Associate Scientist, Quality at Mars

Job Purpose:

QA Scientist will be responsible for the Quality and Food Safety Management system in line with the Mars QMP standard and the FSSC 22000 Scheme. This includes design, implementation, training, verification, auditing and follow up of preventive and corrective actions in the site.

He/She also supports Supply and R&D to deliver safe, legal, KQA compliant products through the implementation and continuous improvement of Mars global quality systems and standards.

The job holder is Key person in handling internal audits, preparing the site for the Mars QMP audits and driving results towards achieving beyond compliance in QMP implementation in NAI through strong collaboration with Production, Commercial (SQA), Supply Chain (Logistics), R&D-Innovation, Projects Engineering and Maintenance.

Roles & Responsibilities:

• Appointed Site Management Representative for the Mars QMP and FSSC standards implementation.
• Appointed Site Food Safety Team Leader tasked with managing the Quality and Food Safety Team and organize its work according to the Mars QMP and FSSC standard requirements.
• Manage Mars QMP internal (through developing internal auditing capability) and external audits, ensuring compliance to all applicable standards including Site Audits by National, County agencies as well as regulatory bodies.
• Work closely with various functions to highlight gaps in the compliance o the HACCP and other applicable standards for effective implementation and ensure it is applied in the ongoing manufacture of Mars products.
• Manage Periodic Food Safety Audits.
• Custodian of Centralized, IT-based corrective action, preventive action (CAPA) tracker, responsible for verification of actions input, follow up closure of pending actions at different owners, trending of root causes of incidents & report closure status & effectiveness in proper escalation forums.
• Follow up on the timely and effective closure of corrective and preventive actions(CAPA) in line with the Non Conformance Management procedures.
• Drive continuous improvement of quality system by setting product quality standards, product rating and verification plan, jointly with Q&FS Technologists, Technical Services and R&D.
• Ensure relevant training and education of the Food Safety Team members, Internal Audit Team and all associates on relevant QMS/FSMS procedures.
• Take part in continuous improvement initiatives
• Appointed Site Nexus Functional Expert who coordinates Nexus Modules training for new and existing associates.
• Appointed Site Document Controller tasked with managing all Q&FS related documents on site.
• Manage the Allergen Management Programme.
• Verify the hold and release of finished products based on micro release criteria, micro-sampling plan and execution, micro and chemical analysis and reporting. Support the release the finished products, raw and packaging materials as back up.
• Support SRA with product registrations and when required issuance of Finished Product CoA for export markets.
• Handle consumer inquiries, feedback and complaints through investigations, & collaboration with Quality in Distribution teams in relevant markets in the region to provide feedback to Corporate Affairs, and follow up on the closure of the corrective actions.
• Lead sensory activities in NAI for Finished Products and selected raw materials as part of quality monitoring and hold and release criteria:
• Train and validate associates on sensory programs with strong collaboration with regional NPD sensory scientist.
• Motivate and spread sensory awareness in NAI in addition to developing continuous improvement program for sensory quality monitoring.
• Participate in sensory risk assessment for new raw materials and new suppliers.
• Audit Quality monitoring Program and raw materials disaster check.
• Custodian of QFS IT-based systems (NEXUS, ATLAS) governing the following:
• Document generation, review, approval, control, publishing, & withdrawal.
• Generating & submitting periodical & quarterly performance & compliance reports.
• Overseeing the PRIMP process performance & progression & ensure satisfactory closure.
• Verify the archive of quality records for the site.
• Custodian of Q&FS performance data, periodical and quarterly performance reporting and review in addition to supporting in planned Traceability exercises.
• Governance of external warehouse activities conducted by the warehouse Quality team, ensuring competency of the team, effectiveness of materials receipts, inbound verification program, storage, segregation, movement and hold and release for raw and packaging materials and finished products. Plan and execute periodical FS Audit and internal audit of the warehouse facilities.
• Responsible for the creation and management of master data that is required to plan and complete inspections of raw materials, packing materials, in-process and finished products
• Training of supply, commercial and R&D associates on the relevant functionalities of nexus
• Responsible for the integration and synergizing between Atlas SAP Q&FS and Nexus (incident management and hold and release) raws, packs and finished products
• Drive the organization towards Quality systems mindset and culture.
• Special assignments as may be required from time to time.
• Back up Q&FS Manager, & acting as focal point of contact in appointed meetings and activities in case of his/her absence.

Communication and Work Relationships

Internal:

• The main stakeholders : Production, Maintenance, Engineering, Supply Chain, Commercial, SQA
• R&D team(Regional collaborative work streams and material supply networking).

External:

• External labs, Pest Control Company, Supplying companies for R&D consumables.

Frameworks, Boundaries & Decision-Making Authority

• The job-holder reports to the Quality & Food Safety Manager.
• The jobholder has no direct report.
• He/she has the authority to take any measure to protect the consumer, including stopping production runs, put stocks on hold and escalate to Quality & Food Safety Manager and Value Stream Manager, if needed.
• He/she cascades the Global Q&FS policies, procedures and best practices to the team and ensure adherence to those practices.
• He/she develops the procedures and ways of working within the role.

Knowledge/Experience:

• Education: Degree in Microbiology / Food Science / other relevant scientific discipline.
• Experience: 4-8 years of experience in Food Manufacturing facility, where scientific principles have been practically applied. Technical depth and detailed knowledge of Quality Management, Food Microbiology, Food Safety(HACCP/FSSC) and GMP/GHP is a must; experience with project management would be a plus.
• Skills: Analytical, Problem Solving, Reporting, Collaborative and self-control.