About the company:
Nature’s Fynd is a Chicago-based food company creating versatile alternative proteins to nourish the world’s growing population while nurturing the planet. Born out of research conducted for NASA on microbes in Yellowstone National Park, the company’s breakthrough technology produces Fy™. Fy is a new-to-the-world, nutritional fungi protein that only uses a fraction of the resources required by traditional agriculture. We use Fy to make delicious, nutritious, and sustainable meat and dairy alternatives.
At Hydefy, the Program Manager - Quality Focus leads end-to-end production and quality programs for advanced extruded materials and textiles at external manufacturers. You will oversee complex supply chains, enforce strict adherence to technical specifications, spearhead new product introductions (NPI), and deploy robust QA protocols and SOPs to enhance product reliability, optimize costs, and advance sustainability goals. This role demands close cross-functional collaboration with R&D, engineering, quality, and commercial teams to align on innovation, regulatory compliance, and market-driven timelines, ensuring Hydefy's leadership in high-performance materials.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership & Oversight: Serve as the primary point of contact for external manufacturers and supply chain partners, managing daily operations and escalations. Lead cross-site internal resources to swiftly resolve production issues, driving measurable improvements in product performance, yield rates, and cost efficiencies. Conduct regular audits and performance reviews to verify adherence to specifications; foster collaborative development of quality programs and production procedures with manufacturing teams.Quality Assurance & Control: Design and implement comprehensive quality control plans and SOPs tailored to extrusion and textile processes. Operate analytical tools and instruments to collect and interpret statistical data for informed decision-making. Coordinate routine inspections and audits across raw materials, in-process items, and finished goods to uphold internal standards and customer requirements. Apply statistical process control (SPC) techniques to monitor production variability; establish and track key QA targets for ongoing enhancement; spearhead audits aimed at streamlining quality check turnaround times and operational efficiency.NPI & Cross-Functional Guidance: Direct the full lifecycle of new product introductions, from concept validation to partner qualification and scale-up. Provide strategic guidance to multidisciplinary teams—including quality, regulatory, business development, and R&D—to achieve aggressive timelines, budget constraints, and performance benchmarks, mitigating risks through proactive planning and milestone tracking.Process & Continuous Improvement: Partner with the Sr. Process Engineer to pinpoint process bottlenecks via data-driven analysis and implement root cause corrective actions (RCCA). Drive optimization initiatives that minimize defects, lower production costs, and elevate sustainability metrics, such as waste reduction and energy efficiency; lead efforts to shrink the environmental footprint of manufacturing operations in collaboration with partners.Performance & Supplier Management: Create and maintain dynamic reporting dashboards to track external partners' KPIs on production stability, inventory levels, and brand alignment. Develop and execute action plans to address gaps and ensure goal attainment. Rigorously evaluate and approve suppliers based on quality benchmarks; collaborate closely to diagnose and resolve persistent quality issues, securing consistent delivery of premium materials.Budgeting, Planning & Collaboration: Establish annual goals, long-term strategies, and KPIs for suppliers that align with Hydefy's corporate objectives. Collaborate seamlessly with R&D, quality, supply chain, finance, and business development teams to translate technical and financial requirements into actionable directives for toll manufacturers, while prioritizing adherence to critical customer and brand launch timelines.Documentation, Reporting & Customer Focus: Maintain meticulous records of all quality tests, inspections, audits, and outcomes. Generate insightful reports on performance trends, non-conformances, and improvement opportunities to inform leadership decisions; uphold compliance with industry standards, ISO regulations, and internal policies. Proactively investigate and resolve customer complaints; design systems to monitor and fulfill diverse multi-customer quality requirements, partnering with the business team to boost satisfaction and retention.QMS & Inspections: Champion the rollout/maintenance of integrated quality management systems (QMS) across the production lifecycle, leveraging data science tools for predictive analytics and issue resolution. Co-develop SOPs with emphasis on data validation protocols for accuracy. Establish detailed inspection frameworks for each production stage, specifying internal/external performers, frequency schedules, data collection methods, reporting protocols, and escalation cascades for pass/fail outcomes.Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related field.3-5 years of progressive experience in program or quality management, with a strong preference for roles in sheet extrusion, textiles, or plastics manufacturing.Demonstrated leadership and influence across distributed teams and manufacturing sites, with a track record of driving results in dynamic environments.Expertise in QA principles, SPC methodologies, statistical analysis, and quality control software (e.g., Minitab, JMP).Exceptional problem-solving abilities, coupled with strong verbal and written communication skills for stakeholder engagement.Certification in Six Sigma, ASQ, or Lean methodologies is highly desirable.
