Director Food Safety, Quality & Regulatory

Company Description

Since 1940, Dairy Queen® has been one of the world’s best known and loved brands. Based in Minneapolis, MN, International Dairy Queen Inc., (IDQ), is the parent company of American Dairy Queen Corporation. As a leading franchisor, there are more than 7,000 independently owned and operated restaurants in the U.S., Canada and more than 20 countries around the world. IDQ is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Berkshire) which is led by Warren Buffett, the legendary investor and CEO of Berkshire.

Here at IDQ, we create extraordinary Fan experiences every day and we do this through our commitment to hiring and retaining only the best in class talent. We firmly believe that our employees are the catalyst to the success of the company where their initiative, strategic thinking, and entrepreneurial spirit are recognized and rewarded. We're looking for motivated, passionate and dedicated individuals with an inherent need and ambition to go after bigger challenges.

Job Description

We have an exciting opportunity available for a Director Food, Safety, Quality & Regulatory working hybrid out of our corporate headquarters in Bloomington, MN.  This position provides strategic leadership and direction within the Food, Safety, Quality and Regulatory team. While it has a significant number of within-department responsibilities, it also works with cross-functional teams to deliver high quality and safe products to restaurants, ensure regulatory compliance, and lead select corporate responsibility initiatives.

Key Accountabilities Include:

Food Safety and Quality 

Leads and directs strategic development, improvement, implementation, execution, measurement and communication of risk-based quality and food safety programs, tools and outcomes that are designed to deliver safe and high-quality food for Dairy Queen business lines. Key areas of responsibility within this accountability include:

• Vendor, product (food, packaging, and chemicals), commissary and warehouse qualification, onboarding, compliance, risk assessment and management
• Specification compliance – tools, measurement, reporting, trends, feedback and continuous improvement 
• Issue resolution: Proactively and reactively monitor, manage and communicate quality and food safety issues (complaint response, holds, withdrawals, recalls, recovery, crises, guest incidents), including determining root cause analysis
• Food Safety Modernization Act 204 compliance lead for warehouses, suppliers, and DQ restaurants 
• Identifies trends and applies advanced technical knowledge and skills to solve problems develop corrective actions for on-going supplier quality issues related to product manufacturing and quality control.
• Work with Product Development, Legal and Supply Chain to define process parameters and criteria to ensure supplier process capability is effective and compliant to all laws/regulations required
• Technical problem solving
• Partnership with Product Development during development and test phase

Relationship Building and Communication

• Develops positive cross functional (within IDQ) and external relationships (suppliers, government, industry associations, industry leaders) that generate strategic direction, business solutions, create trust, and help develop future department strategies that align with the evolving business.
• Identifies situations that warrant communication and promptly and effectively communicates need-to-know FSQR items to internal and external stakeholders

Team and Department Leadership

• Develops strategies and team & department goals that align with department mission and business goals
• Provides routine coaching and direction to team members to help ensure department and company goals are prioritized and met
• Identifies and implements strategies to generate team member satisfaction and productivity
• Elevates team or project issues to department and company leadership as appropriate
• Provides input to and helps manage department budget

Restaurant Food Safety (as assigned)

• Directs team members to or as a contributor, monitors and interprets restaurant regulatory and food safety changes (e.g., Food Code, nutrition, etc.) and communicates to and collaborates with internal stakeholders on solutions. May be asked to lead compliance projects.
• Partners with CSS and other stakeholders to review and improve restaurant HACCP program

Corporate responsibility (as assigned)

• Work with internal stakeholders and lead (where assigned) corporate responsibility initiatives. May include creation of strategies, implementation, execution, project management and report

The US national base salary range for this position is $128,841 - $161,052. This position is also eligible for a bonus. The base salary range displayed reflects the targeted hiring range for positions across all US locations. Individual pay is determined by job-related skills, work location and relevant education or experience.

Qualifications

Education/Experience:

• B.S. Degree in food science or closely related field
• Must have 8-10 years of experience in quality management and food safety. ·
• Minimum of three years of experience managing employees required. ·
• Ideally has experience working within a franchisor organization, preferably a QSR brand.

Skills:

• Ability to lead teams, to manage progress effectively in ambiguous and sometimes unstructured situations. · Capable of delivering challenging/constructive feedback to suppliers or internal personnel and maintaining steady direction yielding right results quickly. ·
• Project management - demonstrated ability to develop efficient planning methodologies and effective utilization of resources to achieve high value results. ·
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple, complex projects and responsibilities in a fast-changing and deadline-driven environment. ·
• Ability to influence individuals across diverse functions to gain support and meet established objectives; able to articulate technical information to a variety of audiences. ·
• Relationship building skills with the ability to create mutually beneficial relationships with both internal and external clients. ·
• Strategic and creative thinker that can create and execute business-relevant strategies ·
• Expertise in food manufacturing, processes and packaging. Knowledge of food purchasing, distribution and logistics. ·
• Knowledge of current industry and technical issues associated with food safety, nutrition, public health, environment and animal rights. ·
• Thorough knowledge of safety, microbiology, HACCP/HARPC, FDA, USDA, GMP and regulatory requirements applicable in US and Canada. ·
• Ability to apply sound technical principles to root cause analyses, problem solving and project management. Strong analytical skills. ·
• Ability to organize collection of data, analyze information and capture conclusions. Strong knowledge of quality and associated statistics.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. ·
• Proficient in Microsoft Office software ·
• Well organized with a high attention to detail and accuracy. ·
• Provide excellent customer service to both internal and external clients. ·

Ability to work quickly in a fast-paced environment with frequent interruptions. · · Ability to travel 30% of the time. · Hybrid position requires a minimum of 2 or more days in office but must be available to work in office as duties require.

Additional Information

Benefits

Our benefit package supports the well-being of our employees and their families.  Our comprehensive benefit package includes, medical, dental, 401K match, paid time off (including volunteer time as well as parental leave) and so much more!  To learn more about our great benefit offerings, Click Here.

Work Environment

Most positions located out of our global headquarters in Bloomington, MN will work a hybrid work schedule where you will work 2 collaboration days a week.  Additional in office time may be required to support team/project needs.  Positions will be identified as “remote eligible” when consideration will be given to candidates outside of drivable distance to our Bloomington office.

Inclusion & Belonging

We are committed to creating a culture of inclusion and belonging for all who touch DQ. We believe in and commit to fostering a community where employees bring their authentic selves to work, and where we recruit, engage, and retain employees, franchise owners, and suppliers based on qualifications and merit. We strive to maintain an environment where everyone feels welcome.

IDQ is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we use E-Verify to confirm the identity and employment eligibility of all new team members. You must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship.