Quality Assurance Director

Ready to lead an award-winning team? As an ALDI executive, you are responsible for driving and implementing the key initiatives that keep our customers happy and ensure our business model evolves with the needs of the company. Immerse yourself in a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement with our growing and thriving organization.

Are you passionate about ensuring top-notch food safety and quality assurance? ALDI, one of America's fastest-growing retailers with an extensive array of private label products, is seeking a dynamic leader to fill the role of Director of Food Safety and Quality Assurance. This is your chance to spearhead the development and implementation of quality strategies that will shape the future of our organization. As the Director, you'll have the opportunity to drive innovation, maintain rigorous standards, and uphold our commitment to excellence in every aspect of our product offerings. In this role, the QA Director will lead the Food Safety and Quality Assurance function by defining, communicating, and coordinating the implementation of the organization's FSQA strategy to ensure that products are safe, legal, and meet the quality expectations of our customers. The ideal candidate has extensive knowledge of FDA and USDA regulations and broad knowledge of Food Safety and Quality standards including GFSI, HACCP, IPM, and Lean Six Sigma.

Position Type: Full-Time
Starting Salary: $227,250
Salary Increases: Year 2 - $244,000 | Year 3 - $266,750 | Year 4 - $298,000
Work Location: Batavia, IL. This role is eligible to participate in ALDI's Hybrid Work Program, which allows remote work up to 2 days per week (i.e., work remotely up to 2 days per week; work in-office at least 3 days per week).

Duties and Responsibilities:
Must be able to perform duties with or without reasonable accommodation.

1. Leads Quality Assurance, Food Safety, and Regulatory Compliance at ALDI and is responsible for planning, developing, and directing all quality assurance, food safety, and regulatory policies, programs, and initiatives in accordance with quality and regulatory guidelines and requirements.
2. Directly accountable for the quality strategy development, implementation, and performance of ALDI Private Label Products.
3. Reports to leadership on quality performance, incidents, and trends.
4. Recruits, trains, and manages a team of high-performing QA staff to drive continuous improvement throughout the organization using comprehensive risk assessment, clear goals and expectations, and a focus on data analysis to identify strategic opportunities for improvement.
5. Recruits, relocates, and recommends qualified employees for their team; determines the appropriate training methods/courses for new hires.
6. Determines the salary levels for newly hired or transferred employees reporting to them according to the established company wage structure.
7. Understands the overarching company strategy, while communicating and modeling the core values of the organization to create a sense of teamwork and membership among employees.
8. Establishes, communicates, and evaluates job responsibilities and performance expectations to their team to ensure mutual understanding of desired results.
9. Liaises with authorities as required and serves as communication liaison between department managers and upper management to assure understanding of goals, objectives, and opportunities for improvement.
10. Performs root-cause analysis and other problem-solving activities to identify and recommend effective corrective actions and process improvements.
11. Reports to leadership on quality issues, trends, and losses.
12. Establishes and communicates procedures and standards with departments in their areas of responsibility.
13. Oversees the appropriate resolution of serious customer concerns.
14. Recommends actions based on identified trends from customer feedback.
15. Consults with executives on the development of their team's strategy.
16. Makes recommendations to executives on how to improve, design, and streamline applicable policies, procedures, and practices.
17. Manages external consultants accordingly.
18. Liaises with directors in other ALDI countries to facilitate the sharing of best practices.
19. Manages and communicates ALDI protocol with testing agencies and third-party auditors.
20. Keeps up to date with all legal requirements in areas of responsibility.
21. Contributes to the International QA Steering Committee and participates in working groups as required.
22. Ensures appropriate processes are implemented to verify ALDI Private Label products are safe, legal, and meeting the quality expectations of our customers.
23. Directs their team by ensuring that all projects and tasks meet business needs as well as expectations for quality and service.
24. Establishes team objectives that align with the overall company strategy.
25. Participates in National and Specialist Committees as required to establish best practice and business consistency.
26. Identifies and develops company-wide and individual initiatives for their team.
27. Complies with ALDI privacy and security requirements and policies if job responsibilities include possible access to confidential and/or sensitive information.
28. Other duties as assigned.

