Associate, Quality Systems

Summary

Join Chomps, a rapidly growing food brand, as our Quality Systems Associate! You will oversee quality assurance programs, ensuring compliance across our supply chain. Collaborate with internal and external teams on new product launches, vendor onboarding, and maintaining certifications. This crucial role demands strong attention to detail, organizational skills, and food safety knowledge. You will support the Senior Associate in regulatory compliance, vendor management, and complaint monitoring. The ideal candidate excels in organization, communication, and collaboration.

Requirements

• 4+ years of experience in FSQA within the meat manufacturing industry
• In-depth knowledge of USDA regulations, labeling requirements, HACCP and GMPs
• Experience with GFSI standards and food safety auditing requirements
• Formally trained in RCA and CAPA
• Organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills
• Excellent communication and collaboration abilities
• Detail-oriented with a commitment to continuous improvement
• Ability to conduct presentations and training sessions
• Requirement to travel up to 40%
• Bachelor's degree in Food Science or related field

Responsibilities

• Organization and Oversight of Chomps Quality and Food Safety Systems
• Responsible for onboarding and approving all contracted vendors including contract manufacturers, warehouses/repack sites, protein suppliers
• Review all vendor quality and food safety programs and customer requirements ensuring early quality involvement in program development
• Stay current with industry trends and USDA-FSIS regulations to continuously improve and update existing programs
• Maintain up-to-date Quality Assurance (QA) Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all systems and programs
• Regularly review and update QA programs to ensure alignment with regulatory and company standards
• Assist in the development and implementation of new QA programs as needed
• Provide support in auditing QA systems and identifying areas for improvement
• Organize and ensure accessibility of QA documentation for internal and external audits
• USDA Label Approvals and 3rd Party Claims Certifications
• Collaborate with internal teams and external partners to ensure compliance with labeling regulations
• Responsible for submitting labels to external partners for USDA approval and keeping label approvals on file
• Works cross functionally with operations, innovations, QA, marketing, and sales for compliance on label and packaging content as well as new product launches
• Review and approval of all co-manufacturing and warehousing partners master case labels
• Maintain company compliance with all 3rd party product claims certifications. Update portals with current documentation and obtain and distribute annual certifications
• Assist the Senior Associate with USDA-FSIS label approvals, including document collection, submission, and organization
• Maintain current USDA-FSIS label approval files and distribute documents to vendors across the manufacturing network
• Submit for all generic USDA approvals and maintain clear records
• Oversee third-party claims certifications, ensuring their validity across the manufacturing network
• Support Active Projects and Stage Gate QA artwork reviews and approvals to ensure regulatory compliance
• Assist with the review and oversight of marketing claims for regulatory adherence
• Stay informed of USDA-FSIS updates and communicate changes to the Senior Associate and relevant stakeholders
• Consumer and Customer Complaint Monitoring
• Monitor and analyze consumer and customer complaints related to product quality and safety. Identify and escalate possible complaint trends
• Create monthly dashboard reporting categorizing complaints by manufacturer, product, customer, and type. Submit reports to contracted partners and discuss results during weekly meetings
• Work alongside CX and operations teams to maintain complaint logs and reporting. Audit and edit logs to ensure reporting accuracy and consistency
• Approved Vendor Documentation
• Collect, review, and manage all approved vendor documentation related to the production and distribution of Chomps products
• Develop systems to address annual vendor requirements and stay ahead of expiring documents
• Work with procurement teams to ensure vendors adhere to Chomps quality and safety standards
• Work alongside the Sr. Associate, Regulatory and Quality Systems to transition all approved vendors and documentation into our new QMS
• Utilize and manage TraceGains systems for onboarding new vendors, ensuring accurate setup and compliance
• Send prerequisite requirements, questionnaires, and follow-ups to vendors, ensuring timely completion
• Monitor expired vendor documents and notify vendors of necessary updates
• Create and maintain supplier QA scorecards to assess vendor performance
• Collect, organize, and file manual documentation for vendor compliance
• Stay current on TraceGains system updates and provide training to internal teams and vendors as needed
• Communicate system changes and verify vendor compliance with program requirements
• Contact non-compliant vendors, coach them through corrective actions, and ensure re-alignment with standards
• Train new team members in TraceGains and identify system improvement opportunities
• Develop more efficient vendor questionnaires within TraceGains to streamline onboarding processes
• Write, submit, and manage all supplier and ingredient vendor incident reports, verifying CAPA acceptability and ensuring closure
• Mock Recall and Traceability
• Perform internal product traceability audits to verify the accuracy and effectiveness of Chomps traceability systems in Netsuite and daily documentation and logging
• Schedule biannual training for all new Chomps recall team members
• Maintain recall plan and programs; edit/update after each mock recall drill to continuously improve Chomps systems and readiness
• Work with sales and operations teams to stay current with all customer recall requirements and documentation

Preferred Qualifications

Knowledge of TraceGains

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401K 6% match
• Monthly reimbursements for wellness and home office
• Ability to make an impact: Join a rapidly growing and entrepreneurial-spirited team at a pivotal point to positively impact the food industry
• Opportunities to grow: Advance within Chomps quickly based on outstanding performance
• Unlimited PTO and 11+ paid holiday days. Hybrid & flexible remote schedule. Chicago office open to those in the area
• Paid maternity and paternity leave
• Bi-annual total team in-person activities
• Company-wide Continual Education budget
• Unlimited snacks: Enough meat sticks that if you wanted to eat your body weight in them you could (no judgment here)
• $80,000 - $85,000 + 15% annual bonus