Senior Manager, Canadian Contract Manufacturing - Danone Canada

Danone; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Senior Manager to enhance co-manufacturing partnerships. This pivotal role involves collaborating with Procurement and Quality teams to drive excellence in cost, quality, and delivery performance. You will lead assessments of Contract Manufacturers, implement Continuous Improvement programs, and ensure adherence to high standards of quality and food safety. Join a certified B Corp company recognized for its innovative culture and commitment to employee well-being, where your contributions will significantly impact the food industry and community initiatives.

Benefits

Flexible work schedule

Health spending account

Competitive retirement savings plan

Exceptional parental leave policy

Employee assistance program

Telemedicine service

Training initiatives

Mentoring programs

Tuition reimbursement

Community impact opportunities

Qualifications

• 7+ years in CPG beverage/food supply chain with a focus on quality assurance.
• Experience in leading Continuous Improvement organizations at corporate and factory levels.

Responsibilities

• Forge partnerships with co-manufacturers and manage quality standards.
• Lead performance improvement efforts with Contract Manufacturing suppliers.

Skills

Problem-solving skills

Stakeholder influencing skills

Communication skills

Financial acumen

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science or Engineering

Job description

Short Intro and About the Job

Join Danone Canada as a Senior Manager and be a key player in driving excellence and innovation in our co-manufacturing partnerships. This role is pivotal in ensuring adherence to Danone’s high standards of quality and food safety while supporting new business opportunities and enhancing external capacities.

About the Job: As the Senior Manager, Co-Manufacturing, you will collaborate closely with our Procurement and Quality teams to develop and execute strategies that deliver significant improvements in cost, quality, and delivery performance. You will lead commercial and quality system assessments of key Contract Manufacturers, identifying opportunities for joint improvement activities. Your influence will be crucial in driving Continuous Improvement programs and ensuring resource allocation aligns with project deliverables.

Main Responsibilities:

1. Forge and maintain strategic partnerships with co-manufacturers, acting as a key facilitator with Danone business units on PMO projects.
2. Collaborate with the Quality team to manage risk and uphold top-tier quality and food safety standards.
3. Work with the R&I team on product and packaging innovations, including new product development, reformulation, productivity, and business continuity plan (BCP) projects.
4. Ensure smooth industrialization and scale-up from pilot studies to full production.
5. Lead performance improvement efforts with key Contract Manufacturing suppliers in quality, yield, Lean, and service.
6. Develop and monitor supplier Kaizen plans with Procurement, Engineering, and Quality teams to drive process and quality improvements.
7. Promote the use of Statistical Process Controls and continuous improvement techniques to reduce variability and achieve process control.
8. Collaborate with internal and external partners to identify and resolve quality and processing issues.
9. Identify and assess new supplier technologies to support new product introductions and cost improvement projects.
10. Support Procurement and Operations in evaluating supplier performance and developing improvement plans.

About You

Required Expertise:

1. Bachelor’s degree in science: Food Science, Engineering, or equivalent.
2. Minimum of seven years’ experience, preferably in the CPG beverage/food supply chain.
3. Extensive experience with large CPG standards and practices, including quality assurance, product innovation, and industrialization processes.
4. Proven track record in leading Continuous Improvement organizations at both corporate and factory levels.
5. Experience in food manufacturing sites operating under Canadian and US regulations (SFCR & FMSA) and GFSI schemes.
6. Solution-oriented mindset with strong problem-solving skills and strong financial acumen and business understanding.
7. Excellent stakeholder influencing skills and cross-functional leadership.
8. Strong communication skills: proficiency in English required, French is a plus.
9. Ability to travel up to 50% (primarily within North America), 10-15% travel if located in the Greater Toronto Area.

About Us, We offer and What's next

Are you ready to join our incredible team?

• You will work for a certified B Corp company that has been named one of Canada's top 100 Employers for five consecutive years. In other words, you will be immersed in a culture that is rich and engaging, inclusive and human-centric, efficient and eco-responsible.
• You will benefit from our benefits package including collective insurance with a core health plan 100% paid and no waiting period. We also provide flexible credits for a wellness account, a health spending account or an RRSP. Additionally, we offer a competitive group retirement savings plan in which Danone will match your contributions. Our exceptional parental leave policy supports both primary and secondary caregivers. Our employee assistance program and telemedicine service are also available to ensure your well-being.
• You will enjoy our flexible and hybrid guidelines that let you design a work model and schedule that best suits your needs. Our innovative and flexible vacation policy allows you to take as much paid time off as you need. We also offer, among other things, a summer schedule and no-meeting Friday afternoons. Our onsite workplace features include new, dynamic and collaborative working spaces where it is good to work as a team.
• You will have access to various training initiatives, both in-house and online because we value and prioritize your growth and development. We also offer mentoring, leadership development programs and tuition reimbursement to support your career advancement.
• You will have the opportunity to make a difference in the community as we are a founding partner of the Breakfast Club of Canada. For 25 years, we have worked with the organization to provide children with regular access to a nutritious breakfast in a comfortable environment, helping them reach their full potential.

What are you waiting for? Join our team and enjoy these exceptional benefits!

Danone Canada is a business unit of Danone and operates from headquarter offices in Boucherville, Quebec, and Toronto, Ontario. Danone Canada is the country’s largest consumer-facing B Corporation, demonstrating that the company meets the highest standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. From year to year, Danone is recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for its forward-thinking work environment and was awarded the Parity Certification Women in Governance for our commitment towards gender equality in the workplace. We have 500+ employees across Canada that are engaged and energized to deliver Danone’s mission: Bringing health through to food to as many people as possible, by working on strong brands such as Activia, Oikos, Danone, Silk, International Delight and many others. Come join our movement for a healthier world: One Planet. One Health BY YOU.

Danone Canada doesn’t just welcome what makes you unique, we value it. We’re proud to provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to cultural background, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression or age. Faithful to our values of openness and humanism, all our employees share the commitment to engage one another with dignity and respect.

Danone Inc. is committed to complying with its obligations under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and the Ontario Human Rights Code. Danone Inc. will make reasonable efforts to provide accommodation throughout its recruitment process, to the point of undue hardship, and will work with applicants requesting accommodation at any stage of this process. Questions concerning the availability of accommodation in the recruitment process may be forwarded to [e-mail].

Please note that this posting has been written in the masculine form solely to shorten the text. We promote diversity and encourage all people with the skills mentioned in this posting to apply for this position.