Lean Manufacturing Specialist jobs in Schenectady, NY

Quality Specialist – 3^rd Party Manufacturing

About Beech-Nut Nutrition Company…

We are one of America’s leading companies providing nutritious, wholesome foods for babies using real ingredients, gently cooked, with non-GMO verified, Natural or organic ingredients in almost all our products. 

Our work is organized around our mission to Delight Consumers by Conserving the Goodness of Nature. We care deeply about others, the planet, and are empowered to make a difference. We expect, reward and celebrate strong performance.

Our Values…

Our ambition to grow is underpinned by our four core values Create wow, Everyone Hero, Nourish others, & Take Responsibility. Our values help us navigate the ever-changing environment in which we operate and ensure we innovate to meet customer needs.

Create wow  ~  Everyone Hero   ~  Nourish others  ~  Take responsibility

If this sounds like a place you want to invest your time, keep reading!

About the Role…

The 3^rd Party Quality Specialist, reporting to the Food Safety Manager, is responsible for ensuring our 3^rd party manufacturers and suppliers comply with all Federal and Beech-Nut food safety and quality requirements, inclusive of packaging and ingredients. This role works cross-functionally in collaboration with R&D/Technical Services, Consumer Relations, Regulatory, Strategic Sourcing, Marketing and Manufacturing.

About the Team…

The Quality Assurance Team is diverse in knowledge and experience and are responsible for ensuring that Beech-Nut’s products meet the highest standards for food safety and quality.  This team takes pride in, and responsibility in partnering with our Strategic Sourcing, Operations and Technical Services Teams to ensure the ingredients sourced and processed have passed our testing standards and expectations.   This is a hands-on, collaborative team that is energetic and passionate about making sure we continue to do what we do best - making high quality, safe, and nutritious foods for babies and toddlers!

About the Work Environment…

This position is located at the Amsterdam, New York LEED® certified production facility. Most job functions are performed in a well-lit, environmentally controlled office environment.  The candidate will also be required to work in an environment that requires hairnet, beard cover, safety glasses, hearing protection and lab coat. Restrictions include wearing of jewelry, nail polish and acrylic nails. Other personal protection equipment may be required for certain tasks.

Our Commitment to Safety…

At Beech-Nut we are committed to a strong safety program that protects its staff, its property, and the public from accidents. Associates at every level, including management, are responsible and accountable for the company’s overall safety initiatives. Complete and active participation by everyone, every day, in every job is necessary for the safety among all workers on the job site. Management supports participation in the program by all Associates and provides proper equipment, training and procedures. Associates are responsible for following all procedures, working safely, and, wherever possible, improving safety measures. An injury and accident-free workplace is our goal. Through continuous safety and loss control, we can accomplish this.

What You’ll Do…

• Ensure 3^rd Party Suppliers compliance to all Beech-Nut and Federal regulatory requirements for food safety, product quality, food defense, and GMP’s.
• Responsible for updating and maintaining supplier, raw material, and external manufacturing documentation in the quality management system (QMS) and any other systems used such as Safety Chain, Salesforce, and Microsoft Teams.
• Conduct and support audits, either in person or remotely, of 3^rd Party suppliers and external co-manufacturers.
• Collaborate with the Consumer Relations department on reviewing or responding to consumer complaints for all products co-manufactured. You will be responsible for conducting investigations into the consumer complaints, finding the root causes, and working with the suppliers on corrective actions and reviewing their effectiveness.
• Collaborate with R&D, Technical Services, & Strategic Sourcing to develop raw material specifications, conduct trials of new raw materials, and approve new raw materials and their suppliers. This includes ingredients used both internally and by external manufacturers.
• Follow the corrective and preventative action (CAPA) process and ensure corrective actions are taken to prevent quality deviations across the organization in a timely manner.
• Responsible for conducting QA lab testing coverage to support business needs.
• Responsible to review QA records and be able to positively release products made by external manufacturers. 
• Provide support in the achievement of company objectives, goals, strategies, and measurements.
• Promote Beech-Nut’s Quality KPI’s across the organization.
• Responsible for maintaining a positive quality culture at Beech-Nut Nutrition with proper communication to all levels of the organization.
• Ensure Good Laboratory Practices and personal safety practices are followed when working in the facility.

