Quality Manager, Customers

Job Description

It’s an exciting time to be part of the IFF family! We are a global leader in taste, scent and nutrition, offering our customers a broader range of natural solutions and accelerating our growth strategy. We are excited to welcome a new Quality Manager (Customers), and we hope it’s you! In this role you can be fully remote or on-site/hybrid within our European locations.

This key role supports the Customer Quality PhS strategy. The role represents the voice of the customer, in quality and product safety topics, to improve our standing with the customer, advocate for excellent performance, reduce financial risk, and enable optimum business growth. This role is a primary customer quality representative, with accountability to ensure that customer is provided with accurate information, customer requirements are negotiated where necessary, nonstandard commitments made to customer are appropriate, and IFF facilities comply with agreed commitments.  This role advocates for the customer and for a strong quality management system when addressing complaints, issues, and audit findings related to IFF manufacturing facilities and third-party warehouses.

Your Responsibilities:

• Primary quality customer representative represents IFF at customer quality meetings and supports customer satisfaction and product assurance meetings. As required, may travel to customer facilities and/or IFF sites where customers are visiting or auditing.
• Partners with business cross-functional teams in order to understand the customer’s vision, strategies, needs, and quality agenda, and IFF’s management plan for customer.
• Develops customer documents for communicating product/site quality issues (e.g., recalls, corrections). Liaise with R&D, Sales, Regulatory, Legal, Commercial, and AD&I as necessary to optimize documentation and communication flow. Leads customer calls as needed to provide appropriate information and bring back customer concerns/queries to internal team. 
• Coordinates development/routine review of and updates to documentation describing product quality and quality management systems at the various manufacturing sites and for the various product lines and grades (markets). Identifies the need for new documentation based on new types of customer queries and/or changes in quality standards, industry best practices, and trade association recommendations. Liaise with teams as necessary to evaluate and address atypical customer requests and new document development.
• Supports atypical customer queries, working with appropriate roles (e.g., Quality Manager, Tech Info, Pharma Info, Regulatory) as needed.
• Supports Quality Agreement work processes.  Negotiates customer quality agreement wording where necessary.  Knows when to consult Legal regarding language used.  Ensures business and sites can align with negotiated terms. Ensures database is kept up to date with current contracts and contact information. Creates amendments to quality agreements when changes occur.
• As needed, assists complaint and other customer issue management by ensuring the optimal communication flow between IFF and the customer that meets their expectations. Assist sites in becoming independent in responding appropriately to complaints.
• As needed, assist customer audit planning process and audit finding responses. Assist sites in becoming independent in responding appropriately to audit findings.
• Lead customer quality-related projects, propose and lead updates to customer quality work processes.
• Develop, deploy, monitor, and communicate appropriate Customer Satisfaction KPI’s based on the understanding of Key Performance expectations of the customer and IFF account team. 
   

Job Requirements

Your Qualifications:

• BS in Microbiology, Chemistry, Biological Sciences, Food Technology, related Science field, or equivalent experience.
• Demonstrated understanding of product safety and regulatory requirements for food, pharmaceutical excipients, cosmetics, and/or API.
• Demonstrated understanding of quality management systems and standards, especially those pertinent to food, pharmaceutical excipients, cosmetics, and/or API.
• Ability to work independently to manage work progression and timelines.
• Ability to share responsibilities and work within teams and across functions and business units.
• Ability to lead new and improvement projects.
• Shows initiative beyond the scope of a project/task.
• Fluent in speaking and writing English.
• Good communication skills – able to handle difficult conversations and remain calm and solution oriented.  Creates trust.
   

Your Preferred Experience:

• Around 8-10 years’ experience working in a Good Manufacturing Practice environment
• Experience in leading root cause analysis and investigations
• Strong technical writing experience
• Experience in writing legal documents (e.g. contracts, patents)
• Makes difficult decisions in a timely manner, sometimes with incomplete information and under tight deadlines and pressure

The Pharma Solutions business will be taking on its next chapter of growth as a trusted partner for the pharmaceutical industry with the announcement to sell Pharma Solutions to Roquette. This move will position Pharma Solutions to expand its industry leadership through continued investment in innovation to meet the evolving needs of pharmaceutical manufacturers and developers worldwide. The sale is presently expected to close in the first half of 2025, pending regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. The Pharma Solutions business unit will remain a part of IFF until close and, at such time, it will transition to Roquette. In applying for this position, you acknowledge your awareness that the position is a part of the Pharma Solutions business unit and has been identified to transition to Roquette.

We are a global leader in taste, scent and nutrition, offering our customers a broader range of natural solutions and accelerating our growth strategy. At IFF, we believe that your uniqueness unleashes our potential. We value the diverse mosaic of the ethnicity, national origin, race, age, sex or veteran status. We strive for an inclusive workplace that allows each of our colleagues to bring their authentic self to work regardless of their religion, gender identity & expression, sexual orientation, or disability.

Visit IFF.com/careers/workplace-diversity-and-inclusion to learn more.