Night Quality Lead - Real-Time Decisions & Compliance

2687 Unilever United States, Inc.; Independence (MO); On-site; USD 59,000 - 89,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Retirement savings benefits

Life insurance

Parental leave

Sick leave

Paid vacation and holidays

Voluntary benefits

Job summary

Unilever in Independence, MO is hiring a Quality Specialist (Nights) to cover the D Shift from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM, Wed–Sat on long weeks and Thu–Sat on short weeks. This onsite role focuses on the dry savory Knorr/Lipton operation, leading real‑time quality decisions to keep products safe and compliant.

Reporting to the Senior Quality Manager, you will own holds, deviations, CAPA handoffs, and mentor on‑shift Lab Technicians.

Qualifications

• Bachelor degree in Biology, Food Sciences, Regulatory Sciences, or Chemistry.
• Minimum two years of quality related experience, preferably in a food environment.
• Experience with HACCP Plans, FSMA, and USDA preferred.
• Comfortable making independent, real-time Quality decisions and leading during upset events with limited on-site salaried support.
• Strong analytical skills; ability to translate data into action and follow-through.
• Excellent math, written and verbal communication skills, including clear shift-to-shift handover.
• Team leadership / front-line supervisory experience preferred; ability to coach and direct on-shift Quality Technicians and Lab Techs.

Responsibilities

• On-Shift Quality Decisions: serve as the empowered, real-time Quality decision-maker on shift—dispositioning product, authorizing release/rework, and making stop/go calls to protect consumer safety and product conformance.
• Compliance Assurance: ensure on-shift compliance with sanitation requirements, approved Quality Specifications, Food Safety Requirements, cGMPs, site standards, and applicable regulatory requirements; identify, correct, document, and escape compliance gaps promptly.
• Hold Management: own Hold identification, blocking, investigation, and disposition on shift; place material to Hold in SAP/QualityOne, initiate E-Incidents, and coordinate next steps and final disposition with Operations and Planning per the site Hold Process.
• Deviations & Non-Conformances: identify, document, and drive deviations and non-conformances (SNCR) to closure; ensure root-cause capture and CAPA hand-off, and upscale appropriately when specifications are not met.
• Upset Event Navigation: lead the Quality response during upset events, technology gaps, and abnormal conditions—triage impact, contain product, direct rework/dispositioning, and partner with Operations on RCA with the teams.
• Quality Lab Tech Support: provide technical guidance and coverage for on-shift Quality Lab Technicians—support analytical testing, troubleshooting, method execution, and lab decisions; verify results are actioned and gaps are closed.
• Front-Line Leadership for Quality: act as the front-line Quality leader for the shift—set priorities, coach and develop on-shift Quality Technicians, represent Quality in Tier meetings, and hold all levels accountable as Quality champions.
• Shift Handover & Continuity: deliver a clean, data-driven handover into and out of D Shift so priorities, open Holds, deviations, and upset-event status carry forward without loss.

Job description

Unilever in Independence, MO is hiring a Quality Specialist (Nights) to cover the D Shift from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM, Wed–Sat on long weeks and Thu–Sat on short weeks. This onsite role focuses on the dry savory Knorr/Lipton operation, leading real‑time quality decisions to keep products safe and compliant.

Reporting to the Senior Quality Manager, you will own holds, deviations, CAPA handoffs, and mentor on‑shift Lab Technicians.