Specialist Quality, Supplier Management (Topeka, KS, US)

No Relocation Assistance Offered Job Number #176828 - Topeka, Kansas, United States Who We Are Colgate-Palmolive Company is a global consumer products company operating in over 200 countries specializing in Oral Care, Personal Care, Home Care, Skin Care, and Pet Nutrition. Our products are trusted in more households than any other brand in the world, making us a household name! Join Colgate-Palmolive, a caring, innovative growth company reimagining a healthier future for people, their pets, and our planet. Guided by our core values—Caring, Inclusive, and Courageous—we foster a culture that inspires our people to achieve common goals. Together, let's build a brighter, healthier future for all. Role Summary: The Specialist Quality, Supplier Management establishes, maintains, and continuously elevates quality assurance and food safety standards across Hill’s global direct materials supply network. This role ensures that raw material, ingredient, and packaging suppliers strictly adhere to Hill’s and Colgate-Palmolive Quality & Food Safety Standards, FDA/FSMA regulations, and GFSI benchmarks.Serving as a key cross-functional technical member, the Specialist is responsible for facilitating supplier qualification, supplier audits, technical risk assessments, corrective action programs, and supplier performance scorecards. This role works in partnership with Procurement to assess and manage direct materials supply, with Plant Quality, Operations, and Corporate Analytical to address nonconforming materials, and with other cross-functional teams including, Science & Technology (S&T), Food Safety, Regulatory Affairs and Global Packaging. The Specialist will embrace and use modern tools including Google Suite, Artificial Intelligence, Sigma Computing, SmartSheets and others to integrate workflows, analysis and visualizations in a precise and efficient manner.

Responsibilities:

Supplier Qualification & Risk Governance

• Perform and facilitate comprehensive quality assessments in support of requests for new supplier qualification.
• Maintain the approved supplier database, SAP and Quality Management Systems to ensure accuracy and control of the direct materials supply.
• Co-Lead the Annual Risk Assessment process for direct materials suppliers.
• Partner with Procurement during strategic sourcing events to evaluate technical supplier capabilities and manage supplier quality risks early in the procurement lifecycle.

Supplier Auditing & Performance Management

• Design and execute annual risk-based supplier audit plans, conducting comprehensive desktop and on-site audits to verify compliance with GFSI standards (SQF, BRCGS, FSSC 22000), FSMA, HACCP, and Hill’s internal specifications.
• Lead post-audit follow-up activities including driving timely completion of action plan development and audit closure.
• Establish and track key performance indicators (KPIs) for the supply base, including non-conformance rates, defect rates, Right-First-Time (RFT) delivery, and Supplier Corrective Action Request (SCAR) closure times.
• Coordinate quarterly quality reviews and contribute quality performance metrics to global supplier scorecards in collaboration with Procurement.
• Lead monthly ESM program status updates.

Non-Conformance, SCAR & Change Management

• Coordinate cross-functional teams (Operations, Plant QA, Corporate Analytical, Food Safety, S&T, Global Packaging and Regulatory) during potential material quality holds and supplier-driven rejections.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for manufacturing plants experiencing raw material or packaging quality disruptions, leading real-time risk assessments to enable material disposition decisions.
• Coordinate the SCAR program and lifecycle, working with plant Operations and Quality to gather information and partnering with Procurement when initiating SCARs to enforce rigorous root cause analysis and verifying implementation of corrective/preventative actions.
• Review and approve Supplier Change Notifications (SCNs) regarding process modifications, manufacturing site relocations, raw material substitutions, or equipment updates.

Continuous Improvement and Technical Mentorship

• Identify systemic quality trends across the supply base and drive continuous improvement programs (Lean/Six Sigma) to improve process capability and reduce variability.
• Revise audit protocols and questionnaires to ensure an efficient assessment against GFSI, FSMA, HACCP, and Hill’s Quality Standards.
• Develop and/or update standard operating procedures (SOPs), technical guidelines, and supplier quality manuals to align global supplier operations with Hill’s standards.
• Provide technical coaching and quality training to Hill’s auditors, procurement teams, and plant receiving departments.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Animal Nutrition, Quality Assurance, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related scientific discipline.
• 2 + years of progressive experience that includes Supplier Quality Assurance, Quality Engineering, or Food Safety Management within food, pet food, beverage, or pharmaceutical manufacturing.
• Working knowledge of FDA regulations (FSMA Preventive Controls for Human/Animal Food), GFSI schemes (SQF, BRCGS, FSSC 22000), HACCP principles, and GMPs.
• Willingness to travel up to 25% as needed.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Auditing Credentials: Hands-on experience conducting second-party supplier quality audits; formal auditor training or certification (e.g., ASQ CQA, GFSI Lead Auditor).
• Systems & Tools: Proficiency with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Quality Management Systems (e.g., SAP and ETQ Reliance) and analytical tools (Snowflake, Sigma Computing, Google Suite, Excel,).
• Demonstrated skills and experience in AI tool development and use.
• PCQI (Preventive Controls Qualified Individual), Certified Quality Auditor (ASQ CQA), or Six Sigma Green/Black Belt.
• Prior experience in pet food processing (dry extrusion, wet/canned, freeze-dried or fresh) or specialized animal health and nutrition ingredients.
• Customer focused, ability to pivot between tasks, strong cross-functional influence, assertive stakeholder management, constructive conflict resolution, data-driven decision-making under pressure.

Compensation and Benefits Salary Range $95,000.00 - $107,500.00 USD Pay is determined based on experience, qualifications, and location. Salaried employees may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses, profit-sharing, and long-term incentives for Executive-level roles. Benefits: Salaried employees enjoy a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance, paid parental leave, disability coverage, and participation in the 401(k) retirement plan with company matching contributions subject to eligibility requirements. Additional benefits include a minimum of 15 vacation/PTO days (hourly employees receive a minimum of 120 hours) and 13 paid holidays (vacation days are prorated based on the employee's hire date within the calendar year). Paid sick leave is adjusted based on role and location in accordance with local laws. Detailed information regarding paid sick leave entitlements will be provided to employees upon hiring and may be subject to adjustments based on changes in legislation or company policies. Our Commitment to Inclusion Our journey begins with our people—developing strong talent with diverse backgrounds and perspectives to best serve our consumers around the world and fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels a true sense of belonging. We are dedicated to ensuring that each individual can be their authentic self, is treated with respect, and is empowered by leadership to contribute meaningfully to our business. Equal Opportunity Employer Colgate is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, marital status, veteran status (United States positions), or any other characteristic protected by law. Reasonable accommodation during the application process is available for persons with disabilities. Please complete this [request form]( should you require accommodation. For additional Colgate terms and conditions, please click [here]( #LI-Hybrid