Food Safety & Quality Associate Manager

Description: "Pizza Hut is instituting a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for health and safety reasons. Effective January 3, 2022, Pizza Hut requires that corporate employees are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment, subject to reasonable accommodation as required by law."

Lead the strategic direction for the Food Safety and Quality Product Evaluation Program with a focus on maintaining superior product quality and promoting food safety initiatives for all ingredients and finished products used at Pizza Hut restaurants. Mange assigned product categories ensuring a 360° focus on food safety and quality for Pizza Hut's ingredients. Must work closely with the internal and global QA leaders to define and sustain a Food Safety and Quality Assurance vision that incorporates policies, standards, performance testing approaches, and continuous improvement strategies and frameworks.

Seeking a talented individual with a background in food safety and product quality who will lead and provide strategic direction for their product categories and the Product Quality Evaluation Program. This individual will manage the product quality scientist ensuring all core food ingredients used in Pizza Hut restaurants in the US are meeting specification. This individual will also be responsible for the day-to-day management of assigned product categories.
- Utilize Risk Management approaches for all areas of food safety and quality systems
- Apply best practices in all areas of work while openly and pro-actively sharing with peers, suppliers, internal/external partners, and leaders to create repeatable models for Pizza Hut. Apply the FSQ strategy while remaining flexible to individual team and business needs.
- Collaborate with product development, suppliers, RSCS and Operations teams to onboard new suppliers and ingredients to support menu strategy
- Support new product innovation, providing technical knowledge of supplier process capabilities and providing suggestions or alternatives that help move these projects forward for the business
- Partner with Yum! Global QA and other Yum! Brand FSQ teams to build and connect key business strategies for US suppliers that meet/exceed Global standards and support the Pizza Hut US business
- Provides technical input on product issues, concerns, concept product specifications and quality assurance programs for responsible categories and product evaluation program.
- Ensures specifications, collateral documents and corrective actions for Food Safety and Quality are complete and accurate, and meet product design requirements by partnering with the supplier, innovation, and engineering and serving as a back-up for the Trueview Superuser.
- Develop a deep technical know-how of assigned categories, serving as the business expert for this area.
- Refine, update, and enhance Pizza Hut FSQ tools streamlining efficiency through the development of new more effective techniques and programs
- For key categories and product evaluations, assists on corrective actions, troubleshooting and fact finding on product complaints and quality issues through targeted evaluations.
- Identifies quality improvement needs for assigned categories and establishes measurable performance goals for those categories.
- Manages quality improvements projects, cost savings projects and alternate vendor approvals working cross-functionally with innovation, FSQ, suppliers, distribution, and supply chain.
- Manage supplier performance and continuous improvement through 3rd party audits, KPI reports, complaint analysis, targeted visits, supplier relationships and emerging technology.
- Directs decisions and/or assists in product recoveries as necessary utilizing Crisis Product Recovery System.

Be open and willing to support other areas of the FIT team during product shows and summits. A successful candidate must have strong personal drive, excellent leadership and team building skills. Solid analytical skills, and excellent time management skills with a foundation in technical knowledge to support a wide variety of testing and project needs. Projects and timelines in this environment can be fast moving so the ability to be flexible in their approach is key to the success of this candidate. A forward thinker who is a problem solver with a strong foundation in manufacturing and product quality. Most importantly this person must have a desire to work hard with a strong and collaborative team in a positive culture. They must have the desire to deliver quality results while being a role model for the How We Win Together principles. They must be able to complete multiple concurrent tasks and projects in a timely manner and have the ability to prioritize work in a fast-paced environment. They will be expected to lead and direct with Heart, Smart and Courage to ensure positive team growth and development of Pizza Hut talent.

This position will be responsible for maintaining Food Safety and Quality standards, which include but not limited to:
- Monitor and drive the food safety, quality, and supplier performance for assigned food categories. Connect with key partners to develop and promote positive business results through open communication and strong partnerships.
- Drive superior quality products by leading and providing daily support for the PH FSQ Product Evaluation program and continuing to enhance and develop the future strategy of this program.
- Use specification management, supplier audits, product evaluations and non-conformance monitoring to ensure compliance to all Pizza Hut standards and specifications. Partner with our Third-Party Restaurant Food Safety Audit Team to ensure standards are clear, and applied correctly to drive continuous improvement with our supplier base
- Trend analysis of data to drive supplier continuous improvement for the brand. Developing tools and methods to be used on all categories.
- Presents regularly to cross functional partners, suppliers, and leaders either in person or virtually as the business requires.
- Develop flexibility to work in all food categories (meats, grains, dairy, produce, sauces, seasoning and beverages) and have the ability to develop and lead in related areas including field practices, animal welfare, manufacturing, distribution and restaurant practices.
- Demonstrates critical thinking around project objectives, goals, and next steps
- Anticipates needs and challenges of the business and work to develop strategies and solutions that will help the team navigate these challenges
- Strong decision making and process leadership is needed with a healthy balance of fact based know how and practicality of execution. This role requires a forward-thinking problem solver, who is flexible in their approach for driving continuous improvement. Most importantly this person must have a desire to build a strong team that works well together, delivers quality results, and role models the how we work together principles.
EDUCATION:
- Bachelor of Science in Food Science (desirable), Biology, Food Engineering, Chemistry, Microbiology or related field.

EXPERIENCE and JOB REQUIREMENTS

Must be fully vaccinated by January 3, 2022, subject to reasonable accommodation as required by law. Proof of vaccination required.

Knowledge Base
- 5+ years of experience with food industry and/or analytical laboratory environment
- Food Safety and Quality system auditing experience and HACCP experience
- Knowledge of government regulations and role of FDA, USDA, Food Code & Crisis Management
- Demonstrates a general understanding of economic metrics for facility and business operations
Core Skills
- Strong Leadership and Team Building Skills
- Strong analytical method, organizational and data management skills
- Pragmatic Problem Solver. Provide practical and scientifically backed recommendation for testing methods and work with team to drive improvement in quality program.
- Strong personal motivation and drive for professional and personal growth
- Strong communication skills both written and oral
- Demonstrated strong attention to detail and organization, data management and analysis.
- Excellent computer skills including Microsoft Office (with focus on Teams, Excel and PowerPoint)
- Collaboration

- Demonstrates living the 'Taking People with You' culture.
- Leads with Heart, Smart and Courage
- Positive energy in delivering a customer service mindset and food safety first culture
- Ability to develop and maintain strong, effective relationships across the organization and with external suppliers and consultants
- Effectively work with a wide range of individual management styles