Supplier NCR and Compliance Site Lead

Summary

The Supplier NCR and Compliance Site Lead is responsible for leading the site's supplier material nonconformance (NCR) process from identification through final disposition. This role serves as the primary liaison between Operations, Supplier Quality, Packaging Engineering, Inventory Control, Warehouse, Procurement, and Quality to ensure supplier-related material issues are controlled, investigated, and resolved while minimizing operational impact. The position owns the onsite management of supplier nonconforming materials, maintains inventory accuracy of held materials, drives timely disposition, identifies opportunities to improve packaging specifications, and supports supplier continuous improvement. This role partners closely with Packaging Engineering to evaluate materials that meet specification but do not perform reliably in production, using operational data to recommend specification revisions while maintaining food safety, regulatory compliance, and product quality.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the site owner for supplier-related NCRs from creation through closure.
• Coordinate investigations, corrective actions, and final disposition of supplier nonconforming materials.
• Conduct daily production floor walks to identify, tag, and coordinate movement of NCR materials to designated warehouse locations.
• Perform routine warehouse audits to verify segregation, identification, inventory accuracy, and disposition status of all NCR materials.
• Maintain complete traceability and inventory of supplier hold materials from identification through final disposition.
• Monitor NCR aging and drive timely closure of investigations and corrective actions.
• Partner with Supplier Quality to investigate supplier performance issues and support supplier corrective actions.
• Provide production observations, defect trends, and supporting data for supplier claims and performance reviews.
• Partner with Packaging Engineering to evaluate materials that meet specification but create manufacturing issues.
• Recommend packaging specification improvements based on production performance and support validation of specification revisions.
• Support packaging trials, material evaluations, and implementation of new materials.
• Collaborate with Operations, Warehouse, Inventory Control, Procurement, Finance, and Planning to minimize production disruption.
• Develop and maintain site metrics for supplier performance, NCR aging, inventory, repeat defects, and disposition timelines.
• Identify recurring supplier issues and lead continuous improvement initiatives.
• Support verification activities at point of use and coach Operations on supplier material controls.
• Support SQF, FSMA, GMP, and internal audit activities related to supplier materials.
• Maintain complete documentation supporting NCRs, supplier investigations, and material dispositions.

Requirements

Requirements

• 3+ years of experience in food manufacturing, packaging, supplier quality, quality assurance, or related discipline.
• Working knowledge of supplier quality systems, nonconformance management, CAPA, and root cause analysis.
• Knowledge of packaging materials and manufacturing processes preferred.
• Experience with SAP or similar ERP systems preferred.
• Strong Microsoft Office skills, particularly Excel.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Experience using structured problem-solving tools (5 Whys, Fishbone, FMEA, CAPA, etc.).
• Ability to analyze data, identify trends, and drive continuous improvement.
• Ability to work independently and influence cross-functional teams.
• Ability to work split-shift. Must be able to work up to 50% of their schedule on the night shift.

Success Measures

• Timely closure of supplier NCRs.
• Reduction in NCR inventory aging.
• Reduction in repeat supplier defects.
• Accurate inventory and traceability of all NCR materials.
• Reduction in production disruptions caused by supplier materials.
• Implementation of specification improvements that improve manufacturability.
• Successful audit outcomes related to supplier material management.