Quality Assurance Customer Service

Debra Arford

**** *. ** ****** ***. ***. ( Phoenix, AZ 85016 ( 602-***-**** (

abmh3w@r.postjobfree.com

SUMMARY

Successful Corporate Quality Assurance Director with hands-on experience

hiring and training of team members along with technical, laboratory and

manufacturing experience. Current HACCP, TQM, GMP's, and AIB-compliance

knowledge. Experienced team leader that achieved third party auditor

compliance for Food Safety Programs in Food Ingredient, Baby Cereal, and

Beverage manufacturing. Garnered Kosher, Halal, Organic compliance for

multiple plants/product lines.

Business Strategy Team Member COA development, Specification

Writing

Supplier/Co-packer/3rd Party Continuous Improvement Measures

auditing

Customer Service/Complaint Sampling Protocol, Technician

Handling Training

Professional Experience

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY WEST CAMPUS, Phoenix, AZ 2009 - present

Chemistry Instructor

Teaching multiple levels of Organic Chemistry laboratory courses for all

types of majors to diverse enrollment. This experience applies generally

to the training and management of technicians and laboratory personnel.

Accomplishments:

. Laboratory Management Skills: Data Collection and Reporting, Ethics,

Protocol Development

. Laboratory Practices Training: Safety, Handling, Hygiene, Hazards,

Waste Disposal

. Technique: Practical Organic Chemistry for pre-med and non-Chemistry

majors

NUTRACEA, Phoenix, AZ 2007 - 2008

Quality Assurance/Food Safety Director

Responsibilities of this position included development and implementation

of the Corporate Food Safety Program governing 6 plants. My team included

5 direct reports, 2 of whom had multi-site responsibility. Developed

HACCP Plans, Traceability Programs, SSOP's, Corrective Action Plans, and

GMP's for three unique product lines: Food ingredient, Nutritional

Supplement, and Baby Cereal.

Accomplishments:

. Instituted third party auditing by the AIB and drafted a Food Safety

manual compliant with the ISO 22000 standard.

. Led cross-functional team including operations and sales in winning

business as supplier to Gerber for their whole-grain cereal line.

. Initiated/facilitated BRC-compliance (British Retail Consortium, a

Global Food Safety organization) as a measure to maintain an existing

contract with Kellogg's, UK that involved collaboration with NutraCea,

CA plant's contract-management, Operations, and the BRC division of

AIB.

. Successfully led negotiations, with cooperation from operations for

specification as new supplier to General Mills for their New Product

Development Division.

. Kosher and Halal certifications at all plants and Organic

certifications at two plants were established for the purpose of

either satisfying existing customer requirements or tapping into new

business segments.

. Responsible for transition to in-house testing for Salmonella bringing

down the cost from $75 to $8 per test.

. Part of collaborative effort between Logistics/Purchasing, Operations,

and Quality, that carried out a Vitamin E supplier change resulting in

cost cuts and quality improvement.

DEVRY UNIVERSITY, Phoenix, AZ 2005 - 2007

Professor of Chemistry

Developed and instructed a fast-paced broad spectrum Chemistry lecture and

laboratory course that was part of the Biomedical Engineering Technologist

program. Skills carried forward are project/curriculum design and

management, deadline meeting, and scheduling/time-management.

MARICOPA COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Phoenix, AZ 2003 - 2005

Chemistry Instructor

Taught all levels of lecture and laboratory Chemistry courses for all types

of majors to diverse enrollment from high school graduates to adult

returning students. This experience applies generally to personnel

training and is well-suited for the education- intensive TQM philosophy.

Accomplishments:

. Analytical Technique and Data Interpretation Skills: IR, NMR, GC-MS,

UV-Vis, HPLC.

. Laboratory (Hands-On) Technique Training: Chromatography, Extraction,

Distillation.

. Theory: General Chemistry through Organic Chemistry for students with

NON-chemistry career goals

THREE RIVERS BOTTLING, LLC, Pittsburgh, PA 1999 - 2001

Quality Assurance Director

Responsibilities included developing QA, Sanitation and Blend Room SOP's

and hiring and training personnel for a two-shift beverage co-packer.

Under my direction, the QA department drafted and implemented QC,

production record, sampling/retain, environmental testing, and pest

control programs. This role afforded the opportunity to interface with

customers on QA/QC and specification/formulation issues for either

contract fulfillment or business development purposes. Duties also

included managing supplier/vendor-relations.

Accomplishments:

. Fulfilled Business Development Role with respect to Quality resulting

in new supply contracts.

. As part of cost-cutting strategy, my team developed a Yield/Loss Study

Program that recorded and addressed areas of loss or off-spec.

performance.

. As a Continuous Improvement measure, QA production records were

generated and utilized by my department to develop and implement a

system for reporting of production feedback to Operations Management.

COPACKING, INC., Pittsburgh, PA 1998 -

1999

Owner Beverage Co-packer

As co-owner of a family business, I gained extensive experience in building

and maintaining a beverage co-packing operation supplying customers

including Arizona Iced Tea, Honest T, and Nantucket Nectars.

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, Pittsburgh, PA 1991 -

1998

Research Assistant

Studied structure/function relationships in the carbon-carbon bond

formation between benzene/arenes during coupling. This research involved

technique-intensive isolation of rare and highly air-sensitive

intermediates.. Generally applicable skills that I acquired are Scientific

literature research and review and results duplication, results reporting,

and publishing. Techniques included inert-handling and organic synthesis,

isolation, and characterization.

MERCK SHARP & DOHME RESEARCH LABS, West Point, PA 1990 - 1991

Medicinal Chemist

Designed and synthesized new targets for HIV protease inhibition as a

member of a group that ultimately developed the vaccine, Crixivan.

Accomplishments:

. Acquired knowledge and experience from a private sector environment

that utilizes and applies science/technology for profit-making

purposes. I, therefore, gained insight into streamlining a project to

achieve goals.

. Participated in problem-solving, target-defining meetings involving

research team members of all education levels and, at times, paid

consultants. This gave me first-hand exposure to strategy

development.

. Presented bioassay reports and research results at weekly multi-

department meetings, thus gaining perspective of my contribution to

the overall organization.

Education

University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh, PA

1998

Doctor of Philosophy Degree, Chemistry

Carnegie Mellon University - Pittsburgh, PA

1990

Bachelor of Science Degree, Chemistry

Contact this candidate