Quality & Food Safety Technologist

Job Description:

This role is a key member of the local R&D/Q&FS plant-based team, directly supporting the manufacturing site. The technologist operates daily in a highly cross-functional environment, partnering with Supply Operations, Engineering, Maintenance, Logistics, and Sanitation teams to ensure standard alignment.

To be effective, this role requires a strong degree of peer-leadership and technical courage. The associate must be comfortable asserting authority to halt production lines, reject raw materials, or place finished goods on hold without direct reporting authority. Furthermore, the position acts as a direct communication link between site operations and regional R&D stakeholders, helping to translate complex corporate policies into simple, repeatable operating procedures.

Key Responsibilities

• Standards & Regulatory Alignment: Ensure all site processes and procedures strictly comply with corporate Mars Quality and Food Safety Standards, Business Unit directives, and regulatory agency regulations.
• HACCP & Risk Management: Serve as a core Food Safety Representative for the site HACCP Team and Food Safety Team, leading and supporting risk assessments for all facility changes (CAB, new products/packaging/processes) and validating Critical Control Points (CCPs).
• Incident & Hold Management: Manage the site product hold-and-release programs within SAP, NCMGT, and Nexus. Ensuring proper isolation, disposition, and destruction of non-conforming materials and products.
• Audit & CAPA Leadership: Supports site internal audits and Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) programs to drive continuous system improvements.
• Incident Response & RCA: Serve as a PRIMP (Product Related Incident Management Process) owner, leading structured root-cause analysis (RCA) sessions and recommending corrective actions.
• Continuous Improvement: Works to identify defects and trends in site processes.  Develop and/or lead improvement projects in alignment with the Site Q&FS Manager.
• Capability & Training: Develop and deliver interactive food safety and GMP training modules to build technical capability and a strong quality culture among site associates.
• Finished Product Release: Execute the final release of finished products, ensuring all quality and food safety specifications have been met.
• Other Duties: assigned by the Site Quality and Food Safety Manager

Education & Professional Qualifications

• Required: Bachelor’s degree in food science, Microbiology, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a closely related scientific discipline.
• Preferred: Active HACCP, HARPC, or PCQI (Preventive Controls Qualified Individual) certification.
• Preferred: FSSC 22000 internal auditor certification

Knowledge / Experience

• Experience: 2+ years in a food or related manufacturing facility, with hands-on experience in HACCP, food safety management systems, and internal auditing.
• Technical Skills: Strong ability to lead Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and write clear, audit-ready technical procedures.
• Systems: High proficiency in Microsoft Office; direct experience with SAP is highly preferred.
• Interpersonal & Courage: Strong technical courage to confidently halt production or hold inventory, alongside excellent communication skills to coach floor operators.
• Physical & Environmental: Ability to stand and walk the manufacturing floor for prolonged periods of time, working safely around high-speed machinery in hot, dusty, or noisy plant environments.

Key Mars Leadership Competencies (4-6)

Action Oriented: 

• Take swift, decisive action with a high sense of urgency when out-of-specification (OOS) data or process deviations are identified.
• Enthusiastically tackles daily quality challenges on the production floor, proactively working to resolve minor compliance issues before they escalate.

Collaborates:

• Build strong, trusting partnerships with floor associates, warehouse teams, and sanitation associates to meet shared site safety and quality goals.
• Works cooperatively within the local Q&FS team, sharing insights and assisting peers to maintain complete site coverage.

Customer Focus:

• Treats pla