Suppliers Quality and Food Safety Manager

Lactalis Canada; Canada; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Social advantages

Free drinks

Years of Service Recognition Program

Social club, activities during theyear

Job summary

Lactalis Canada is seeking a Suppliers Quality and Food Safety Manager to lead supplier selection, validation, and ongoing quality programs for ingredients and packaging. You will drive risk assessments, audits, and performance improvements across suppliers, collaborating with R&D, procurement, and manufacturing to ensure Lactalis quality standards.

You will monitor compliance using KPIs, implement corrective actions, and promote a culture of quality across the procurement organization.

Qualifications

• Knowledge of GFSI certification schemes, food safety (HACCP) programs, Quality Systems
• Strong risk assessment, problem solving, auditing and coaching skills
• 10+ years Food Safety and Quality experience
• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills and the ability to work effectively in complex environments
• Ability to present technical issues in a concise, simple way. Ensures messages are understood, convinces to get support, engages in difficult conversations to find solutions.
• Exchanges ideas, interacts to foster positive and constructive discussion with suppliers and other functions.
• Demonstrated ability to multitask and work in a fast-paced production environment.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills
• Ability to work flexible hours and shifts (afternoon/nights) including weekends.
• National and international travels (mainly Canada and USA)

Responsibilities

• Creates and maintains QA workflows and KPIs within procurement.
• Runs supplier qualification processes including audits and risk reviews.
• Collaborates with IT to implement digital tools for supplier quality management.
• Represents Quality and Food Safety in procurement meetings and trains stakeholders.
• Monitors risks and supplier performance; informs R&D, Legal, Procurement as needed.
• Performs supplier assessments and audits to meet Lactalis requirements.
• Advises suppliers and brands leadership on gaps and mitigation strategies.
• Ensures supplier site capabilities and material specs are compliant and monitored.
• Supports incident management and corrective actions with suppliers.
• Coordinates recall/withdrawal procedures with suppliers when needed.

Skills

GFSI knowledge

HACCP understanding

Quality Systems

Risk assessment

Auditing

Coaching

Leadership

Multitasking

Analytical skills

Communication

Job description

Suppliers Quality and Food Safety Manager

About Us:

Welcome to Lactalis Canada!We’reproud to be Canada’s #1 branded dairy company and to be consistently recognized as one of the country’s top employers byForbes. Our purpose is to enrich and nurture the lives of Canadians by offering the best of dairy from Canada’s favourite dairy brands like Cracker Barrel, Black Diamond, Balderson, Astro andLactantia. In fact, our products can be found in over 90% of Canadian refrigerators in any given time. As part of Lactalis Group, the world’s leading dairy company, weremainfocused on innovation and quality and are seeking like-minded individuals to join us as we continue our growth journey.

Job Purpose

The Supplier Quality and Food Safety Manager drives the ingredients, packaging materials and supplier selection and validation quality programs, manages Supplier’s performance improvement through a collaborative approach, ensures that the ingredients and packaging material delivered every day comply with Lactalis requirements and value to customers and consumers, and promotes the Culture of Quality within the Procurement organization through the QFS long-term plan (LTP) execution.

Responsibility

• Creates, implements, and maintains workflows, standardized documents, reviews, KPIs, and communication plan.
• Creates and implements “no spec no buy” and “no spec no prod” ways of working.
• Works with IT to identify and implement the relevant digital tools supporting that process.
• Represents the Quality and Food Safety team in procurement meetings when relevant.
  Trains the key stakeholders in the new processes
• In collaboration with the food safety team, monitors emerging risks, including food fraud, on ingredients and packaging materials, and informs relevant stakeholders (R&D, Legal, Procurement…)
• Collects Quality and Food Safety-related information from a potential supplier, performs a risk assessment and evaluates the Supplier’s capability to meet LACTALIS requirements.
• Collaborates with Procurement and the potential Supplier to address the identified gaps and performs an audit, if necessary,
• Be a key advisor to the Supplier and Brands+Leadership team so they understand weaknesses, deficiencies, challenges of our supplier portfolio and partner with leaders/suppliers to address any gaps from start to finish.
• Checks supplier site/line capability to provide compliant materials sustainably, assesses with the Food Safety team the need to implement a monitoring plan (i.e. on allergens, chemicals…)
• Decides whether a mitigation plan is sufficient to move into the approval phase and approves the new Supplier when risks are assessed “under control”.
• After Lactalis factory validation (vs HACCP, conditions of utilization, safety…), approves a material (ingredient or packaging) for industrial trial accordingly to finish product application, with all risks under controls or mitigation plan with acceptance of remaining risks.
• Supports R&D and Manufacturing teams during the industrial trial phase and co-builds with R&D and the Supplier the Individual material specification as a standard for the time this material will be used by LACTALIS.
• Defines the need and conditions of “at-reception” testing by the factory.
• Monitors, through KPIs, dashboards and trend analysis, Quality and food safety compliance of ingredients and packaging materials to the individual material specification.
• Communicates compliance results to relevant stakeholders and engages action plans when needed.
• Performs compliance and performance reviews with suppliers regularly.
• Supports factories and suppliers on non-compliance or incident management, provides expertise on root cause analysis and problem-solving methodology.
• Supports productivity or variability reduction projects.
• Drives the implementation of incident/withdrawal/recall-related procedures with Suppliers, coordinates mock recall exercises, and trains key Procurement persons to ensure company readiness.
• Manages the relationship with suppliers to ensure (ingredient or packaging material related) crisis readiness.
• Tests and improves incident/withdrawal/recall procedures, coordinates in-depth debriefings.
• Coordinates withdrawal/recall execution activities with Suppliers during crisis and manages upstream traceability information.

Qualifications

• Knowledge of GFSI certification schemes, food safety (HACCP) programs, Quality Systems,
• Strong risk assessment, problem solving, auditing and coaching skills,
• 10+ years Food Safety and Quality experience
• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills and the ability to work effectively in complex environments,
• Ability to present technical issues in a concise, simple way. Ensures messages are understood, convinces to get support, engages in difficult conversations to find solutions.
• Exchanges ideas, interacts to foster positive and constructive discussion with suppliers and other functions.
• Demonstrated ability to multitask and work in a fast-paced production environment.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills
• Ability to work flexible hours and shifts (afternoon/nights) including weekends.
• National and international travels (mainly Canada and USA)

What Lactalis will offer:

Socialadvantages

Free drinks (coffee,tea,etc.)

Years of Service Recognition Program

Social club, activities during the year

Our ESG commitment:

Our ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) roadmap drives our sustainability mission. We aim to positivelyimpactcommunities and the planet by enabling stakeholders includingour people, consumers, customers, suppliers, dairy farmers, government, and industry partners to have a positive impact on the wellbeing of our communities and the planet through all that we do.

At Lactalis Canada, we value our employees as catalysts for positive change. Together, we will create a sustainable future, promote belonging, and make a lasting impact on the world.

Our commitment to DEI:

Fuel Our Culture with Your Uniqueness! Lactalis thrives on the value each person brings.We'rededicated to amplifying diverse voices, inviting personal and professional growth, and embracing everyone's true selves.We'recommitted to crafting an environment that genuinely welcomes all, reflecting the richness of our people and communities.

Our promise extends to accessible processes and spaces. If you require accommodation due to a disability (which may be visible or invisible, temporary, or permanent), please inform our Talent Acquisition team – confidentiality will bemaintained.

Note: Lactalis Canada does not conduct credit or background checks through LinkedIn. If required,we'llcontact you after signing a Job Offer.

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