Hello potential future oatly employeeIt’s us, the original oatmilk company that started in sweden back 25 or so years ago and has since expanded to the u.sWhere we’ve continued growing at a rate such that we need more brilliant minds to come work with us to keep the momentum going and the oatmilk flowingSustainability, health, and transparency are the core values that guide everything we doBasically, we exist to make it easy for people to eat better and live healthier lives without recklessly taxing the planet’s resources in the processIf any of this resonates with you, then maybe you’d like work for oatly, tooNow onto the formal stuff.
The quality thermal processing (aseptic/esl) specialist will assist in maintaining quality and food safety protocols and will initiate policies and procedures to meet fda/lacf regulatory requirements and standards at oatly manufacturing facilities in north american regionThe incumbent will also oversee the quality/food safety & regulatory requirements for aseptic & esl processing/packagingThis role will also be responsible for testing, analyzing, verification and validation activities that are being performed by plant operations and quality teams to ensure that they are meeting and exceeding the standards and expectations required by fda/lacf and fda/fsma regulationsThis role also will assist and support plant operations and quality teams during fda visits, secondary and third party audits.
This role will also coordinate, plan, organize and lead oatly’s quality/food safety and regulatory initiatives for aseptic & esl processing/packaging to meet oatly’s global standards and customer expectations, including proactively ensuring that oatly’s plants are current with all of the required sops, ssops, forms
Here are the things we want to hire you to do:
Serve as the subject matter expert on quality/food safety – thermal processing of aseptic & esl processing/packaging at oatly’s manufacturing facilities by coordinating with the vice president and the director of quality/food safety & regulatory for north america.
Collaborate as key liaison between us region quality/food safety & regulatory team and the plant quality & operations team, ensuring all required fda/lacf and fda/fsma regulatory requirements are implemented and maintained.
The incumbent is responsible for reviewing and approving the safety and efficacy of all thermal processes developed by thermal process specialists or by external thermal process authorities, conducting similar work for oatly’s products.
This position will also serve as the quality thermal process specialist for aseptic/ambient and refrigerated extended shelf life (esl) technology platform and work under the guidance of external aseptic process authority.
Work closely with global r&d, global engineering, global supply chain, microbiology and oatly’s manufacturing and co-manufacturing facilities to develop, coordinate and execute ongoing verification programs for hold fill, refrigerated esl and aseptically processed products.
Support product development & innovation team to identify, advance, and assure the safety of new processing technologies associated with aseptic/esl filling/packaging.
Assist corporate quality/food safety & regulatory team in developing audit programs to ensure compliance and continuous improvement at the oatly’s manufacturing facilities.
Provide technical expertise to develop standards, manuals and training programs, and to ensure that the organization stays abreast on new regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
Represent oatly to the fda & usda by coordinating with external process authority and be recognized by these government agencies as an expert in the field, and legally responsible for the compliance of all processes in meeting regulatory requirements.
Supports oatly’s manufacturing facilities in troubleshooting and investigating quality/food safety and regulatory related incidents and best-practices implementation.
Responsible for communicating all fda/usda, food safety related matters and ensuring that the plants are informed of any food safety & regulatory updates in a timely manner.
Coordinate with plant leadership, quality and sanitation teams to maintain effective and efficient quality control and sanitation programs for aseptic/esl processing & packaging.
Support the activities of plant microbiological technicians by coordinating with plant quality teams to ensure microbiological conformance to specifications on raw materials, in-process materials, and finished products, including plant environmental monitoring program.
Other duties and responsibilities:
Expert knowledge of microbial risks, product and packaging characteristics/interactions with product, critical factors in thermal processing, commercial equipment, product & packaging and manufacturing procedures, and their effects on the delivery of a successful thermal process, including maintenance of product safety, stability, and sterility.
Coordinate with external “process authorities” in designing and conducting the appropriate studies relating to thermal processing of food, such as temperature distribution studies, controls validation, microbiological challenge tests, process verification and validation studies, and applying other scientific methods related to aseptic and other thermal processing technologies during new product line commissioning and epe runs.
Analyze data generated by scientific studies, equipment’s records, analytical methods and evaluate the effectiveness of thermal processing and packaging system to ensure safe and commercial sterile products.
Support plant teams to identify and evaluate process deviations & spoilage incidents and document process establishment methods, and properly communicate thermal process requirements and recommendations.
Coordinate and manage any new fda/lacf filings on any new products/skus.
Support the epe runs, sampling protocols and to collect required records/data for filings during additional or new line commissioning.
Coordinate process calculations (for vtis) on any new products or any new formula changes with oem and external process authority.
Coordinate necessary “aseptic process audits” on processing lines, as required by fda/lacf and to provide resolutions and corrective actions on any such issues.
Review and audit current plant aseptic records (forms, checklists, logs and charts” to make sure that they are fully compliant to fda/lacf requirements).
Coordinate and communicate with fda/lacf if any schedule change or any such requirements occur on behalf of oatly plant.
Develop and provide the necessary “aseptic processing/packaging, procedures and protocols training” to plant operations and quality teams.
Support plant teams to investigate consumer complaints and to determine the validity/root cause of the complaint, and to work with appropriate departments in implementing effective corrective and preventive actions.
Travel up to 50%
Here are the things we think you need:
Bachelor’s degree or higher degree in food-related discipline, such as food science, microbiology, food chemistry or food engineering.
Minimum of 6 years in food industry with 4 or more years in “thermal (aseptic/esl) processing and packaging”.
Knowledge of food science, microbiology, engineering principles, thermal process equipment and instrumentations.
Fdas fsma – pcqi certification
Haccp-certified
Gfsi scheme – brc, sqf or iso 22k/fssc certification
Computer skills consistent with job functions
Must have excellent judgement, troubleshooting, problem-solving and ability to make decisions independently, as well as excellent interpersonal and communication skills (verbal & writing).
Aseptic, dairy, food or juice processing skills and experiences
Plant cip and sanitation standards skills and experiences
Must have the ability to think through complex issues and provide pragmatic solutions, based on scientific facts and food safety risk evaluation.
And here’s another list of qualities we think make a good oatly team member:
You feel connected to our mission of encouraging health, sustainability, and transparency
You are a self-starter who doesn’t need direct supervision to motivate you for success – we believe strongly in building a culture of individual accountability and ownership and need partners that can embrace that mentality
You are ready to make your mark in a smaller, growing brand leveraging your experience to deliver amazing results and build an outstanding company
You have entrepreneurial spirit in that you’re comfortable with ambiguity and are energized by the process of building something lasting from the ground up
You enjoy sharing your quirkiness and talents with your coworkers
Another bulleted list felt redundant, so we wrote this long sentence with all the ways we sweeten the deal to work with us, like providing flexible vacation for starters, really great benefits with 100% medical coverage, genuinely great coworkers who want to see the company and each other succeed, a start-up vibe with an established company history, and an employee discount to stock your fridge full of the best non-dairy alternative in the worldThe salary for this role will be based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to geographic location, internal equity, experience, education, specialty and trainingOur current good faith estimate of the base salary range for colorado applicants is $92,000 - $107,000Compensation may also include bonus, commission, or equity as applicable.
Oatly is an equal opportunity employerAll qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.
