Global Quality & Supplier Management Specialist — Hybrid

Colgate; Topeka (KS); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 108,000; Full time

Job summary

Colgate-Palmolive, via Hill’s Pet Nutrition, seeks a Specialist Quality, Supplier Management to elevate supplier QA and food safety across the direct materials network. You will ensure compliance with FDA/FSMA, GFSI benchmarks, and internal standards while partnering with Procurement and cross-functional teams.

You will lead audits, risk assessments, and KPI tracking, using SAP, ETQ, and modern analytics tools to drive corrective actions and continuous improvement across global suppliers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Animal Nutrition, Quality Assurance, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related scientific discipline.
• 2+ years of progressive experience that includes Supplier Quality Assurance, Quality Engineering, or Food Safety Management within food, pet food, beverage, or pharmaceutical manufacturing.
• Working knowledge of FDA regulations (FSMA Preventive Controls for Human/Animal Food), GFSI schemes (SQF, BRCGS, FSSC 22000), HACCP principles, and GMPs.
• Willingness to travel up to 25% as needed.
• Auditing Credentials: Hands-on experience conducting second-party supplier quality audits; formal auditor training or certification (e.g., ASQ CQA, GFSI Lead Auditor).
• Systems & Tools: Proficiency with ERP and Quality Management Systems (e.g., SAP and ETQ Reliance) and analytical tools (Snowflake, Sigma Computing, Google Suite, Excel).

Responsibilities

• Perform and facilitate comprehensive quality assessments in support of requests for new supplier qualification.
• Maintain the approved supplier database, SAP and Quality Management Systems to ensure accuracy and control of the direct materials supply.
• Co-Lead the Annual Risk Assessment process for direct materials suppliers.
• Partner with Procurement during strategic sourcing events to evaluate technical supplier capabilities and manage supplier quality risks early in the procurement lifecycle.
• Design and execute annual risk-based supplier audit plans, conducting comprehensive desktop and on-site audits to verify compliance with GFSI standards (SQF, BRCGS, FSSC 22000), FSMA, HACCP, and Hill’s internal specifications.
• Lead post-audit follow-up activities including driving timely completion of action plan development and audit closure.
• Establish and track KPIs for the supply base, including non-conformance rates, defect rates, Right-First-Time (RFT) delivery, and Supplier Corrective Action Request (SCAR) closure times.
• Coordinate quarterly quality reviews and contribute quality performance metrics to global supplier scorecards in collaboration with Procurement.
• Lead monthly ESM program status updates.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams during potential material quality holds and supplier-driven rejections.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for manufacturing plants experiencing raw material or packaging quality disruptions, leading real-time risk assessments to enable material disposition decisions.
• Coordinate the SCAR program and lifecycle, working with plant Operations and Quality to gather information and partnering with Procurement when initiating SCARs to enforce rigorous root cause analysis and verifying implementation of corrective/preventative actions.
• Review and approve Supplier Change Notifications (SCNs) regarding process modifications, manufacturing site relocations, raw material substitutions, or equipment updates.
• Identify systemic quality trends across the supply base and drive continuous improvement programs (Lean/Six Sigma).
• Revise audit protocols and questionnaires to ensure an efficient assessment against GFSI, FSMA, HACCP, and Hill’s Quality Standards.
• Develop and/or update SOPs, technical guidelines, and supplier quality manuals to align global supplier operations with Hill’s standards.
• Provide technical coaching and quality training to Hill’s auditors, procurement teams, and plant receiving departments.

Skills

Supplier Quality Assurance

Quality Engineering

Food Safety Management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science or related discipline

Tools

SAP

ETQ Reliance

Snowflake

Sigma Computing

Google Suite

Excel

Job description

Colgate-Palmolive, via Hill’s Pet Nutrition, seeks a Specialist Quality, Supplier Management to elevate supplier QA and food safety across the direct materials network. You will ensure compliance with FDA/FSMA, GFSI benchmarks, and internal standards while partnering with Procurement and cross-functional teams.

You will lead audits, risk assessments, and KPI tracking, using SAP, ETQ, and modern analytics tools to drive corrective actions and continuous improvement across global suppliers.