Site Quality Manager - Unilever South Africa

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world. 

At Unilever, your career will be a unique journey, grounded in our inclusive, collaborative, and flexible working environment. We don’t believe in the ‘one size fits all’ approach and instead, we will equip you with the tools you need to shape your own future.

JOB PURPOSE

Find your purpose at Unilever. You will lead innovations, big and small, that will make our business win and grow. You will learn from brilliant business leaders and colleagues in a truly global and diverse culture to ultimately become a better you. 

 The Site Quality Manager role implements Unilever specifications, standards and Quality Management System (QMS) for quality assurance and controls in alignment with applicable regulatory requirements. This key Quality role ensures systems are in place to comply with local regulatory requirements and drives site Quality improvement activities to ensure product consumer safety & overall quality and address consumer/customer issues.

WHAT WILL YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES BE

Leadership, People, Culture & Linkage

• Deploys UL Quality strategy and goals through site specific projects and targets
• Provides Quality leadership to influence Site Q culture through activities to create passion for
• products and brands, visibility for quality, and coaching of site leadership
• Builds quality and consumer safety skills and knowledge through coaching and training of factory team
• Ensures Quality team has level of required skills and knowledge as appropriate to support site quality programs
• Builds Site Quality talent through recruiting, coaching and training
• Participates as lead for Site Quality in Quality meetings and forums as needed
• Participates as lead for Site Quality in virtual site network meetings and forums
• Core member of site leadership team ensuring site objectives as a whole are met

Quality Systems Management

• Ensures UL QMS is implemented locally to assure consumer safety and overall quality of the final product being manufactured
• Verifies compliance of site operations to UL QMS and other applicable quality related requirements through program of internal audits
• Ensures complete, accurate and on-time submission of annual Quality Verification program selfassessment
• Ensures that Unilever and applicable external standards and requirements are accurately represented in local procedures and work instructions
• Reviews and analyzes site quality KPIs, loss trees, and data to understand quality performanceand identify areas for improvement
• Ensures that site details for Inter-Company Quality Agreements are provided to MCO receiving the product, as appropriate to product being sourced
• Ensures site maintains satisfactory standings and approvals for Unilever and applicable customer required audits / certifications
• Ensures site compliance with all local regulatory requirements related to consumer safety and product quality, and that ethnic and religious requirements are in place and maintained, e.g. Kosher, Halal, etc.
• Verifies traceability of materials, packaging and product aligned with UL and regulatory requirements and applicable consumer safety risks
• Ensures site utilizes SAP QM and specifications in alignment with applicable requirements
• Leads for site in product incident management situations linking with MCO Quality
• Implements and verifies procedures to control non-conforming materials and products (e.g. identification, segregation, disposition, reprocessing)

HACCP, Hygiene, Cleaning

• Develops, implements and updates site HACCP plan and pre-requisite programs and ensures mitigation of consumer safety risks through HACCP validation and on-going verification
• Implements pre-requisite programs required to support site HACCP plan including validation and on-going verification requirements (e.g. pest controls, allergen management, hygienic controls, etc.
• Ensures implementation and on-going compliance to requirements of category / technology GMP that are applicable to the site

Testing & Measurement

• Ensures quality of materials and packaging by implementing in-take control program (e.g. processes to receive, inspect, sample and approve for use, produce & maintain required documentation, re-control aged materials as needed, etc.)
• Ensures quality throughout the entire production cycle by implementing testing program aligned with UL requirements and specifications
• Ensures all on-site Quality laboratories operate in accordance with good laboratory practices and all applicable UL requirements / testing methods and government / authority regulations
• Ensures implementation and on-going verification of site-wide program for calibration and maintenance of inspection, measuring and testing equipment
• Implements program for product fill control monitoring and on-going verification to ensure regulatory compliance and reliability of label weight declarations
• Implements / maintains system to securely record and preserve required test results, audit
• findings and other data and information in alignment with applicable Unilever and external requirement

UMS & Continuous Improvement

• Leads Quality Pillar for site in UMS factories
• Ensures UL required IT systems, practices, loss trees and improvement tools are used to reduce / eliminate quality losses
• Initiates and supports structured Q improvement activities for product and package complaints and CRQS gaps
• Ensures and improves quality of bought-in materials and services by monitoring supplier performance and partnering with Procurement to address quality losses
• Ensures alignment between process capability and specification limits for processing and filling operations by utilizing results of process capability studies
• Manages Quality budget and drives projects to reduce cost and waste to deliver net productivity targets

Innovation & Change:

• Applies current tools and practices to manage quality related projects
• Ensures quality resource support to innovation trials in site
• Ensures site quality support as needed to early management for projects affecting the site
• Ensures Site Q resources support VIP projects as needed
• Ensures site quality-related responsibilities are detailed in LMP as appropriate for innovations and other changes and executed as per plan
• Leads for site in quality related category knowledge, understanding of requirements

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO SUCCEED

Experiences & Qualifications

• University degree in technical discipline or general sciences
• Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, Food Science or Microbiology degree
• 5 years experience in Quality or Manufacturing – (preference for experience in Food)

Skills

• Problem-Solving
• Data-Driven Decision Making
• Risk Management
• Stakeholder Management
• Change Management
• Collaboration
• Influencing
• Business Acumen

Leadership

• You are an inclusive motivator of people. Your team deliver with real passion, growing and learning from each other whilst delivering quick wins.
• You are still responsible for your own results and as a manager, you also need to motivate others to deliver with passion, creating an inclusive and engaging climate around you. You can balance challenge with support and coaching. You understand the wider business context and you are emotionally intelligent enough to motivate people to deliver what is needed.

• Critical SOL (Standards of Leadership) Behaviors
  • PERSONAL MASTERY: Sets high standards for themselves. Has emotional intelligence to take feedback, manage mood and motivations, and build empathy for others.
  • PASSION FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE: Generates intensity and focus to motivate people to deliver results at speed. Takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results.
  • TALENT CATALYST: Invests in people – coaches individuals and teams to realize their full potential. Creates an inclusive climate, empowering everyone to be at their best.
  • PURPOSE & SERVICE: Has humility, understanding that leadership is service to others, inside and outside Unilever.
  • CONSUMER LOVE: Invests time inside and outside to understand the needs of consumers.
  • BUSINESS ACUMEN: Creates sustainable growth with purpose, engaging different partners across the system for change.