Who You Are…

• Deciding and Initiating Action: You are able to make timely decisions while weighing risks.  You act without being prompted and take responsibility for projects, people and mistakes.
• Analyzing: You are able to analyze all types of information using a wide range of sources.  You draw well-reasoned conclusions and pinpoint key information from large data sets.   You are able to identify themes and produce effective solutions.
• Learning and Researching: You rapidly learn new tasks and quickly commit information to memory. You ask key questions and use all relevant information to make decisions.  You use mistakes as a learning opportunity and encourages others to learn from one another.
• Planning and Organizing: You are able to set clearly defined objectives, establish priorities, plan activities and project and manage time effectively.  You monitor progress against deadlines and milestones.

What You’ll Need…

• Bachelor’s degree in related field (Food Science, Technology, Engineering) with 1 to 5 years’ experience preferred.
• Knowledge of the principles and practices of food safety. 
• Knowledge of the current food safety regulations.
• Knowledge of food microbiology, food chemistry, and sanitation principles.
• Experience in hot fill, retort and RTE foods is a plus.
• Better Process Control School Training is a plus
• Understanding or have been exposed to fundamentals of PCQI, Preventative Controls, Food Safety Plan, GMP, SSOP, Sanitation Performance Standards (SPS) and FDA & USDA regulations and requirements.
• Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook). 
• Preferred Certifications: 
  • PCQI Certification
  • HACCP Certification
  • Auditing Certification
• Occasional travel, 25%.

What’s in it for you?  Compensation, Benefits & More… 

At Beech-Nut, we are devoted to creating an inclusive culture where our team members are professionally challenged and cared for personally.  

We are committed to fair and equitable compensation practices and take into consideration a wide range of factors that are utilized in making compensation decisions including, but not limited to, skills, relevant work experience, certifications and qualifications, education, and other business needs. Compensation for a role will be in line with the location in which the position is filled. 

Our associates also have access to opportunities for professional development and training, access to our on-site amenities as well as many other benefits and perks!  We are proud to offer our associates the following:

Pay: The annual base salary range for this in-person role is $56,000 - $75,000. This is a salaried-exempt position.  

  Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision & prescription coverage for you and your dependents
• 401k with 4% Match
• Paid vacation and holidays 
• Generous maternity/paternity benefits
• Baby food program until your child’s 2nd birthday

  Professional Development

• Tuition assistance
• Access to robust training programs

More Perks! 

• Opportunities to volunteer and support the local community
• Generous maternity/paternity benefits & take your child’s 1^st birthday off
• Take your birthday off each year!
• Baby food coupon program until your child’s 2nd birthday
• Service Awards

Amenities:

• On-site fitness center
• On-site café catered by Mazzone Hospitality - PRIME Business Dining
• On-site Company Store
• A private on-site Mother’s Room to support nursing mothers and pumping needs at work
• New! Nourish Others Learning Lab with computer stations

What it is like to live in upstate New York…

We are about 30 minutes northwest of Albany, the NY state capital, and 40 minutes southwest of Saratoga Springs. We are near major cultural events, outside recreation and places to have fun throughout the year. From watching the New York City Ballet or listening to Brad Paisley, Cardi B, Dave Matthews Band, Goo Goo Dolls, Willie Nelson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Santana, or Tedeschi Trucks Band at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), boating on beautiful Lake George, hiking the famous trails of the Adirondacks, or skiing at Lake Placid, you will find there is plenty to keep you, and/or, your family busy. And, if you are looking for the occasional big city attraction, it is a short drive to Boston, Montreal, and New York City.

As an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer, Beech-Nut Nutrition Company will not discriminate in its employment practices due to an applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, and veteran or disability status.

To all agencies: All resumes submitted by search firms/employment agencies to any employee at Beech-Nut via-email, the internet or in any form and/or method will be deemed the sole property of Beech-Nut, unless such search firms/employment agencies were engaged by Beech-Nut for this position and a valid agreement is in place. In the event a candidate who was submitted outside of the Beech-Nut Nutrition agency engagement process is hired, no fee or payment of any kind will be paid.