Description

Corteva Agriscience is seeking a Quality Assurance (QA) Specialist for the Seed Business Unit for the Latin America region. The Quality Assurance Specialist works in conjunction with the Global Quality Assurance & Improvement Leader and other QA Specialists to help drive the implementation of the quality management system and quality improvements across the region in Seed Operations. This will be focused on production locations in the region to facilitate customer focus, stakeholder interaction, risk management, and waste reduction.

The position requires strong communication with a diverse group of stakeholders, building collaboration, and seeking a broad range of perspectives for implementing solutions. The ideal candidate provides seed production and Quality Management System expertise along with solution-focused problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities:

Drives the regional implementation of the Corteva Quality Management System (QMS or CAMS) and ensures that quality policies, requirements, work processes, tools and training are implemented and maintained. Uses outputs from management system data and stakeholders to identify areas for improvement and connects with stakeholders to work toward resolution.

• Collaborates with and is a resource for Latin America Seed Operations internal and external production locations and Supply Chains to ensure the consistent implementation of work processes, policies, procedures for the quality management system in the region.

• Conduct training in the region regarding quality policies and procedures. Examples including but not limited to: Quality incident management policy, Global Business Support Procedures, etc.

• Monitor, compile, and distribute quality metrics that identify opportunities for improvement and involve relevant stakeholders to ensure improvements occur. Metrics may include audit findings, non-conforming product, and customer complaints.

• Participate and/or lead Quality improvement projects within the region.

• Collaborate across regions to provide consistency and leveraging of best practices.

• Member of the Global QA Network and actively represents the region and or/global team on projects to ensure harmonization and standardization across regions.

• Responsible for regional reporting and global alignment of quality metrics, including incidents, with analysis and improvements identified and implemented.

• Quality Incident Response Team Leader (IRTL) for significant issues within the region, and conducts/assists with Root Cause Analysis when necessary. Distributes learnings of regional issues/incidents to enable sharing and implementation of management system and production corrective actions. Conducts regional and site reviews of quality incidents.

• Supports completion of quality management system reviews (MSR) at the site level and drives improvement in the region. Responsible for conducting the regional MSR (Tier 2).

• Ensure quality management system is in place to meet product launch requirements in SPSC and to meet accreditation requirements.

• Effectively partners with Commercial, Seed Production and Supply Chain, R&D, and Regional/Global leadership to meet customer needs.

• Provides input to the regional audit plan aligned to the Corteva monitoring strategy to optimize global auditing resources, expertise, and business risk prioritization. May also conduct audits, assist with audits, or provide training to potential future auditors.

• Facilitate/lead a regional Quality Ambassador Network that will be utilized to advance quality initiatives, auditing, and learnings across sites.

• Duties may be split or shared with another QA Specialist within the region.

Qualifications

Competencies:

Customer Focus: Engaged to provide product within specifications and best service to customers and solve potential issues. Drives the implementation of the global quality management system at internal sites to ensure the quality policies, work processes and tools are effective to reduce significant customer issues, building customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Balances Stakeholders: Builds internal stakeholder relationships and identifies and adapts to emerging needs to benefit as many stakeholders and customers as possible.

Collaborates: Promotes a culture of collaboration building trust across the internal sites and Corteva teams in the region, seeking a broad range of perspectives in leading initiatives, formulating solutions, and developing regional implementation strategies.

Drives Results: Identifies and leads elimination of the obstacles to deliver positive business performance. Leads efforts to identify KPIs and achieve targets.

Ensures Accountability: Responsible for regional reporting of quality metrics, including incidents, with analysis and improvements. Promotes cross-functional team culture to ensure success by bringing the outside in.

Cultivates Innovation: Fosters a climate that supports allocated resources to be creative and innovative, leading to implement breakthrough ideas and solutions.

Required Qualifications:

• Minimum of a scientific, agricultural, or engineering bachelor's degree with focus in agronomy, engineering, quality assurance, business, biology, or life sciences.

• 8+ years total industry experience with direct experience in the agricultural and/or Seed production industry, with seed production location experience preferred.

• Knowledge of the principles and practical applications associated with seed production operations. Ability to use metrics to guide continuous improvement of the quality management system.

• Position will be located in Brazil, preferably located near a Brazil production location and can be a hybrid of in-office and remote or potentially fully remote. Travel will be occasionally required, and on-site time at production locations required intermittently as well.

• Fluent Portuguese and English language speaking, writing, and reading is required.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with Quality Management Systems and/or Seed Production and Supply Chain.

• Demonstrated ability to lead teams without authority to ensure alignment with demonstrated objectives and company goals/policies.

• Demonstrated ability to build relationships and influence outside the workgroup that enhance the performance of the teams.

• An ability to think 'outside of the box' to develop novel, creative solutions for quality assurance challenges. Being proactive when possible to prevent quality issues from occurring.

• Six Sigma and/or Lean certification.

• Experience and understanding of how to conduct investigations and/or Root Cause Analysis.

• Experience leading or contributing to a continuous improvement project.

• Understanding project management, including scoping, as it pertains to time and Return On Investment (ROI).

• Experience leading audits and/or Certified Quality Auditor.

Corteva Agriscience™ is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to boldly embracing the power of inclusion, diversity, and equity to enrich the lives of our employees and strengthen the performance of our company, while advancing equity in agriculture. Qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability or any other protected class. Discrimination, harassment and retaliation are inconsistent with our values and will not be tolerated. If you require a reasonable accommodation to search or apply for a position, please visit:

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For US Applicants: See the ‘Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law’ poster

To all recruitment agencies: Corteva does not accept unsolicited third party resumes and is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.