Kelly Science & Clinical is seeking seeking a QA Specialist - Dairy and CPG near Evanston, IL.

Direct Hire

Shift: Monday - Friday 8am-5pm

Compensation: $80,000- $90,000/year DOE

Are you a quality-driven expert with a passion for product development and a strong foundation in food safety and regulatory compliance? Join our team as a Quality Assurance Specialist, where you’ll play a key role in shaping the future of our innovative, top-quality dairy products. This role offers a unique opportunity to drive impact across product development, regulatory compliance, and customer quality in an exciting and fast-paced environment.

Key Areas of Responsibility:

Product Development

• Spearhead formulation work for new and existing projects, manage item specifications, and lead competitive benchmarking.
• Support product shelf-life studies and tastings to ensure we deliver the highest-quality products to market.

Regulatory Compliance

• Serve as the main point-of-contact for FDA audits, ensuring business unit readiness for FSVP/FSMA regulations.
• Coordinate compliance efforts with the Global Audit Team and maintain up-to-date site and supplier documentation.
• Support product claims and program certifications to align with all regulatory and customer expectations.

Customer Quality

• Manage the end-to-end process of registering, analyzing, and resolving customer complaints, collaborating with the global technical team.
• Provide insightful reporting and trend analysis on customer feedback to drive continuous improvement in product quality.
• Serve as the liaison for customer inquiries, audits, and technical forms.

Product Quality

• Conduct root-cause analyses for product quality issues, work on solutions with internal and external partners, and oversee laboratory testing submissions.

Audit & Risk Management

• Lead North American site audits and serve as the quality liaison with key sites.
• Ensure third-party vendors meet company standards and contribute to business continuity initiatives.

Key Requirements:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in a related field required.
• Experience: 4-6 years in quality management, regulatory compliance, and/or product development in a medium to large organization, with a preference for candidates from the CPG or dairy sectors.
• Technical Skills: Strong background in HACCP, BRC, FSVP, FSMA, quality audits, and Quality Management Systems (QMS).
• Knowledge Base: Expertise in Microbiology and Food Safety, with hands-on experience in sensory evaluation of dairy products or a willingness to learn.
• Audit & Problem-Solving Skills: Skilled in supplier and customer audits, with robust decision-making abilities and a proactive approach to quality standards.
• Preferred Certifications: FSVP certification (or willingness to obtain within six months of hire).