Technical Manager

Job Title: Foods Technical & Quality Manager

Reports to: Director, Project Management Office

Location: Evanston, IL

Company Background

Ornua is a dairy co-operative which sells dairy products on behalf of its members, Ireland’s dairy processors and, in turn, Irish dairy farmers. It is Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy products, exporting to 110 countries worldwide. Headquartered in Dublin, Ornua has annualised sales of over €3.5 billion and a global team of 3,000 employees.

Ornua is structured across two divisions: Ornua Foods and Ornua Ingredients. We operate from 10 business units worldwide, including 16 production facilities, and have sales and marketing teams working in-market across the globe in Africa, Asia, Germany, Ireland, the Middle East, Spain, the UK, and the US.

You may know us by our brands Kerrygold, Dubliner, Pilgrim’s Choice, Avantage, Forto, and     BEO.

Ornua’s Values

At Ornua, our Values lie at the core of everything that we do and how we behave both individually and as a business. Our five values, and their underlying behaviours, encourage us to Seek and Embrace New Ideas, Make It Happen, Be Our True Selves, Show You Care,  and Achieve Great Things Together.

Ornua’s Growth

At Ornua, our co-operative ethos lies at the heart of how we do business. We care passionately about driving sustainable, profitable growth, underpinned by our ambitious ‘Path to Prosper’ strategy. We have delivered significant growth in our core business, and we have ambitious plans for continued growth over the next five years.

Why This Role is Valuable

Quality is at the heart of Ornua Foods North America to deliver the highest quality products to consumers. As our business continues to grow, our dedication to foods safety and quality needs a proactive leader to manage the day to day as well as plan for the future. Ornua Foods North America needs a Technical & Quality Manager to lead out quality support services, in coordination with a global technical team, such as responding to complaints, working with 3rd parties to ensure adherence to our high standards, identifying potential risks, and ensuring product and business compliance for local requirements. 

Key Areas of Responsibility

• Product Development: supporting formulation work for projects, creation and management of item specifications, leading competitive benchmarking, supporting with shelf-life studies and product tastings.
• Regulatory Compliance: point-of-contact for FDA audits, maintaining business unit audit-readiness for FSVP/FSMA, coordinating with Global audit team for site/supplier compliance documentation. Supports certification and compliance work for product claims and programs.
• Customer Quality: responsible for registering, analyzing, and closing complaints in coordination with global technical team. Provides reporting on complaints and trend analysis to support continuous improvement. Responsible for facilitating customer queries, audits, forms with global technical team.
• Product Quality: Responsible for investigating and supporting root-cause analysis for product quality issues/concerns, submitting products for laboratory testing.
• Audit & Risk: business unit lead for North American site audits, quality liaison with sites, business continuity support, ensure 3rd parties conform to Ornua standards.

Key Requirements:

• Undergraduate degree required
• 4 - 6 years in a medium to large organization, preference to CPG / Dairy
• 4 - 6 years of disciplined technical, regulatory and quality management
• Experience with HACCP, BRC, FSVP, FSMA, supplier audits, customer audits, quality management, specifications management
• Strength of knowledge in the areas of Microbiology and Food Safety, plus auditing skills and experience of Quality Management Systems
• Experience with food manufacturing sites
• Capability to learn sensory evaluation of Dairy products
• Strong decision-making abilities and effective delegation skills
• Pro-active driver of high standards and agile problem solver
• Preferred: certification in FSVP (or within 6 months of hire)

Ornua Competencies:

• Ownership – takes responsibility for results; clarifies accountabilities, overlaps, and gaps
• Working Together – is supportive & co-operative, encourages & supports cross-functional working
• Communicative – communicates confidently, adapting style for different situations
• Expertise – functional SME, applies effective professional skill, analysis and decision-making, and planning/reviewing

Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S.  We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an Employment Visa at the time.

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CLOSING DATE FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8TH, 2024