Associate Scientist QFS: Food Safety QTB

Job description

A mutually rewarding experience

Work. Realize your ambitions. And realize there’s more to being in business than just making a profit. That’s the Mars philosophy. And the opportunity we offer every one of our Associates. An opportunity to take what you do and make it mean more for you, for those around you and for the planet. What you get here is challenging, interesting work. You get the tools you need to do a great job and you get to have the best possible people on your side to help you do it. And at the same time as getting to find ways to do business better today than we did it yesterday and driving a great career, you also get to build a more enlightened business and drive sustainability. Because it’s never just about a single person, a single project or a single brand. It’s about how you can grab everything that’s within your reach here and use it to pursue mutual, long-term gain. It’s about having ideas. And ideals. Being prepared to risk failure because the promise of success means we’ll all be a little better off. It’s that mix of integrity and ambition that makes Mars such a special place to work. And why working here is always about more than just a job.

About Mars, Incorporated

Mars is a family-owned business with more than a century of history making diverse products and offering services for people and the pets people love. With almost $35 billion in sales, the company is a global business that produces some of the world’s best-loved brands: M&M’s®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, MILKY WAY®, DOVE®, PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, WHISKAS®, EXTRA®, ORBIT®, 5™, SKITTLES®, UNCLE BEN’S®, MARS DRINKS and COCOAVIA®. Mars also provides veterinary health services that include BANFIELD® Pet Hospitals, Blue Pearl®, VCA® and Pet Partners™. Headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars operates in more than 80 countries. The Mars Five Principles – Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom – inspire its more than 100,000 Associates to create value for all its partners and deliver growth they are proud of every day.

Job Purpose

The Associate Scientist Quality and Food Safety - QTB provides functional leadership to develop, maintain and proactively improve Mars Wrigley Confectionery Food Safety and Microbiology programs in the Americas region. This role provides technical expertise, consultancy and a practical food safety approach to Mars Wrigley Confectionery, Americas manufacturing operations. This role contributes to the business by making complex risk-based food safety decisions that assure the ongoing quality and food safety of our products and processes, with close collaboration with the Program Lead – Food Safety.

Key Responsibilities

·  Acts as a technical resource for interpretation and ongoing application of food safety standards and regulations, as they relate to manufacturing operations, including the Global Microbiological Verification, Allergen Management, Foreign Material Management and Laboratory Standards.
·  Leads effective implementation of standards and drives continuous improvement of food safety management through close partnership with site Quality and Food Safety teams.
·  Provides support to manufacturing sites during 3rd party certification audits and regulatory inspections.
·  Performs After Action Review (AAR) with sites to review audit findings and incident learnings and develop robust corrective actions.
·  Drives standardization of the Food Safety Management Program process and sanitation operations for the MWC Americas manufacturing sites based on regional guidance.
·  Interprets sensitive and technical data for their potential impact on product microbiological safety and provides timely recommendations for the effective resolution of microbiological food safety issues.
·  Supports R&D as the regional microbiology/food safety contact during change management (eg. Design Development Quality Process (DDQP), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), etc)
·  Provides technical guidance and consultancy to Raw Material Risk Assessment and HACCP teams to assure that raw materials, manufacturing processes and environments are microbiologically safe for producing both new and existing products.
·  Translates external food safety requirements such as regulations or customer needs into procedures or best practices for the region

Qualifications

Education

·  BS degree in Biology, Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Science or a closely related scientific or technical discipline (e.g. Biology, Engineering, or Chemistry) is required.
·  Advanced degree in Biology, Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Science or a closely related scientific or technical discipline is a plus.

Experience

Required:

·  3+ years of work experience in a food manufacturing environment.
·  In depth knowledge of food microbiology, food safety, manufacturing processes and food laws.
·  Ability to travel 25% of the time

Preferred:

·  3+ years of experience working in a food microbiology laboratory
·  5+ years of work experience within food or pharmaceutical manufacturing industries.
·  Demonstrated experience in the application of troubleshooting both in an industrial manufacturing process environment.
·  Experience with regulatory and 3rd party audit requirements

Knowledge/Experience

·  Capable leader of teams and individuals with ability to motivate and engage superiors, peers, indirect associates, and global Q&FS community.
·  Knowledge of food safety risk identification and management, HACCP and prerequisite controls
·  Knowledge of and experience with ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management Systems
·  Knowledge of GMP, GLP, food allergens, pest control, sanitation, and food safety regulations
·  Experience with GFSI Quality Systems such as SQF, BRC, FSSC22000, ISO9000 or ISO17025
·  Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment

Mars is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the application process because of a disability, it is available upon request. The company is pleased to provide such assistance, and no applicant will be penalized as a result of such a request.

Nearest Major Market: Allentown
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