Based in Mount Prospect, IL, Mizkan America is a subsidiary of the Mizkan Group, a global, family-owned company that has been Bringing Flavor to Life™ for over 220 years. As one of the leading makers of vinegars, condiments, and sauces in the United States, Mizkan America maintains 12 manufacturing facilities that serve the retail, food service, specialty-Asian, and food-ingredient trade channels. We are committed to following our two core principles: continuously challenging the status quo and delivering only the finest products for our customers. Our leadership seeks out, embraces, and implements ideas for improvement from all its employees. Transparency and accountability are two key factors that drive our company’s overall management approach.



We are looking for people who are seeking to deliver their best so that we can deliver ours. Above all, we’re dedicated to maximizing the potential of our greatest assets—our team members. That’s reflected in our ongoing commitment to recruit, develop, reward, and retain our talented, multicultural workforce. We hope to see you as part of our team’s future success!



COMMENTS: This job description reflects assignment of essential functions. It does not prescribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned.



SUMMARY OF ROLE: The Associate Director will work with the plant Quality Managers and staff to ensure Mizkan food safety and quality programs are implemented at Mizkan facilities, and Mizkan quality policy, value and vision are rooted in plant staff’s daily activities. The person in this role has oversight and control of food safety and quality implementation at plants and will ensure open and transparent communication on plant quality issues and opportunities with Directors of Bottling, Director of Bulk, & VP Quality.



ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES




* Bring a breadth of consumer-packaged food quality, safety and regulatory compliance experience to lead Mizkan America manufacturing quality activities and establish a strong platform for the enhancement of Brand, Operational Excellence and Technology.
* Work with and help to develop plant Quality Managers and staff.
* Ensure the plant Quality Managers prioritize their activities and resources to achieve the following flawlessly and be responsible for the final outcomes.
* Ensure the safety of all employees assigned to his/her department.
* Overall responsibility for product safety, product quality, and food regulation compliance at plant level.
* Closely manage the positive product releases and administrate of none conforming goods control.
* Oversight and facilitate the resolution of product/process non-conforming incidents and verifying the effectiveness of corrective and preventive actions implemented at plant to eliminate reoccurrence.
* Drive the creation and implementation of plant food safety and quality management system to be consistent with Mizkan America HQ quality management system requirements and ensure its effectiveness.
* Communicate openly, timely, and proactively about quality risks and opportunities to plant operation staff as well as Mizkan America HQ Quality.
* Evaluate, prepare and control of quality department infrastructures and operating budget to ensure its adequacy and effective use for the execution of quality goals and objectives.
* Work with production and other relevant operational personnel to drive for quality issue resolution and improvement.
* Coordinate train-the-trainers of the plant operational team for Food Safety, Quality and Regulatory Compliance.
* Closely interact with MPO QA team and provide the plant prospective and support pertaining to the resolution of quality issues and improvements at plants.



EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND QUALIFICATIONS:




* BS in Food Science, Food engineering or related fields, and MS is preferred.
* Strong product quality orientation and integrity.
* 10+ years food industry experience with a minimum 5 years in factory quality management role, and 5 years in corporate technical management role.
* Experiences in both food ingredient industry and retail industry are strongly preferred.
* Experiences with high volume output factory, low acid shelf-stable foods operations, and/or fermentation experience strongly desirable.
* Exceptional computer literacy skills and strong in statistics/ lean six sigma.
* Ability to effectively prioritize, organize, and execute tasks in a fast paced, high performance, cross functional team-based culture, and passion about delivering tangible results.
* Demonstrated strong problem-solving skills and must have strong attention to details.
* Willingness and flexibility to adapt to changing priorities.
* Possess strong desire for continuous improvements, challenge status quote and is a self-starter.
* Possess “can do” attitude, take ownership, and passion about delivering tangible results.
* Ability to identify coherent and insightful key steps/actions for quality projects and deliver quality results within defined timeline with urgency.
* Ability to use fact and data to make decisions and prioritize actions.
* Must possess the ability to work with all levels of employees in various functions within the organization.
* Good written and verbal communication skills, and computer literacy in Microsoft Word and Excel.
* Travel up to 35%.

Mizkan America, Inc. is an EO employer – M/F/Veteran/Disability. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, disability or protected veteran status, national origin, citizenship, disability or protected veteran status.



The annual base salary for this position ranges from $142,000 to $195,000. Compensation is based on a number of factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills and experience. Short-Term Incentive and other forms of compensation may also be provided as part of a total compensation package.



A full range of medical, dental, vision, 401K plus up-to-four-percent (4%) match, profit sharing, wellness program, paid parental leave, long-term-care insurance, critical accident insurance, short- and long-term disability and education assistance are also available.



#LI-KD1



Equal Opportunity Employer Minorities/Women/Protected Veterans/DisabledPDN-9dee91bd-741c-4bd8-82ac-4e7cf860e0b0