Quality Assurance Manager (Hatton)

About the role

Cargills is hiring a Manager – Quality Assurance for its Kotmale Dairy Products cheese factory in Bogahawatta, Hatton. The role defines the QA vision, leads the food safety and quality assurance systems, manages the QA team and oversees supplier quality and laboratory operations.

Key responsibilities

• Define the QA vision and measurable objectives for the dairy sector.
• Develop, implement and improve QA and food safety procedures covering raw materials, packaging, processing, filling, storage, distribution and retail, in line with regulations and international best practice.
• Ensure FSMS/QMS execution, including team awareness, shift-level compliance monitoring and timely corrective and preventive actions.
• Maintain national and international certifications such as HACCP, ISO 22000/FSSC 22000, ISO 9001, GMP and HALAL/GSO, including audits and documentation control.
• Work with production to analyse quality panels, sensory and microbiological results, complaints and process variability, and lead consumer complaint management and root cause analysis.
• Oversee supplier quality, including supplier evaluation, raw material risk assessment, supplier audits and milk quality sampling and analysis.
• Manage and develop the QA team, plan and manage QA budgets, and oversee chemical and microbiological laboratory operations.
• Support new product development, liaise with regulators and lead food safety incident management and mock recalls.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree (B.Sc.) in Food Science, Food Technology, Microbiology or a related field.
• Minimum 8 years of QA experience in food manufacturing, preferably dairy, FMCG or food processing; dairy/cheese experience is an advantage.
• Professional certifications in QMS, FSMS, GMP and product safety.
• Ability to work at the factory in Bogahawatta/Hatton.

Required skills

• Strong knowledge of food manufacturing processes, quality control methods and regulatory requirements.
• Proficiency in QA systems and Microsoft 365.
• Expertise in quality inspection, auditing, testing, microbiological analysis, sensory evaluation and continuous improvement.