Lab Quality Services Supervisor - Ripon (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

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 and/or quality services management in overseeing the team's competency, utilization, and development to ensure the Lab Team meets 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, product quality, and/or 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 developing and managing data gathering and generation of reports that are meaningful and useful to the specific customer. With a cost-mindful approach, assist in managing and maintaining 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.  
• 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.
• Oversee the varied lab project work and revise as appropriate to meet changing needs and requirements. Assign and or delegate lab responsibilities while providing guidance.
• Appropriately schedule and allocate lab resources, including technicians, to meet the immediate needs as well as planning for the future needs.
• Manage employee attendance according to TWG policies, utilizing the appropriate computer systems.
• Assist management in identifying human resource needs, recruiting, and hiring new EEs.
• Develop performance plans for deficiencies utilizing the TWG progressive disciplinary model when needed.
• Keep abreast of current analytical, and/or packaging and quality testing methods as applicable by researching current literature and attending seminars and meetings.
• Investigate new technology for analytical and quality testing and optimize existing methods.
• Lead or participate on teams to explore issues for innovation and cost savings and share best practices across sites.
• Collaborate with other sites to ensure consistency in lab processes and instrument and technician performance for similar testing.  
• Develop, write, and or update Lab SOPs, forms, and related documents.
• Facilitate lab instrument and equipment maintenance, calibration, servicing to ensure there is no delay in or added costs for providing reliable data/information.
• Partner directly with instrument vendors and lab supply vendors for instrument maintenance, calibration, troubleshooting, and training for the team and in support of building strong business relationships.
• 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 lab 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.
• Interpret results/information from testing, prepare and deliver reports and make recommendations. Actively support TWG food safety culture and as appropriate ensure lab readiness and participation in food safety related audits (GMP, HACCP, Customer required…) and proper follow through on corrective and preventive actions.
• 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.
  • Act as a key member of a Food Safety Team.
  • Oversee the day-to-day management of the COA program ensuring accurate results with timely communications to both internal and external customers.
  • Assist in setting quality standards that are measurable, achievable, and meet the needs of our customers.
  • Act as backup to colleagues.
• 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

• High School Diploma or equivalent.
• BS in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Food Science, Microbiology, or related field or 5 years equivalent experience or an equivalent combo of education and experience.
• At least 2 years supervisory/ team management related experience.
• Prefer winery experience.
• Demonstrated leadership skills.
• Must possess excellent interpersonal skills and be an effective communicator and collaborator.
• Ability to set priorities, direct workload, and work independently within set guidelines.
• Ability to train, coach, and hold others accountable and to foster team and individual development.
• Must possess strong attention to detail, initiative, and problem-solving skills.
• Must possess strong skills in the following areas: functional/technical skills, action oriented/sense of urgency, customer focus, and drive for results, time management, continuous improvement, and self-development.
• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
• Competent in computer software programs including Microsoft Excel, Word, Access, and Power Point.
• Must be able to work all shifts and overtime.
• Ability to work in a setting that is fast paced has changing priorities with multiple projects.
• Highly motivated, reliable and enjoy working in a team oriented, innovative work environment.
• Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees.
• Preferred ability to work with pivot tables, graphs, macros and perform other data analysis in Access and Excel.
• Support and model all company procedures and policies.
• Embrace and demonstrate The Wine Group's Values: Long-Term Sustainable Value Creation, Relentlessly Entrepreneurial, Empowered People, and Responsible & Trustworthy.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Must be able to frequently lift and carry weights of up to 50 pounds at varying frequencies.
• Possess the ability to work in a fast-paced production environment.
• 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 the 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.

Salary Minimum: 73000Salary Maximum: 109600