Join our high-performing Quality team in Auckland as a Quality Assurance Manager – Innovation & Supply. In this pivotal role, you’ll champion quality and food safety excellence across innovation, renovation, and booster projects with third-party manufacturers throughout New Zealand. You will drive seamless project launches and establish new partners to meet our world-class standards, bridging any gaps with confidence and expertise.

Step into a dynamic role at the heart of New Zealand’s Quality In-Design & Supplier Quality team, reporting directly to the Quality and Food Safety Director, ANZ. As a key driver of excellence, you’ll collaborate closely with co-manufacturers to uphold and advance stringent quality and food safety requirements across raw materials, packaging, semi-finished goods, and finished products. Your partnership with suppliers will focus on developing, implementing, and continuously refining best-in-class practices that fuel sustained business growth.

You will:

• Drive compliance in recipe design, process controls, and monitoring plans for nutrients, contaminants, and microbiology.
• Ensure suppliers and third-party manufacturers consistently adhere to Regulatory, Danone, and ISO-22000 Quality & Food Safety Standards.
• Deliver Right First Time (RFT) product launches to market.
• Conduct supplier and manufacturing site audits, risk assessments, and ensure timely closure of corrective actions.
• Monitor and report on supplier quality systems, product compliance, and improvement programs.
• Partner with co-manufacturers to support their improvement programmes to the required quality standards.
• Lead training and initiatives to elevate supplier performance to Danone quality standards.
• Support investigations of complaints, incidents, and non-conformities in ingredients and finished goods.

Dynamic, proactive, and process-driven, you are a quality professional with proven experience in manufacturing environments and a flair for stakeholder engagement. In this role, you’ll take ownership of project quality, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and lead supplier audits and risk assessments to elevate co-manufacturers to world-class standards. Your strong negotiation skills and agile mindset will drive swift, pragmatic solutions and foster a culture of excellence, continuous improvement, and innovation throughout our supply chain.

To be successful, you will also have:

• A tertiary qualification in Food Science/ Chemistry / Microbiology or similar
• Proven experience in quality in Infant Formula/Dairy/Food or other FMCG manufacturing is preferred
• Demonstrated success in partnering with suppliers and third-party manufacturers to drive improvements, collaborating seamlessly with cross-functional teams, and excelling in strategic problem-solving.
• Good Understanding of HACCP, ISO 22000 standards, GHP & GMP requirements is desired
• Proven experience in driving improvement with external stakeholders such as suppliers and third-party manufacturers; working with cross-functional teams and problem-solving is advantageous
• Excellent organization skills with an ability to work with shifting priorities 
• Advanced Excel skills and the ability to work with the MS Office Suite are highly desired

If you’re passionate about elevating standards and delivering outstanding results, this role is your next career move.

We truly value our Danoners and strive to make their experience exceptional by creating a positive and fulfilling environment for everyone. Our unique benefits are designed to enhance the lives and provide genuine value.

• A high-performing, collaborative team culture
• Flexible Hybrid working
• Thank Danone it’s Friday! 3pm finishes every Friday
• Diverse and inclusive work environment
• Personalised learning opportunities to set you up for success
• Competitive Total Reward package including
  • Health and Life insurance benefit
  • 26 weeks of gender-neutral paid parental leave
  • Employee Share Subscription Plan after 12 months of service
  • Performance-related incentives and annual reviews

More about us:

At Danone, we aim to inspire healthier and more sustainable eating and drinking practices, in line with our Vision - Danone, One Planet. One Health.  We operate across four business lines: Essential Dairy and Plant-Based Products, Waters, and Specialised Nutrition. Our headquarters are in France, we have offices in 55 countries across the globe, and our products are sold in over 120 markets. We have been around for more than a century and are the proud owners of some of the best-known brands worldwide, including favorites like YoPro, Activia, Aptamil, and Karicare

Danone ANZ focuses on dairy and specialized nutrition products for infants and adults and is proud to be awarded the Great Place to Work accreditation winner for ANZ for the last 5 years in a row – a globally recognised program where we feature as one of Australia’s top places to work.

Visit our website, WE ARE DANONE, to know more about us.

How to Apply 

If this opportunity resonates with you and you’re eager to shape and define this role, then go ahead and seize the moment. Click on the APPLY button and share your resume with us before 8th August 2025.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

We proudly affirm that we are an Equal Employment Opportunity employer, and our ambition is to foster an INCLUSIVE & DIVERSE workplace where all Danoners can bring their uniqueness to contribute to business results. Our commitment to DEI ensures that all qualified individuals receive fair consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, and disability at our company.