Supplier Quality Assurance Lead F/M/X

Mars; Aimargues; Hybrid; EUR 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company bonus

Job summary

Royal Canin in Aimargues (France) is seeking a Raw material SQA Lead for a 1-year mission. You will own the quality portfolio for raw materials, ensure food safety and regulatory compliance, and drive supplier qualifications across regions.

Responsibilities include leading cross-functional teams, enhancing supplier performance, and supporting Mars/ Royal Canin standards. Travel up to 30% is required; French proficiency is a plus.

Qualifications

• Engineering degree in a scientific or technical field.
• Minimum 3+ years in a similar or technical role such as Production, Lean, Q&FS, or Lab.
• Fluent English; French is a plus and openness to travel up to 30%.

Responsibilities

• Own quality for a portfolio of raw materials and suppliers in the region.
• Ensure quality, food safety, regulatory compliance and sustainability in manufacturing materials.
• Lead cross functional teams to assess supplier capabilities and deploy qualification plans.
• Drive cross regional projects to improve raw materials quality and processes.
• Analyze supplier performance and identify opportunities/mitigate risks.

Skills

English fluency

Lead auditor (FSSC 22000) asset

Willing to travel

Education

Engineering in Food Science, Chemistry, Biology or related field

Job description

Job Description:

Entity: Royal Canin

Location: Aimargues ideally (30 min from Montpellier in France), or Cambrai (30 min from Lille in France), or Niepolomice (Poland)

Type of contract: 1 year mission to cover parental leave

The Raw material SQA Lead is the owner of the quality of his/her category in compliance with the Corporate Standards, the regulatory and food safety requirements and the need of continuously improve existing baseline. The regional Raw material SQA Lead supports the deployment of the Innovation roadmap and Influence the category strategy thanks to the connections that are developed with Suppliers and a clear vision of the quality opportunities and threats of the portfolio.

What will be your Key Responsibilities?

Develop extensive knowledge and experience to improve business partnering and leverage external capabilities:

• • Be the expert of a portfolio of raw materials and suppliers in the Region to support internal and external stakeholders
  • Assure quality, food safety, regulatory compliance, sustainability of the materials supplied to the manufacturing sites by implementing MQM Standard and its associated procedures (HRCI, UHBI, Moulds & Mycotoxins)
  • Assess and validate supplier capabilities to meet Mars & Royal Canin Standards and specifications through the material risk assessments, audits and deployment of qualification plans. The SQA Lead animates a cross functional team of regional, local or global stakeholders to guarantee best in class risk assessments.

• Practice excellence in quality:
  • Anticipate and manage effectively quality exceptions, non-conformances and complex problems to minimize business impact,
  • Represent not only his/ her portfolio but also his/her category in case of business critical event or escalation to senior leaders,
  • Identify opportunities and propose improvement of the existing processes and Standards in place to build knowledge of the company, demonstrate capacity to bring new perspective on existing solutions
  • Advise SQA coordinators and officers of the category when facing complex business issue

• Participate, Lead and/or drive projects to support and allow a sustainable business growth with the highest quality Standards (cross functional & cross regional scope):
  • Enhance the quality of our raw materials and our processes
  • Support the global SQA and Commercial strategy deployment in the Region, aligned with EU strategic roadmap
  • Deploy new raw materials to support Commercial and R&D strategies
  • Support Business continuity and do it best initiatives by partnering with Sourcing, Operations, Suppliers and internal stakeholders

• Analyze & Improve suppliers and raw materials’ performance:
  • Confirm efficiency of the actions taken and determine priorities for the business
  • Identify opportunities & threats for the category, propose mitigation plans in partnership with Sourcing and Operations
  • Maintain and Improve supplier relationship

What are we looking for?

• Engineer in Food Science, Chemistry, Biology or similar scientific or technical field or university degree
• A minimum of 3+ years of experience in a similar position or in technical area such as Production, Lean manufacturing, Q&FS, Laboratory
• Fluent English required, knowledge of another language will be an asset
• French is not mandatory but will be appreciated
• Being accredited as Lead auditor FSSC 22000 will be a strong asset
• Openness for business travel (up to 30% travel in the role)

What can you expect from Mars?

• Work with diverse and talented Associates, all guided by the Five Principles.
• Join a purpose driven company, where we’re striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.
• Best-in-class learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.
• An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.
• You will work in a unique campus, which gathers more than 800 Associates working for: the international HQ, the French subsidiary, two laboratories, a kennel and a cattery with more than 200 cats & dogs, and finally the most important factory of the Royal Canin group

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