Job-specific Competencies:
Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

1. Consistently demonstrates the ALDI Acts Competencies as outlined for the role.
2. Extensive working knowledge of HACCP, HARPC, FSMA, FSVP, and GFSI.
3. Diverse knowledge of inspection and control methods, techniques, and documentation.
4. Ability to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific and technical journals, regulatory reports, and legal documents.
5. Ability to accurately assess risk and provide sound organizational recommendations that incorporate quality and regulatory guidelines and reflect the needs of the business.
6. Ability to effectively collaborate with the company executive team and senior leadership at suppliers and third-party partners.
7. Working knowledge of product formulations, development, scale-up, mass production, and quality control activities.
8. Skilled at performing root-cause analysis and other problem-solving activities to identify effective corrective action and process improvements.
9. Excellent communication skills (written and verbal).
10. Strong computer skills including quality control applications, word processing, spreadsheets, and databases as may be required. Gives attention to detail and follows instruction.
11. Understands the history, strategy, organizational authority, interdependence of job duties, products, systems, and services of the company.
12. Ability to develop rapport, trust, and open communication that enhances the growth and job performance of direct reports.
13. Understands cost/benefit analysis.
14. Ability to recommend, interpret, and/or apply company policies and procedures.
15. Knowledge of products and services of the company.
16. Understands, recognizes, and effectively manages challenges by proactively working to decrease their impact and frequency.
17. Knowledge of accepted industry standards and practices.
18. Ability to thrive in a fast-paced work environment, consistently meeting deadlines and remaining calm under pressure.

Education and Experience:

1. Bachelor's Degree required.
2. Bachelor's Degree (Master's preferred) in Science, Engineering, or a related field preferred.
3. A minimum of 7-10 years Food Safety/Quality/Regulatory Compliance program execution.
4. Proven experience and skills in leading team members, developing careers, empowering team members to operate with a high level of influence and independence, providing functional direction while setting clear goals and expectations, and providing performance feedback to advance individual and team performance.
5. Must demonstrate thorough technical knowledge of Food Safety, Food Processing, applicable USDA and FDA Regulations, Food Allergens, Crisis Management, Food Fraud, Specification Development, Quality Standards, Quality Systems, Sanitary design, and Environmental Monitoring, Good Manufacturing Practices, HACCP, and GFSI Certification schemes.
6. Or, a combination of education and experience providing equivalent knowledge.

Physical Requirements:

1. Work may be performed in an office, remote office, or a combination of both where a computer and other office equipment may be used as needed to perform duties.
2. Regularly required to sit, reach, grasp, stand, and move from one area to another.
3. Constantly and repeatedly use keyboard/mouse.
4. Occasionally required to push, pull, bend, lift, and move up to 25 lbs.

Travel:

1. International & Domestic travel required.
2. Up to 10%.

ALDI offers competitive wages and benefits, including:

• 401(k) Plan
• Company 401(k) Matching Contributions
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• PerkSpot National Discount Program

In addition, eligible employees are offered:

• Medical, Prescription, Dental & Vision Insurance
• Generous Vacation Time & 7 Paid Holidays
• Up to 6 Weeks Paid Parental Leave at 100% of pay
• Up to 2 Weeks Paid Caregiver Leave at 100% of pay
• Short and Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Life, Dependent Life and AD&D Insurance
• Voluntary Term Life Insurance

ALDI is committed to equal opportunity for all employees and applicants. As a proud Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE), we do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, religion, sex, sexual stereotyping, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, pregnancy (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, and medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding), or any other protected characteristic. Employment may be contingent upon ALDI's receipt of an acceptable and job-related drug test, motor vehicle report, and/or reference check, as applicable and permissible by law.