Lab Quality Services Supervisor - Westfield (R&D)

An industry leader, The Wine Group is one of the world's foremost producers of award-winning wines across more than 60 wine brands and many winery facilities in California, New York, and Australia. Headquartered in Livermore, California, TWG is an industry innovator when it comes to developing, marketing, and selling wine brands beloved by consumers around the world, including Cupcake, Franzia, Benziger, Imagery, Tribute, 7 Deadly, Cooper & Thief, The Dreaming Tree, Charles Smith Wines, and more. The Wine Group believes in producing wine using sustainable and earth-friendly practices to foster healthy land and agriculture for generations to come. The company demonstrates environmental stewardship through its commitment to clean energy and by ensuring that all its owned vineyards are certified sustainable or biodynamic. To learn more, please visit: www.thewinegroup.com.

JOB SUMMARY

The Lab Quality Services Supervisor will report to the Operations Manager and will be directly responsible for the day-to-day winemaking and lab, as well Supervise, guide, and provide leadership to lab employees to ensure we are providing the highest quality results and support to our internal and external customers. Collaborate with site management in overseeing the team's competency, utilization, and development to ensure the Lab and Winemaking teams meet the changing needs of TWG and our customers. Facilitate and lead improvement projects, test method development and optimization, as well as efforts for RCA/CA for issues relating to analytical chemistry, packaging materials, product quality, and/or compliance. Promote, foster, and participate in cross functional teams to solve and prevent reoccurrence of issues and to identify and implement process improvements within and across TWG sites. Assist in data management and generation of reports that are meaningful to the facility. With a cost-mindful approach, assist in managing and maintaining, winemaking, lab equipment and supplies inventory. Promote and follow the TWG Values in safely and efficiently producing quality affordable products.

 

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Provide leadership to team in support of TWG's safety culture, fostering active participation from all Lab employees through creative motivation, leadership, and accountability to ensure we all go home safe.
• Direct lab analysis based on wine needs. Must have strong analytical background to run analysis in lab techs absence, or when requested. Use lab results to be able to properly maintain wine quality. 
• Write winemaking process orders for distribution to operations for completion.
• Provide regular and value-added feedback, and coaching to technicians, including but not limited to collaborating on and delivering annual performance assessments.
• Promote positive attitudes and strong work ethic among the team. Lead by example.
• Develop the team's skills and competency along with developing and maintaining solid processes in lab to ensure timely and accurate results, along with effective data management, report generation, issue investigation and resolution, for our varied customers, including winemaking, cellar, production, supply chain, vendors, etc.
• Manage employee attendance according to TWG policies, utilizing the appropriate computer systems.
• Develop performance plans for deficiencies utilizing the TWG progressive disciplinary model when needed.
• Lead or participate on teams to explore issues for innovation and cost savings and share best practices across sites.
• Develop, write, and/or update Lab SOPs, forms, and related documents.
• Facilitate lab instrument and equipment maintenance, calibration, and servicing to ensure there is no delay in or added costs for providing reliable data/information.
• Assist in improving the data management processes for lab team, including making suggestions, planning, and implementing improvements.
• Manage investigation, resolution, and prevention of reoccurrence of quality related issues in an efficient manner to prevent downtime, especially critical during harvest. Includes obtaining resources necessary, reaching out to management, other sites, vendors, etc. to get to the root cause, implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Manage lab supplies inventory with a cost mindful approach. Making purchase and budget recommendations.
• As needed due to workload, resource constraints or as directed, perform daily lab tasks to ensure we meet the expectations and requirements of our customers.
• Where appropriate:
  • Maintain a TTB certified chemist status and sign COAs.
  • Assist in investigating, resolving, and dispositioning finished product HOLDs and/or packaging material issues.
  • Oversee the day-to-day management of the COA program ensuring accurate results with timely communications to both internal and external customers.
• Oversee cellar and or bottling sanitation processes/activities.
• Assist in setting quality standards that are measurable, achievable, and meet the needs of our customers.
• Travel to vendors, other winery sites, or elsewhere as deemed necessary.
• This job description reflects management's assignment of essential functions; it does not prescribe or restrict the responsibilities or tasks that may be assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

• BS in Chemistry, Food Science, Microbiology, Enology, or related field or equivalent of 5 years industry experience.
• A minimum of 5 years of Lab/Quality Assurance experience.
• A minimum of 2 years of supervisory experience.
• Enology knowledge a plus.
• Good working and theoretical knowledge of analytical instrumentation.
• Good understanding of lab and wine processing equipment. 
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to determine the root cause of the problem.
• A strong sense of urgency and work ethic displayed in a positive way.
• Experience with quality management systems such as JDE, SAP, etc. is a plus.
• Computer skills including the use of: Outlook, Word, and Excel.
• Ability to be a team player and fill in for others in their absence.
• Flexibility in work hours.
• Must be 21 or older at time of hire.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Ability to work at heights up to 45 feet.
• Possess the ability to work in a fast-paced environment under pressure.
• Working environment is both indoors and outdoors, with exposure to related equipment and noise levels.
• Ability to perform tasks requiring bending, stooping, standing, and twisting in a production environment.

COMPENSATION

• Hiring Salary Range Posted: $73,000 – 109,600.
• Actual compensation will be based on factors such as experience; skills, knowledge, and abilities; education; and other position related factors.

 

At The Wine Group, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to an environment of mutual respect, diversity, and inclusion. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristic protected by law.

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NOTICE TO THIRD PARTY AGENCIES

Please note that we do not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of a signed Recruitment Services Agreement, we will not consider, or agree to, payment of any referral compensation or recruiter fee. In the event that a recruiter or agency submits a resume or candidate without a previously signed agreement, we explicitly reserve the right to pursue and hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency.