Quality Assurance Manager, Food Safety

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

The Quality Assurance Manager, Food Safety will support Bloomin Brands restaurants by promoting the highest levels of food safety and product quality through partnerships with suppliers, restaurant operations, restaurant support team, as well as third party auditing agencies.

The QA Manager position takes an active role in advancing food safety and quality for all BBI concepts through plant/product audits, partnering with operations/training to share best practices, and communicating effectively with our supply chain support team.

Manage the food safety & quality system of supplier facilities

Implement and maintain the Bloomin' Brands supplier food safety and quality risk assessment program. Ensure every food vendor partner understands the BBI Supplier Expectations Protocol.

Conduct qualification assessments for new and existing suppliers to assure suppliers are in good standing with all regulatory requirements and compliant with current certifications. Follow up on post audit actions.

Proactively identify food safety risks by monitoring 3rd party certification programs; develop mitigation strategies and ensure those are communicated to relevant stakeholders in a timely manner.

Maintain supplier scorecard through the BBI technology platform for continuous improvement including ensuring vendor compliance to documentation.

Create visibility to data and track engagement for suppliers, distributors, and brokers to ensure conformance to food safety and quality.

Align with industry and regulatory through active participation in industry associations and regulatory advisory positions.

Manage restaurant third party auditing companies to proactively mitigate risks

Maintain the Bloomin' Brands restaurant third party food safety audit program.

Manage the third-party audit partner relationships to ensure restaurants are audited within the appropriate guidelines according to company plan, including timelines, auditor performance, auditor expectations and auditor calibration.

Partner with restaurant operations, training and internal teams to proactively mitigate critical food safety risks or failures, ensuring continued timely resolution of all regulatory and health department critical concerns.

Proactively analyzes results of various quality assurance audits, health inspections and other key data metrics to identify key trends and/or risk areas and improvement opportunities.

Other Key Responsibilities

Collaborate proactively concerning product related incidents, supplier issues and opportunities to increase quality and food safety.

Act as a liaison between quality assurance team members and other inter-departmental groups.

Document all pertinent information (including food safety and systems audits) in a complete and timely fashion ensuring its quality and accuracy.

QUALIFICATIONS:

BS and/or MS degree in food science, microbiology, agricultural science, chemistry or related field required.

Minimum 7 years food quality/food manufacturing experience

CPFS (Certified Food Safety Professional with the National Environmental Health Association) or ability to receive certification within one year.

HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) certification and strong knowledge of Good Manufacturing Practices.

Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with a diverse group of people

Excellent oral and written communication skills with emphasis on team development and leadership.

Ability to coach and provide direction to suppliers including recommendations to internal teams.

Problem solving and decision-making skills.

Project management skills including the ability to prioritize and organize assignments.

Travel up to 60%

Knowledge of basic computer skills including MS Office programs