Quality Assurance Manager - Nijmegen, Gelderland

Are you ready for a new step in your career? · Mead Johnson Nutrition is a long-standing multinational brand specializing in infant and child nutrition. Our company vision is to become the world's leading provider of scientifically backed child nutrition and specialized food prod ...

Functieomschrijving

Are you ready for a new step in your career?
Mead Johnson Nutrition is a long-standing multinational brand specializing in infant and child nutrition. Our company vision is to become the world's leading provider of scientifically backed child nutrition and specialized food products and services. At Mead Johnson Nutrition, we are deeply committed to creating nutritional brands and products that give babies and children the best start in life. With over 450 employees, our Nijmegen factory produces super-premium child nutrition for the largest market in the world, Greater China. Quality, reliability, innovation, and ethics are core values at Mead Johnson.

Are you a driven Quality Assurance Leader who thrives on the shopfloor and enjoys guiding teams to excellence? In this role, you take responsibility for safeguarding product quality and food safety, strengthening our quality culture, and ensuring our factory remains audit‑ready at all times. You lead a QA team and collaborate closely with Production, Engineering, QC, Planning, and global QA partners.

What will you do?
Product Safety & Compliance
You secure consumer trust and protect the license to operate. By enforcing HACCP/GMP and risk‑based decisions, you prevent defects, avoid compliance incidents, and keep the site audit‑ready. Every day.

• Acts as site guardian for food safety, regulatory compliance, and product integrity (HACCP, FSMA, GMP, QMS).
• Ensures all released materials and finished products meet internal and external standards.
• Drives a zero‑defect culture through strong controls and proactive risk management.
• Supports product disposition decisions and escalates high‑risk cases to the Head of Quality.

Material & Product Release, Deviations & Complaints
You keep safe product flowing to customers. Through decisive release ownership and rigorous RCA/CAPA, you cut repeat issues, shorten cycle times, and reduce complaint rates while maintaining full compliance.

• Oversees the timely release of all raw materials, intermediates, and finished products manufactured at the Nijmegen site, ensuring that batch records, quality control results, and documentation meet specifications and regulatory requirements before approval for use or release to market.
• Ensures timely, effective deviation and complaint management with strong root‑cause analysis and CAPA follow‑up.
• Leads complaint investigations and partners with commercial teams on preventive actions; shares early‑batch improvements with stakeholder.
• Reviews and approves rework/redress protocols and ensures execution according to instructions.
• Makes risk‑based disposition decisions; escalates complex cases when needed.
• Defines and approves sampling and testing requirements; represents QA in site‑ and market‑aligned standards.
• Maintains full traceability and leads periodic traceability exercises.
• Supports crisis management and recall readiness through training and mock recalls.

Quality Assurance at "the Lines"
You elevate line performance where it matters most, on the shopfloor. Visible QA leadership and robust in‑process controls boost first‑time‑right, reduce losses, and raise GMP discipline across shifts.

• Leads the QA team as the main contact for production, ensuring and maintaining a strong daily shopfloor presence.
• Reinforces food‑safety and GMP standards, driving a strong quality culture during all interactions.
• Performs GMP walkthroughs and supports audit readiness.
• Develops robust in‑process controls with Production, Engineering, and Technical Services.
• Ensures manufacturing processes follow cGMP and SOPs; identifies and closes gaps.
• Guides the QA team on operational quality topics (environmental monitoring, pest control, deviations, GMP).
• Coaches the team in risk‑based decision‑making while balancing quality, service, and operational needs -never compromising on (food) safety aspects.

Leading, Developing & Coaching the QA Team
You turn capability into consistent results. With clear priorities, coaching, and ownership, the team makes faster, better decisions and delivers stable quality performance.

• Provides daily guidance, coaching, and performance support to 8 QA team members.
• Builds a learning‑oriented environment that supports growth and continuous improvement.
• Ensures team structure, competencies, and staffing align with current and future needs.
• Maintains clear job descriptions and expectations.
• Delivers tailored technical and soft‑skill development plans.
• Sets annual goals, tracks performance, and creates clear priorities.
• Manages people decisions (hiring, promotions, disciplinary actions, transfers).
• Builds an inclusive, supportive, and collaborative team culture.

Continuous Improvement
You convert data into lasting gains. By driving KPI‑led improvements and sharing learnings, you lower defect/complaint trends, harden processes, and build a First Time Right culture across the site.

• Drives sitewide quality improvement using KPIs (complaints, zero crises, first‑time‑right).
• Promotes a strong "First Time Right" mindset across QA, Production, and Maintenance.
• Shares learnings from deviations and complaints; organizes cross‑functional learning sessions.
• Prepares accurate, timely quality reports for leadership and stakeholders.

Other Responsibilities
You create clarity and confidence for leadership. Transparent reporting and disciplined budget control focus investment where it moves the needle and de‑risk quality operations end‑to‑end.

• Develops and manages the QA operating and CAPEX budget.
• Monitors spending and ensures alignment with business and quality priorities.
• Reviews monthly expenditures and ensures financial control compliance.
• Contributes to broader site projects and initiatives as assigned by the Head of Quality.

Who are you?
Essential background

• Master's degree in Food Science, Technology, Microbiology, Chemical Engineering or similar.
• 5+ years in Quality Assurance within (Infant) Nutrition, Dairy or food and beverage manufacturing, including 2–3 years in QA leadership.

Preferred Background

• Experience in internal and external audits.
• Strong skills in deviation investigation and root‑cause problem solving.
• Experience working closely with production and maintenance teams.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification is an advantage

What do we offer?
An inspiring and innovative work environment where you can develop your career and sharpen your skills in a dedicated and professional team. A fulltime contract with excellent working conditions and a competitive annual salary between € € ,-, depending on knowledge and experience. Mead Johnson has a 38-hour working week with 25 vacation days and 13 ADV days. We also offer you a good pension plan, a year-end bonus, collective health insurance and opportunities for professional development.

Will you take the next step?
Then please send us your cover letter and resume now This can be done very easily via the 'Yes, I want to apply' button. For more information about the position, you can contact us via email

Applying for a VOG may be part of the recruitment process.