Quality & Food Safety Director

Lead Food Safety. Drive Quality Excellence. Shape the Future of Manufacturing.

At Danone, Manufacturing the best products and supplying them to meet demand is a key driver for our plant teams. We're looking for an experienced and passionate Quality & Food Safety Director to join our West Jordan, Utah manufacturing leadership team and play a critical role in delivering the highest standards of product quality, food safety, and consumer trust.

This is a highly visible leadership role where you'll partner with plant and corporate leadership to build a best-in-class quality culture, ensure regulatory compliance, and drive continuous improvement across a large-scale manufacturing operation.

What You'll Do
As the QFS Director, you will provide strategic and tactical leadership for all Quality and Food Safety activities across the facility. You will:

Lead the site's Quality & Food Safety strategy and performance.
• Champion a culture where food safety and quality are embedded in every process and decision.
• Ensure compliance with all company, regulatory, and certification requirements, including FDA, GFSI/FSSC 22000, and other applicable standards.
• Oversee laboratory operations, sanitation programs, metrology, preventive quality systems, and product release processes.
• Drive KPI performance, including consumer complaints, specification compliance, product losses, and first-pass quality results.
• Lead internal and external audits and manage corrective action plans.
• Partner with cross-functional teams on innovation, productivity, equipment, and process improvement initiatives.
• Develop, coach, and mentor a team of quality professionals while building future leadership capability.
• Serve as the primary Quality & Food Safety voice within the plant leadership team and broader organization.

Physical Demands:

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential function of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to handle or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; climb stairs and ladders, balance; stoop, kneel or crouch; talk and hear. Occasionally required to lift and / or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

Mental Demands:

• Must understand vague and implicit instructions and react favorably in all work situations.
• Must be mentally adaptable and flexible in dealing with a variety of people.
• Must be able to communicate providing verbal feedback in a professional manner.
• Ability to give, receive and analyze information, formulate work plans, prepare written materials, and articulate goals and action plans.
• Must understand people and be able to communicate effectively with them.

Work Environment

• The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee regularly works near moving mechanical parts and is regularly exposed to wet and/or humid conditions. The employee may be exposed to fumes or airborne particles, toxic or caustic chemicals and may be exposed to loud noises in the plant. The employee occasionally works in high, precarious places and is occasionally exposed to extreme cold, risk of electrical shock and vibration.

Engagement in our Integrated Work Systems
Ensure adherence to plant standards and procedures (including but not limited to GMP, AIB, FDA, IWS, Quality, Safety, Finance, ISO, HOPE, Danone Behaviors, Daily Direction Setting, Driving OE). As a fundamental piece of the organization, your responsibility is to participate and own the implementation and deployment of IWS system and its pillars (Leadership foundation, Daily Direction Setting, Driving OE; Autonomous Maintenance; planned Maintenance; Focused Improvement; Education and Training; Environmental, Health and Safety; Quality; Organization; Supply Network; Early Equipment Management) with the objective of owning your space, owning your performance (Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery, Mobilization, Nature) and owning your continuous improvement.

Compensation & Benefits:
Danone North America additionally offers a performance-based bonus and has a strong benefits package including Medical, Dental, Vision, Prescription Drug Coverage, 401k Plan, Wellness Program, Life Insurance, Tuition Reimbursement, Flexible Time Off, and Paid Parental Bonding Leave, among other benefit plan options.

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in food science or microbiology or related field, required.
• Minimum of 10 years of quality experience within a food or beverage manufacturing environment, required.
• Prior experience in the dairy industry is desired.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Highly developed communication, leadership, interpersonal, project management skills, coupled with organizational sensitivity and the ability to influence key decision makers at all levels
• Act as a change agent who is able to build positive relationships on a foundation of trust and mutual respect.
• Technical expertise in finding root cause of quality issues and implementing best solution possible.
• Formal root cause analysis training preferred and must be demonstrated.
• Ability to sift through data to find key factors that contribute to a successful product and the ability to communicate this information to non-technical plant leaders and employees.
• Able to anticipate and prepare 3-5 year strategic vision for Quality excellence
• Knowledge of local, state, and federal quality regulations is desired.
• Ability to support a 24/7 manufacturing environment as business needs dictate. Work schedules could include early morning, late night or weekend work as needed.

Danone U.S. is part of Danone North America, a purpose-driven company and an industry leader in the food and beverage category. You'll work with some of the best-known food and beverage brands in the world. Our strong portfolio of brands includes: Activia, DanActive, Danimals, Dannon, evian, Follow Your Heart, Happy Family Organics, International Delight, Light + Fit, Nutricia , Oikos, Silk, So Delicious Dairy Free, STK Cold Brew Coffee , Too Good & Co, and YoCrunch.

With approximately 5,000 employees and 13 production locations across the U.S., Danone North America's mission is to bring health through food to as many people as possible.

You'll be part of one of the largest Certified B Corps in the world, working to make sure our company creates real value for people and the planet. Come join our movement for a healthier world: One Planet. One Health BY YOU.

Danone North America is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. It is our policy to give equal employment opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to legally protected characteristics, or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state/provincial and/or local law. For our EEO policy statement and your EEO rights under law click here.

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