Global Leading Consumer Company
New Product Quality Manager
Position Summary
The Quality Manager – New Food Commercialization is responsible for ensuring that all new food products (e.g., alternative proteins, functional foods, novel ingredients, ready‑to‑eat meals) meet the highest standards of safety, quality, and regulatory compliance before, during, and after launch. This role acts as the quality gatekeeper throughout the commercialization process, partnering closely with R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, and Marketing to embed quality by design and deliver flawless product launches.
Key Responsibilities
1. Quality & Food Safety Systems for New Products
· Establish and implement quality plans for all new product development (NPD) and commercialization projects, ensuring alignment with company policies and international food safety standards (e.g., FSSC 22000, BRC, SQF, HACCP).
· Define product quality specifications, finished product standards, and critical quality attributes (CQAs) based on consumer insights, regulatory requirements, and manufacturing capability.
· Conduct risk assessments (e.g., FMEA) for new processes, ingredients, and packaging to proactively identify and mitigate food safety and quality risks during scale‑up.
2. Scale‑Up & Process Validation
· Partner with R&D and Process Engineering to validate that new formulations and processes can be consistently executed at pilot and commercial scale while meeting quality targets.
· Lead factory trials, first production runs, and process validation activities; approve release of first production batches.
· Establish in‑process quality control (IPQC) checkpoints, sampling plans, and inspection criteria for new production lines.
3. Regulatory Compliance & Labeling
· Ensure all new products comply with applicable regulations in target markets (e.g., FDA, USDA, CFIA, EU, China GB) regarding ingredients, additives, claims (e.g., organic, non‑GMO, health claims), and labeling.
· Review and approve product labels, artwork, and marketing materials to ensure accuracy and legal compliance.
· Maintain regulatory documentation, including technical files, safety data sheets, and allergen declarations.
4. Supplier Quality & Raw Material Approval
· Collaborate with Procurement to qualify new suppliers and novel ingredients, conducting supplier audits, reviewing specifications, and establishing incoming material quality standards.
· Manage raw material risk assessments and ensure traceability systems are in place for new supply chains.
5. Quality Governance & Launch Readiness
· Serve as the quality representative in cross‑functional commercialization teams; approve milestone gate decisions from a quality perspective.
· Develop and deliver quality training for production and operations teams on new product requirements, critical control points, and defect prevention.
· Lead post‑launch quality monitoring, analyze consumer feedback and non‑conformances, and drive continuous improvement initiatives for recently launched products.
Qualifications
Education & Experience
· Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Microbiology, or a related field. Advanced degree preferred.
· Minimum 6–8 years of experience in food quality assurance, with at least 3 years focused on new product commercialization, NPI (new product introduction), or process quality in the food industry.
· Experience with alternative proteins, functional beverages, fermented foods, or high‑growth food categories is a strong plus.
Technical Skills
· Deep knowledge of food safety management systems (HACCP, GMP, FSSC 22000, BRC) and their application in a manufacturing environment.
· Proven ability to lead scale‑up validation, process validation, and establish quality specifications for novel products.
· Strong understanding of global food regulations (labeling, additives, claims, novel food approvals) and experience working with regulatory bodies or third‑party certification.
· Familiarity with quality tools such as SPC, FMEA, root cause analysis, and CAPA systems.
Soft Skills & Competencies
· Cross‑functional collaboration: ability to influence R&D, Operations, and Marketing teams without direct authority, balancing speed to market with uncompromised quality.
· Detail‑oriented with a big‑picture view: able to manage complex product portfolios while maintaining rigorous documentation and traceability.
· Problem‑solving: calm and systematic under pressure; capable of making risk‑based decisions during scale‑up challenges.
· Project management: experience working within stage‑gate or agile commercialization frameworks; comfortable managing multiple projects with tight deadlines.
