Quality Assurance Manager

ABOUT KENDO

Kendo Holdings, Inc. is a San Francisco-based beauty brand developer and wholesaler owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury group. A play on the words “can do”, Kendo has become the hub of creativity and next generation beauty product development for global Sephora channels and selective retailers outside of Sephora.

Through original development, collaborations and acquisitions the Kendo stable of brands will always be creative, inspiring and innovative. A dynamic engine of speed, expertise and market-savvy, the Kendo team continues to redefine the beauty industry through great product, great storytelling, great retail and direct-to-consumer partnerships. This shows up in everything we do and in what we stand for:

• ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT: We seek creative ways to get things done
• PERSEVERANCE: We are moved by Winston Churchill’s words, ‘never, never, never give up’
• GENEROSITY: The power of giving
• STORYTELLING: Creating authentic stories to inspire
• QUALITY OBSESSION: Our product quality is a reflection of ourselves
• FUN: Work, life, and fun are woven of a single fabric
• ADVOCACY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION: We believe in listening with humility and acting with courage. We recognize, seek, and celebrate the power of diversity across the full spectrum of personal identity.

The Kendo house of brands currently includes: Bite Beauty, Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, KVD Vegan Beauty, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Ole Henriksen.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Quality Assurance Manager plays a crucial role by ensuring that products meet certain standards of quality. The position plans, directs or coordinates quality assurance programs and formulates quality control policies. They also work to improve the organization's efficiency and profitability. The Quality Assurance Manager prepares and updates quality documentation, basing their processes on a recognized standards. The Quality Assurance manager supervises teams of inspectors and or quality analyst who carry out the detailed assessment of products and their components at different stages of production. The position will recruit and train subordinates, and provides them with documented quality standards as guidelines for their day-to-day work. Managers also select quality inspection tools and software to support the inspection team. The Quality Manager will ensure that all QA employees are aware of quality requirements, and provides training in best practices.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Manages test programs to ensure that packaging and product stability have been established for new/revised products.
• Participates in cross functional business teams including Operations, Planning, Purchasing, Quality, Product Development, Regulatory Affairs, and Marketing to design, select, develop, test, and commercialize new packaging components and/or systems.
• Manages corrective action and preventative action (CAPA) programs focusing on root cause analysis.
• Approves external manufacturer non-conformance investigations and follows up to ensure compliance with the established timeline.
• Audits suppliers and manufacturers to ensure compliance and continuous improvement.
• Defines, tracks, evaluates, and reports external manufacturer’s performance metrics.
• When necessary, develops transfer protocols, reports and related SOPs.
• Ensures internal and external customer requirements are met when issuing new or revised specifications.
• Supervises, trains, and conducts job performance evaluations for direct reports.
• Manages additional projects as directed by management.

REQUIREMENTS

• College degree in chemistry, life sciences, engineering, or combination of education and experience in cosmetics or related (FDA regulated) industry.
• Minimum five years directly related experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Strong knowledge of Cosmetic Product attributes and characteristics.
• Professional competency and good organizational skills with attention to detail.
• Computer literacy (MS Office) skills required.
• Ability to work independently with minimal instructions from department head.
• Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general technical procedures, forms, work instructions, material safety data sheets, and procedure manuals.
• Strong communication skills: ability to write routine reports and operating procedures, and effectively present ideas and findings to peers and management.
• Ability to compute rate, ratio, percent, convert English/Metric units and apply concepts to practical situations.