Balchem Corporation develops, manufactures and markets specialty ingredients that improve and enhance the health and well-being of life on the planet, providing state-of-the-art solutions and the finest quality products for a range of industries worldwide. Our corporate headquarters is located in New Hampton, New York, (Hudson Valley area) and we have a broad network of sales offices, manufacturing sites, and R&D centers, primarily located in the US and Europe. Founded in 1967, Balchem is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ – “BCPC”) with annual revenues over $640 million and a market cap exceeding $3.0 billion. The company consists of three business segments: Human Nutrition & Health; Animal Nutrition & Health; and Specialty Products. Balchem employs over 1,400 people worldwide who are engaged in diverse activities, committed to developing the company into global market leadership positions. To learn more about our dynamic, stable and growing company, visit www.balchem.com
Position Summary
Lead a team to meet or exceed personnel safety, food safety, and food quality goals of the company. This position exemplifies a positive culture that encourages continuous improvement and collaboration.
Essential Functions
Responsible for team incident rate consistent with Balchem company goals; must maintain department safety rules compliance and be a positive safety role model
Responsible for ensuring an organized, clean and safe work environment; responsible for general housekeeping of all Quality work areas, including 5S efforts
Must have regular safety discussions with team and proactively listen to employees’ safety concerns/suggestions; must act upon those concerns and provide feedback
Must participate in all incident/near miss investigations for team
Assure that quality employees are appropriately trained, coached and developed in support of individual career development paths and Balchem growth plans; including training on safe work practices, food safety, and quality practices
Follow all Food safety practices and processes applicable to the department and promote food safety and quality to all Balchem departments
Execute what is required by the company QMS; Implement and train your department and other departments in Quality Management Systems (QMS) requirements. Strive to promote a world-class Quality organization
Monitor and maintain all food safety activities as part of daily tasks and enforce food safety plan.
Build and maintain a high-performance team environment and coach others in effective team interaction and function; foster an environment of empowerment
Foster a team-oriented culture of coordination, cooperation and communication cross functionally throughout the company
Conduct timely and thorough employee reviews giving accurate and constructive feedback to reports
Coordinate and conduct meetings with direct reports individually and in regularly scheduled team meetings
Must assess employees for selection, promotion and discipline situations
Support and assist the manufacturing teams to meet customer and product quality performance requirements
Effectively represent the quality team and QA issues to all internal and external customers in a timely manner
Communicate non-conformances and lead root cause analysis investigations followed up by corrective action
Conduct GMP audits and communicate results to the leadership teams; enforce all GMP expectations within the facility and with all employees, customers and vendors
Effectively manage the QC lab and technicians to ensure appropriate inventory levels for supplies and equipment; monitor equipment upkeep and calibration; ensure that appropriate documentation is completed
Manage the facility sanitation group and maintain cleaning chemical inventory; ensure systems are in place to minimize cost and maintain just in time deliveries
Communication clearly with all team members and leaders in a 24x7 manufacturing environment and ensure Quality coverage , including working in the lab when the team is short-staffed
Maintain Pest Control program including coordination of vendor activities and follow-through/completion of the issues determined by the vendor
Drive, initiate, and support continuous improvement and elimination of waste and variation in processes using established improvement processes
Document and monitor procedures and processes to eliminate variation and promote sharing of knowledge
Learn, understand, train to, develop and follow documented internal controls, policies, procedures, and work procedures and drive others to do so
All other duties as necessary to the success of Balchem Corporation
Requirements
Requires a two-year technical degree with 7-10 years of related experience or a four-year technical degree and 3 + years related experience
Proven direct people and project leadership experience; minimum of 3 years leadership experience in a manufacturing environment preferred
HACCP knowledge and understanding required/PCQI preferred
Strong proven knowledge of food GMP’s or drug or medical device experience is required
Proficient computer skills (Word, Excel, ERP, LIMS)
Knowledge of Spanish preferred
Clear sense of urgency and ability to manage priorities, time, and workload efficiently. And the ability to prioritize and modify priorities accordingly
Strong safety, food-safety, and quality orientation and ability to promote these standards and hold people accountable in a cross-functional environment
Self-motivation and ability to work independently; ability and willingness to provide support and training to employees on all shifts
Demonstrated ability to work and develop others in a team environment
Must be able to communicate and handle conflict in a professional manner
Ability to give and receive constructive feedback
Ability and willingness to learn, practice, and improve documented work procedures
Strong verbal and written communication skills to discuss, develop, and implement plans
High sensitivity to quality and on time delivery of materials and services
Working Conditions
While performing the functions of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, stand, walk, talk, and hear
Occasionally required to kneel, crouch, crawl, bend, ascend and descend stairs and/or ladders
Frequently required to use hands and fingers to feel, handle, or operate objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms
May occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds
Vision requirements include close vision, depth perception, color vision, and the ability to adjust focus
This job is performed in a production environment in a manufacturing location
The noise level in the plant is moderate to loud
There will be exposure to machine noise and food dust when in the plant
While performing the duties of this job, the employee regularly works near moving mechanical parts and with or around various chemicals
The employee is occasionally exposed to vibration and risk of electric shock
Production Environment includes varying temperatures (heat, cold and moisture)