Want to help us bring happiness to the world? Want to join an ambitious and fast growing global biscuits and confectionery business investing heavily in iconic global brands, infrastructure and people? Then this is the place for you.

As proud bakers and chocolatiers and custodians of iconic global brands, we don’t compromise on the quality of ingredients in our products or on the people we hire. We are looking for entrepreneurial spirits who share our passion for bringing happiness to our consumers and who embody our Winning Traits.

To succeed at pladis you need to be purpose-led , resilient and positive to succeed here because we expect pace and agility , we insist on collaboration and demand accountability. If that is your thing, then pladis offers global ambition, a clear Vision and roadmap for success, challenge, and unrivalled opportunities to learn and make an impact

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PURPOSE:

Reporting to the Director of Quality and Food Safety – pladis Americas, the Senior Manager, External Food Safety & Quality plays a critical role in ensuring the safety, quality, and compliance of products made by our external manufacturing and supply partners. This role blends strategic oversight with hands-on execution, and is ideal for someone who thrives at the intersection of technical expertise, regulatory knowledge, and cross-functional collaboration.

The Senior Manager, External Quality & Food Safety will lead the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of external food safety and quality oversight systems across the Americas region. This role requires deep technical expertise in food safety principles, regulatory compliance, and quality assurance programs. The ideal candidate brings a strategic mindset, the ability to manage complexity, and a proven track record of collaborating with external manufacturing and supply chain partners to ensure compliance with pladis' world-class standards.

This individual will be responsible for building and sustaining robust oversight programs tailored to a wide range of food categories and operational maturity levels. Success in this role requires a combination of technical acumen, auditing expertise, and leadership capability to drive performance, mitigate risk, and support business growth.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES AND DELIVERABLES:

Core Responsibilities

• Lead external Food Safety & Quality oversight: Develop, implement, and maintain robust food safety and quality management systems across all external partners, ensuring alignment with pladis' business strategies and global standards.
• Ensure specification and regulatory compliance: Ensure our supply base complies with all applicable regulations and programs—including FSMA, FSVP, import/export requirements, and Yildiz Holding standards. Partner with Procurement and other internal teams to evaluate and improve supplier performance.
• Act as a customer-facing Food Safety & Quality expert: Represent pladis in customer-facing quality conversations. Provide food safety education and support to internal Sales teams, and define key KPIs to track quality performance across sales channels.
• Manage risk-based auditing: Design and execute an annual audit program for our external supply base, prioritizing based on supplier risk, performance history, and business needs.
• Provide cross-functional leadership: Serve as a subject matter expert in food safety and quality, offering guidance and insight to teams across R&D, Operations, and Commercial.

1. Food Safety & Quality Oversight (60%)
Lead the design, execution, and governance of the external food safety and quality management system. Develop and maintain procedures, monitoring systems, and verification protocols to ensure partner compliance with pladis' standards and regulatory obligations. Drive continuous improvement across the external network through data analysis, risk-based auditing, and corrective action strategies.

2. Customer Interface & Support (20%)
Serve as the primary quality liaison to customers and sales teams regarding product quality, food safety inquiries, and audit support. Ensure proactive communication and resolution of customer concerns and quality-related requests.

3. Training & Capability Building (10%)
Design and deliver targeted training programs to cross-functional teams on external food safety and quality requirements, systems, and best practices. Build organizational capability and awareness to drive compliance and quality excellence.

4. Team Leadership & Development (10%)
Manage and mentor direct reports. Provide coaching, performance management, and career development aligned to functional competencies and succession planning goals.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Essential Criteria

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science or a related discipline.
• Deep functional expertise in food safety and quality systems.
• Formal training/certification in auditing (e.g., GFSI-recognized schemes, HACCP, etc.).
• Proficiency in analyzing and translating data into actionable business insights.
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to represent pladis externally with suppliers, licensees, and customers.
• Proven ability to integrate food safety and quality into operational and strategic business plans.
• Strong leadership and people development skills, including performance management and succession planning.

Desirable Criteria

• Master’s degree in Food Science or related field

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:

Basic Qualifications

• 8–10 years of progressive leadership experience in food safety and quality, including quality systems, manufacturing operations, sanitation, and pest control.
• Demonstrated ability to lead external oversight programs and evaluate third-party manufacturers, suppliers, and partners.
• Strong knowledge of global food safety standards, auditing protocols, and applicable regulatory requirements.

pladis is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to hiring a diverse workforce. All openings will be filled based on qualifications without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability, age, religion or any other classification protected by law.

We operate a strict Preferred Supplier List. If you are a recruitment agency and wish to submit candidate to be considered for this vacancy, you must have agreed to, and signed, our terms of business.
We will not accept CVs from any other sources other than those currently on our PSL. We will not pay a fee for any candidate that has not been represented by a provider on our PSL.