About Us
As a leading provider of high-quality food and beverage ingredients, we work with farming communities across the globe to grow, source and produce ingredients that are good for consumers, farmers, and the world around us. We supply household food brands and manufacturers worldwide with cocoa, coffee, dairy, nuts and spices ingredients which are often grown on our own farms and estates and sourced from hundreds of thousands of farmers across 50 countries. Along with our diverse manufacturing and innovation capabilities, this means we can provide ingredients for a range of products, from a plant-based latte mix to an almond based snack bar or a dairy-free ice cream. Making a positive impact on people and planet is a core component of our Purpose, to be the change for good food and a healthy future. With a deep-rooted presence in the countries where our ingredients are grown, we are closer to farmers, enabling better quality, and more reliable, traceable, and transparent supply. And whoever we're with, whatever we're doing, we always make it real.
Overview of the role:
The QA Manager will take full ownership of the end-to-end quality and food safety agenda for our Balagtas facility — from incoming material inspection and in-process control through to finished goods quality, compliance, and audit management.
This is a critical role that combines strong technical expertise with operational discipline to ensure all products meet internal specifications, customer requirements, and regulatory standards. Working in close partnership with Production, Supply Chain, and R&D, the QA Manager will embed quality and food safety discipline across the full manufacturing process — covering our range of premix beverage systems, seasoning solutions, and culinary sauces — while enabling efficient and reliable operations.
The role is deeply embedded within the plant, requiring hands-on oversight of quality systems, fast and confident decision-making on deviations, and clear personal accountability for food safety, compliance, and product integrity. This is not a desk-based role — it demands presence on the floor, sharp attention to detail, and the drive to build a quality-first culture from the ground up.
Key responsibilities:
Quality & Food Safety Management
- Own and enforce all quality and food safety standards across raw materials, in-process production, and finished goods.
- Ensure strict and consistent adherence to GMP, HACCP, food safety systems, and company quality standards at all times.
- Maintain clear product specifications and ensure full compliance during every production run.
- Lead real-time decision-making on product release, holds, and rejections — with speed, accuracy, and sound judgment.
Incoming, In-Process & Finished Goods Control
- Establish and continuously monitor inspection protocols for all incoming raw materials and packaging.
- Drive in-process quality checks to ensure stable, consistent, and on-specification production output.
- Ensure all finished goods meet required specifications prior to release into the supply chain.
- Maintain full traceability and documentation integrity across all batches, in line with regulatory and internal requirements.
Audit, Compliance & Risk Management
- Lead all internal and external audits including customer, regulatory, and certification audits (e.g., FDA, ISO 22000, FSSC 22000).
- Ensure full compliance with local Philippine food safety regulations, applicable standards, and company policies.
- Maintain audit readiness at all times through strong documentation controls, system discipline, and housekeeping standards.
- Proactively identify and mitigate quality and food safety risks before they escalate into operational or commercial issues.
Quality Systems & Continuous Improvement
- Maintain and continuously improve quality and food safety management systems, SOPs, and procedures.
- Lead structured root cause analysis (RCA) and corrective/preventive action (CAPA) processes for quality deviations and incidents.
- Implement programs to measurably reduce defects, customer complaints, and process variability.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives linked to product consistency, yield improvement, and compliance performance.
Customer & Complaint Management
- Manage all customer quality complaints, ensuring timely investigation, clear root cause analysis, and documented resolution.
- Work cross-functionally with Production, Supply Chain, and Commercial teams to implement corrective actions and prevent recurrence.
- Maintain transparent reporting and trend tracking on complaints, enabling data-driven improvement decisions.
People Management & Capability Building
- Lead, coach, and develop the QA team — including quality analysts and inspectors — to deliver consistently high standards.
- Ensure ongoing capability building in food safety, quality systems, and testing methods across the team.
- Drive discipline, accountability, and a strong attention to detail as non-negotiable norms within the QA function.
- Champion a quality-first culture across the broader plant through structured training, coaching, and visible leadership.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner closely with Production to ensure quality requirements are met without compromising operational efficiency.
- Work with Supply Chain to maintain quality standards for incoming materials and ensure supplier compliance.
- Collaborate with R&D on product specifications, plant trials, and the introduction of new solutions into production.
- Provide regular quality performance updates, risk flags, and improvement insights to the Plant Manager and business leadership.
Qualifications & profile:
- Bachelor's degree in Food Technology, Chemistry, Microbiology, or a related technical field.
- Minimum 8–10 years of experience in quality assurance or food safety within food, food & beverage solutions, or FMCG manufacturing.
- Strong working knowledge of GMP, HACCP, food safety management systems (ISO 22000, FSSC 22000), and applicable Philippine regulatory requirements.
- Proven experience managing internal and external audits, quality systems, and compliance frameworks.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving capability — particularly in root cause analysis and corrective action management.
- Effective stakeholder management skills, with the ability to collaborate across operations, supply chain, commercial, and R&D functions.
- Detail-oriented, disciplined, and able to thrive in a fast-paced, hands-on manufacturing environment.
- A self-starter with an ownership mindset — someone who builds and improves systems proactively, not reactively, and is energized by the opportunity to shape a quality function from the ground up.
ofi is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to racial or ethnic origin, color, age, religion or belief, sex, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
