Vp, Quality Assurance & Food Safety And Sanitation

Position overview:

You may know us for our delicious cheesecakes…and for being recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For®” 8 years in a row! What you may not know is at The Cheesecake Factory Bakery, our staff members are our highest quality ingredient.

Reporting to the Bakery President, you will be responsible for all Food Safety, Quality Assuranceand Sanitation activity and results for two bakery plants that cover 160,000+ square feet and operate up to three shifts per day, seven days per week. We need a strategic and tactical leader to join our team. This person will bring significant knowledge of GMPs, HACCP, AIB, SQF and regulatory compliance to the table. The successful candidate will have experience with leading a team of quality professionals as a hands-on manager and will be a champion of quality via critical thinking and problem solving for a bakery with more than 600 total staff members that create delicious cheesecakes and memorable experiences.

You’ll thrive in this position if you are:

• An Experienced People Manager: you’re at home managing and elevating a team. You lead by example and enable your staff to realize their potential.
• Driven by results: you’re conscientious and persistent about delivering timely, high quality deliverables and performing all job functions safely while following instructions.
• Adaptable: you’re at ease in a fast-paced environment and able to effortlessly change direction when priorities shift, learning to perform new tasks as required for business needs and willing to work various shifts and extended hours if necessary.
• Improvement Focused: you never turn off the thought “how can I do this better or faster?".

Here’s more of what you’ll get to do:

• Ensure highly disciplined compliance with all regulatory and Company defined Food Safety and Sanitation standards, systems, procedures, and practices to guarantee absolute wholesomeness of our product. Examples of these systems include; Vendor Certification, Inbound Inspection, Microbiological Testing, Lot Tracking, daily and periodic Sanitation, HACCP, Pest Control, and Food Safety and Quality Systems Training.
• Oversee, direct, and manage the Quality Assurance function to ensure highly disciplined compliance with all product and process quality parameters and standards including formulations, specifications, approved methods, procedures, practices and systems. These systems include:
  • Product and process quality management system (Product Quality Guarantee)
  • Customer complaint response, resolution, and tracking
  • Product quality evaluation
  • Foreign matter/metal monitoring, resolution, and tracking “Hold” program
• Obtain excellent quality results, as measured by customer complaint frequency, product evaluation scores, internal and external facility and operational audit scores, quality systems compliance, and other formal and informal feedback mechanisms, using existing methods, procedures, and systems.
• Manage Technical Services function to build and maintain adequacy and accuracy of technical data, including specifications for product and process parameters and procedures, labeling details, formulations, recipes, and batch sheets. This function also facilitates and spearheads product and process troubleshooting.
• Develop, implement, and sustain new methods and procedures to drive improvements in quality and safety.
• Work with plant managers, plant engineers and other team members to ensure effective preventive & emergency maintenance activities.
• Manage departmental activity to comply with all applicable safety laws and regulations, as well as Company safety policies, procedures and standards.
• Work with division and plant team members to ensure a safe work environment, including participating in safety inspections, safety training, leading safety work group meetings, and developing and executing safety awareness initiatives.
• Work to optimize efficiency within budgeted spending limits.

What we require:

• Minimum of 10+ years of experience in food manufacturing management, preferably in the bakery/dessert industry, with demonstrated success at the Senior Director of Quality Assurance level.
• Knowledge of GMP’s, HACCP, AIB and SQF.
• Sense of urgency and ownership regarding role and the needs of the department.
• Strong quantitative skills, interpersonal skills, and the ability to think critically.
• Self-direction with the ability to work independently as well as with groups.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to effectively plan, organize and prioritize work.
• Bachelor's degree in microbiology, chemistry, food science or closely related discipline.

What we prefer:

• Advanced technical degree in microbiology, chemistry, food science or closely related discipline.
• Bi-lingual (English/Spanish) preferred.

Our state-of-the-art The Cheesecake Factory Bakery creates over 35,000 delicious cheesecakes per day across our two facilities in Calabasas, CA and Rocky Mountain, NC plus other baked products for our restaurants, international licensees, and third-party bakery customers.

The Cheesecake Factory Bakery is a subsidiary of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated. Recognized as a Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® since 2014, The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is a global $3.3 billion public company with more than 300 casual dining restaurants.

We offer a people-centered culture and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for all. We welcome applicants from a wide variety of identities, ideas, perspectives, and experiences, and encourage individuals from underrepresented backgrounds to apply.

#SoCheesecake #LifeAtCheesecake

We are an E-Verify and equal opportunity employer. The Cheesecake Factory Bakery offers reasonable accommodations to job applicants with disabilities.