Manager Quality

Job Opportunity at Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream

Are you looking to catapult your career by driving high-impact transformation with household brands? Do you crave an entrepreneurial, fast paced and engaging growth assignment working with incredible people from across the globe?

At Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, we are excited to start a new chapter of accelerated growth as part of Froneri – a global pure-play ice cream leader. With nearly 100 years of winning experience in the U.S, a robust portfolio of powerhouse brands that consumers know and love such as Häagen-Dazs, Drumstick, Dreyer's/Edy's, Skinny Cow, OREO®, Outshine and Frollies, and the backing and coaching of European-based ice cream experts, we know we have the winning recipe.

Headquartered in Walnut Creek, the Bay Area's hub for up-and-coming food trends, our DGIC team across our offices and factories is raising the bar on all things ice cream. Our growth has been tremendous in the past few years – moving from being #2 manufacturer in market to being #1 in 2024. The brands have strong investments in marketing support, quality improvements and exciting line extensions and innovation. DGIC has also been recognized by retail partners as the top manufacturer partner, winning the #1 position in the prestigious Advantage Award in 2024.

At DGIC, we don't just hire for roles, we grow future business leaders. Here, everyone is encouraged to think like a general manager. That means owning your piece of the business, making bold decisions, and seeing the big picture. What makes us unique? You won't just stay in your lane, you'll get hands-on exposure to everything from Sales, Marketing and operations to Finance and Supply Chain. It's like getting an MBA on the job (but with way more ice cream). If you're curious, driven, and ready to learn a lot about a lot, this is the place to stretch your skills and fast-track your career.

Unleash your potential at Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream and discover what a sweet career we have in store for you!

What to expect from Dreyers

At the heart of our culture are four core values that guide our actions and define how we work together. We Take Ownership by staying committed from start to finish, making thoughtful decisions, and focusing our efforts on initiatives that drive growth, efficiency, and sustainability. We Do What Is Right by prioritizing transparency, setting clear roles and responsibilities, and speaking up when something doesn't align with our values. We Seek to Improve through continuous innovation, embracing feedback, and learning from both our successes and setbacks. And We Are Better Together by making decisions that benefit the whole organization, fostering inclusion through diverse perspectives, and treating everyone with fairness and respect. These values are not just ideals—they are the behaviors we live by every day.

Main Purpose of the job

To ensure all products are manufactured safely, legally, and to the required quality standards by leading the site's food safety and quality management systems, maintaining regulatory and customer compliance, and driving a culture of quality across all functions to protect consumer trust and brand integrity. Build a team and drive a culture of end-to-end quality

Role and Activity

1. Protect product safety and consumer trust

• Ensure all products are manufactured in compliance with food safety legislation, industry standards (e.g., HACCP, GMP, FDA), and internal policies.

• Maintain and continuously improve the site's Food Safety Management System.

• Lead quality governance and compliance

• Oversee adherence to regulatory requirements, customer standards, and third-party certifications.

• Manage audits, inspections, corrective actions, and documentation systems.

• Drive consistent product quality

• Ensure raw materials, processes, and finished products meet defined specifications.

• Lead root cause analysis and preventive actions to eliminate defects and reduce complaints (CPMU).

• Build a culture of quality

• Provide coaching, training, and leadership to embed quality ownership across all functions.

• Promote proactive quality behaviours and decision-making throughout the site.

• Strengthen cross-functional collaboration

• Partner with Operations, Engineering, Maintenance, Supply Chain, and R&D to prevent issues before they occur.

• Act as the voice of the consumer in all operational and strategic decisions.

• Manage quality team and capability

• Lead and develop the Quality Assurance, Quality Control, and Food Safety teams.

• Ensure the department has the skills, tools, and structure required to execute consistently.

• Support continuous improvement

• Use data analysis to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for process improvement.

• Champion initiatives that improve product quality, reduce waste, and enhance operational reliability.

Measurable Outcomes

Food Safety KPIs

• Food Safety Non Conformances - Zero major non conformances; no repeat findings.

• HACCP adherence - 100% completion of CCP/PC monitoring with zero misses.

• Environmental monitoring compliance - ≥98–100% completion; trend shows reduction in hits.

• Allergen control performance - Zero allergen cross contact incidents.

Quality Performance KPIs

• CPMU (Complaints Per Million Units)- Reduction vs previous year; clear trend on top complaint types.

• Internal Quality Defects - Reduction in major and repeat defects; right first time improvement.

• Foreign body incidents - Zero high risk events; year on year reduction overall.

• In-line and end-of-line quality checks compliance - 100% within standard.

Audit & Compliance KPIs

• Certification outcome (e.g., FSSC)- Successful certification; minimal non conformances.

• Regulatory inspections (FDA/USDA/state)- Zero warnings, violations, or repeat concerns.

• Customer audits - Achieve or maintain approved supplier status; strong scores.

Quality Systems & Governance KPIs

• Document control compliance - 100% of controlled documents in status and up to date.

• Training compliance (GMP, food safety, hygiene) - ≥98–100% completion.

• Deviation and incident investigations closed on time - Clear RCA and verified effectiveness of actions.

• Spec adherence (raw materials, processes, finished goods) - Zero out-of-spec product released; effective hold & release process.

Operational Support KPIs

• Downtime due to quality issues - Reduction vs baseline; proactive prevention strategies in place.

• Process control compliance - Real-time monitoring embedded; decreasing corrective actions.

• First-time quality on key lines - Improvement driven by clear standards and operator ownership.

• Changeover & sanitation validation success rate - Achieve ≥98–100% compliance.

Consumer & Customer KPIs

• Complaint investigation timeliness - 100% completed within defined SLA.

• Customer issue escalation and closure - Zero repeats; positive customer feedback.

• Product quality scorecards - Improvement across external metrics where applicable.

People & Culture KPIs

• QA/QC team competency development - Skills matrix progression; capability built across