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 plant production lines and warehouse logistics as key internal customers, providing them with rapid, accurate hold-and-release decisions and technical feedback.
• Maintains a strong focus on the end-consumer by ensuring every product released meets Mars’ pet food quality and safety standards.

Instills Trust:

• Gains the confidence and trust of the team by demonstrating absolute honesty, transparency, and consistency in recording compliance data and executing food safety checks.
• Stands firm on quality and food safety standards, representing data accurately and truthfully even under pressure from production deadlines.

Key Functional Competencies & Technical Skills (3-5)

Practices Excellence in Quality:

• Risk & Opportunity Management — Competently identifies and mitigates food safety risks through robust change management and process monitoring.

• Product Quality Custodian — Authoritatively guards finished product quality, consumer safety, and brand equity.

• Continuous Improvement — Uses trend analysis to drive systemic site-level improvements.

Technical Writing & QMS Control (Preferred) Drafts clear, legally robust Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that stand up to regulatory audits.

The base pay range for this position at commencement of employment is between the range listed below, however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position will include variable pay, medical and dental benefits, participation in 401k plan, and paid time off benefits. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an applicant receives an offer of employment.

The pay range shown is applicable to all US locations listed within the job posting:USD 82,748.00 - USD 113,779.00