Regional Director of Quality

Primary Responsibilities/Essential Functions

· Assist in managing the functions of the QA procedures and personnel at each location within North America.

· Administer QA policies, procedures and programs within North America.

· Develop and administer a continuous improvement plan for both QA procedures and personnel.

· Works with the QA staff region wide to ensure they hold the proper certifications and training to perform their jobs.

· Works with local plant laboratory personnel to review plant operations for potential process / procedural improvements for higher yields and / or costs savings that could result from better / timelier laboratory analysis.

· Works with and manages third-party lab relationships.

· Develop and maintain a library of customer Statements for all NA sites, in conjunction with Regional Quality manager, facility Quality manager and Wilton Legal (as necessary) and standardize as much as possible.

· Transmit standard Statements and completed questionnaires (after review by QA manager) to customers.

· Receive starting materials nonconformance reports from facility QA and enter into the ISN Procurement database to be used

for Supplier scorecards. (Food safety/quality and other nonconformance incidents such as late arrival or failed arrival, wrong item, damaged in transit, etc.)

· Coordinate creation and approval process for Starting Materials specifications and maintain on regional SharePoint libraries

· Work with Procurement to review submitted Supplier Approval documents and maintain document library for Supplier qualifications and maintain list of approved suppliers.

· Review Supplier material specifications and maintain documents on Supplier Qualification SharePoint library. Review third-party supplier documents and approve products for resale and/or conduct on-site audits of third-party facilities.

· Create and maintain animal feed labels according to AAFCO and state regulations. Coordinate implementation with LDC IT/Compu Weigh and KSC Tax.

· Work with Wilton Legal to keep regulatory registrations relative to food safety updated and renewed (FDA Facility Registrations, etc.).

· Perform final corporate review of Customer Specification reviews after Commercial and Facility reviews are completed.

· Review Facility Trial Protocols and Costs Analyses for accuracy, completeness, and justification for the trial.

· Serve as an information resource on LIMS software.

· Liaise with LDC Commercial team(s) and customer procurement and quality staff for audit questions, documentation concerns, and product approval process questions.

· Liaise with LDC Quality staff worldwide to collaborate, develop best practices, and foster consistency across documentation sets for food and feed products.

· Be a regional resource on new procedures / methods / requirements from industry or regulatory that involves quality assurance. Champion quality efforts by training non-QC staff on best practices. · Additional projects and duties as assigned.