
How you'll spend your time at Tovala:

• Provide support and professional leadership for FSQA and Sanitation teams across multiple facilities.
• Ensuring that all FSQA personnel are properly trained to perform job functions, as well as possess an in-depth knowledge of food safety and quality principles
• Managing FSQA department staffing in alignment with budget and business needs
• Supporting the development of a talent pipeline for FSQA at the site level
• Ensuring FSQA projects and priorities are complete and timely
• Leading the FSQA agenda at the site, challenging facility management teams where necessary to ensure wholesome products are produced that meet regulatory requirements
• Assist with standardization of sanitary operating procedures by observing and identifying areas in need of improvement and implement programs to ensure production processes are consistent with established standards
• Identify and investigate in-house quality issues, managing full process from initial identification, cross-functional investigation, internal meeting leadership, and customer communication.
• Lead all FSQA-related audits; document audit observations and recommend corrective actions as needed
• Serving as on-site point person for all regulatory and third party inspections; partner with the plant management to develop necessary corrective and preventive action plans (CAPA)
• Managing GMPs and lead all training for production management and team members

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in food science, food technology, microbiology, or related field. Masters a plus.
• Ten (10) plus years of management level experience in food safety and quality assurance with at least five (5) years of experience in food distribution, food manufacturing, supply chain or a related field
• Strong leadership skills - ability to build, maintain, develop a team, managing multiple shifts and/or departments is preferred
• Strong written and oral communication skills - ability to speak and communicate in Spanish is a plus!
• Ability to problem solve and work in a fast-paced environment autonomously
• Strong organizational skills and ability to prioritize multiple tasks/priorities
• Strong knowledge of government regulations, FDA, HACCP, auditing, USDA, Food Code, SPC, crisis management & product recalls, Food Safety and Quality Systems program, process validation
• Savvy with computer skills and related software (Google, MS Office, inventory management, etc.)
• Experience with automated and manual filling and weighing equipment
• Ability to kneel, reach, bend, and lift (up to 50 pounds) throughout the work day and to work on your feet for the entirety of the day
• Must be able and willing to work in refrigerated coolers (~38°F)
• Willingness and comfort to participate in production facility - provide feedback to production team as needed or required
• Certifications: PCQI, HACCP, and ServeSafe Manager, Cook County and City of Chicago food service manager cards at the time of hire or within 6 months of position