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ABOUT KATE FARMS

Kate Farms is a company with heart. Our company was founded on the belief that good nutrition leads to good health, and good health opens the door to endless possibilities. That’s why our mission is to make nutrition the cornerstone of healthcare, so people can live their best lives. We are a medical food company that makes complete nutrition formulas for people who have a medical need for liquid nutrition.

Kate Farms works to be the place where a erse mix of talented iniduals want to come, to stay and do their best work. Ensuring a erse and inclusive workplace where we learn from each other is core to Kate Farms’ values. We are an equal opportunity employer and fully focused on equality; we believe deeply in ersity of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, national origin and all the other fascinating characteristics that make us different. We invite you to come do the best work of your life with us at Kate Farms.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The new “Supplier Quality Manager” for Kate Farms will be an integral part of the QA & Regulatory Affairs team for ensuring that our full slate of safe, wholesome, and clinically effective food products in their development and finished phase meet quality, food safety and regulatory standards.

A successful candidate should drive adoption of best practices, and provide direction in the selection, monitoring and improvement of co-manufacturers, storage sites, and raw material suppliers’ performance. The candidate will be responsible for directing and orchestrating the supplier quality program for ingredients, packaging materials, and finished goods across the global supply network. As Supplier Quality Manager, you will be developing and improving several Supplier Quality Management processes including execution of our supplier quality management strategy, the implementation of supplier scorecards, CAPA, deviation and root cause investigation, regulatory compliance, audits, and driving accountability for response time and effectiveness. The candidate provides Food Safety & Quality strategic leadership ensuring the Kate Farms is delivering overall supply chain quality.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide food safety, regulatory, and quality expectations, standards, and requirements to suppliers and ensure they comply. Be responsible for oversight of Kate Farm’s supplier network from a quality perspective.
• Develop and implement the best practices and procedures for onboarding process and ongoing assessment of vendors, storage sites, and co-manufacturers. Utilize TraceGains to its fullest to manage supplier compliance and documentation.
• By working closely with Sourcing and Product Development, conduct technical reviews and risk assessments of supplier capabilities and practices and the materials they are supplying. Support product commercialization activities.
• Work with suppliers to strategically coordinate continuous improvement efforts and programs related to food safety and quality processes and systems, including defining performance measures. Participate and provide FSQ inputs for Quarterly Business reviews.
• Keep abreast of new developments in GFSI, FSMA, GMPs, Organic, Non-GMO, Kosher, Halal and other regulatory standards and keep track of supplier compliances against requirements.
• Identify and implement inspection and auditing protocols and conduct audits of new and existing suppliers.
• Review Food Safety/HACCP plans, 3rd party audit reports, internal questionnaires, certifications, specifications, etc. as part of the qualification and monitoring of new and existing suppliers.
• Evaluate and investigate finished product and raw material defects, non-conformances, customer complaints, and deviations. Issue corrective action requests to suppliers and manage CAPA process via TraceGains. Review Suppliers’ root cause investigation, corrective actions and provide feedback when corrective actions are insufficient to prevent recurrence or to identify the root cause.
• Review and approve co-manufacturers’ processing specifications, controls and verification standards and activities by working closely with internal and external partners.
• Coordinate and confirm changes are effectively communicated and implemented at suppliers as per the change management process.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES:

Customer Satisfaction – Meeting supplier compliance requirements and offering best quality materials.

Product – Finished product and raw materials meeting standards and specifications.

Colleagues – Feedback from key internal and external work partners.

Ownership – Internal supplier food safety and quality subject matter expert .

Requirements

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS:

• Technical degree – Preferably Food Science, Applied Science, Microbiology, Engineering, Quality, or similar.
• Minimum of 5 years of Quality & Food Safety experience in food industry.
• Capable of serving as a trusted advisor in achieving strategic supplier compliance.
• Excellent understanding and knowledge of FDA FSMA regulations.
• Food safety and quality inspection and auditing experience required.
• PCQI certification, GMP, and HACCP training highly desired.
• Good understanding of Prop 65, Organic, Non-GMO, Kosher, Gluten-free and Halal.
• Be able to effectively interact with external partners and work collaboratively.
• Ability to prioritize and make decisions and recommendations that align with current regulations.
• Strong attention to detail, logical reasoning, and careful execution of tasks.
• Confident and articulate creative problem solver.
• Management skills to handle work scheduling, coaching, and process execution.
• Responsible for simultaneously managing multiple deadlines and projects.
• Ability to implement best practices and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Lead projects to facilitate cross functional continuity, provide exceptional support and streamline operations.
• Knowledge of word-processing, spreadsheet, computer programs, and database applications.
• Strong organizational skills & must be able to manage multiple priorities, maintain confidentiality, and operate with poise and professionalism in a high-profile and rapidly changing environment.
• Possess exceptional communication skills with a keen ability to listen, communicate (written and verbal), and ability to follow-up effectively with all staffing levels, co-packers, vendors, and customers.
• Safety-First Attitude.
• Be flexible and embrace change with a growing and evolving company.
• Ability to travel up to 50%.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by the employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable iniduals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Effectively handle lifting of various objects weighing up to 12 pounds.
• While performing the essential functions of the job, the employee will be required to bend, stoop, kneel, reach and climb stairs.
• Ability to sit at a computer for extended periods of time.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable iniduals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• This position will work in a home/office environment with regular trips to corporate office, manufacturing and distribution centers.

This position, and any position that requires presence in our office or travel, requires that, if hired, you be vaccinated against Covid-19 unless you need a reasonable accommodation due to sincerely held religious beliefs, medical needs, or other reason protected by applicable federal, state, and local law.

In compliance with Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (EPEWA) and New York City’s Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) we are disclosing the compensation, or a range thereof, for roles that will be, or could be performed in Colorado or New York City. If the position applied to is not located in Colorado or NYC, the following information may not apply. Salary Minimum : $ 96,102 Salary Maximum $120,782. The base salary range above represents the low and high end of the Kate Farms salary range for this position. This range will vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors including but not limited to location, experience, internal pay alignment, and performance. The range listed is just one component of Kate Farms’ total compensation package for employees. Other rewards may include annual bonuses and short- and long- term incentives.

Benefits

Kate Farms cares well for its employees and it shows through the provision of standout benefits! Kate Farms provides amazing benefits such as Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, FSA, 401k Retirement Plan, Paid Time Off, etc. And if that didn’t excite you, our company pushes the envelope further by extending our benefit offerings to Parental Leave, Remote Work options and many other outstanding company perks.

NOTE: This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Employee may perform other related duties as negotiated to meet the ongoing needs of the organization as directed by the management of the company.