Owais Ahmed

Accomplished food safety and quality assurance manager with demonstrable success in operations management and supply chain management.

Seasoned and results-driven leader with 10+ years of experience in formulating effective business strategies and driving quality control for food safety. Proven expertise in training and building high-performance teams to facilitate Research and Development, enhance quality and safety, and optimize productivity to attain organizational goals. Proficient in developing & implementing third-party and GFSI standards with proven track record of coordinating with regulatory authorities such as CFIA, Health Canada, US FDA, and UK FSA.

Subject Matter

Expert in global customer compliance for Air Canada (Inflight Catering), Tim Horton’s (RBI), KFC, McDonald’s, Costco, Baskin Robbin, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Selfridges, Freedom Pizza, and Swan Foods. Performance-driven professional with comprehensive knowledge in FPQ, TQM, Preventive Maintenance, CI, Lean manufacturing, 5S, and Behavioral Safety. Exceptional communicator with ability to forge enduring relationships with employees, clients, and key stakeholders.

Dawn Foods Global (Previously Ardent Mills & Cargill), Burlington, Ontario, Canada 2016 – Present

Plant Quality Assurance & Operations Manager

Head team of QA technicians and QA supervisors and oversee day-to-day operations including quality assurance, quality check, sanitation and pest control. Streamline plant operation processes by collaborating with various departments within organization. Partner with Dawn’s R&D team to offer innovative product ideas and facilitate launching and relisting products based on sales forecasting, customer trends, and promotions.

Cooperate with the regulatory team for the development and approval of HALAL and KOSHER-compliant labels. Collaborate with the Director of Food Safety and QA to build and analyze GMPs and implement Quality Management and Food Safety Systems (QMFS) and Hygiene and Sanitation (H&S) programs. Lead internal audits at multiple Dawn Food facilities as a Certified BRC lead auditor to drive consistent food safety improvements across North America.

Control project budgets and create financial analysis reports for evaluation by higher management. Perform operational risk assessments to identify food safety and legal compliance gaps & provide a structured framework for demonstrating compliance against standards. Establish new programs, EHS policies, SOPs, and work instructions and lead HACCP and HARPC-based risk assessments to ensure compliance with FSMA, BRC, ISO 22000, IFS, and SQF standards.

• Implemented Behavioral Safety Program (BST) by cooperating with plant manager to promote culture of Zero tolerance for safety misconduct.
• Translated organizational food safety goals into defined operational KPIs to promote food safety culture and identify opportunities for continuous improvement. 
• Developed a robust product integrity program including foreign material and preventive controls to mitigate food contamination risk. 
• Established risk-based microbiological testing guidelines to comply with customer food safety requirements. 
• Introduced Android & IOS Apps to capture & monitor real-time manufacturing data & use it to persuade, convince and promote food safety engagement among team members. 
• Partnered with the sales team to decrease the number of customer complaints from 0.51 ppm, to 0.30 ppm in 2022.
• Reduced repetition of internal Non-Conformances by coaching operational management for CAPA and 5 why root cause analysis.
• Ensured 100% monthly completion of Food Safety training while contributing constantly towards developing Food Safety culture in the plant by posting infographics for staff awareness.
• Saved QA and Sanitation staff non-productive time by 50% in 2021 by executing designated workstation strategy and shadow boards.
• Reduced plant microbiological testing budget by 50% annually resulting in savings of $15K and 30% QA testing timesaving.
• Enhanced plant efficiency by 10% through collaboration on projects with the operations management department.
• Saved costs by $30K in 2021 and decreased scrap produced due to overage rework by 13%.
• Reduced cost of yearly sanitation OT by $20K by adopting lowest-cost alternate solutions.

Laverstoke Park Produce LLC, Overton, Hampshire, United Kingdom 2011 – 2016

Quality and Regulatory Compliance Manager

Built robust team of QA technologists and spearheaded QA operations at the farm. Trained QA technicians to steer professional development, resolve performance issues, and deliver winning results using ‘SMART’ strategy. Ensured compliance with company policies, food safety, and quality procedures and upheld GMPs and HACCP.

Supervise factory quality issues and positive release system. Developed various flavors of cured meat lines, poultry meals, RTE meat snacks, jams, pies, pate, roasted ham, quiches, yogurt, ice cream, brie, and cheddar cheese. Tracked raw materials and finished products and oversaw thermal process validation, calibration, and temperature monitoring.

Examined shelf-life of products and approve finished product labels and packaging.

• Promoted production operators by implementing Food Safety Champion program.
• Established company ‘field to fork’ animal welfare systems including lamb and cattle welfare audits.
• Aided in ensuring compliance with BRC v6, Soil Association, Compass, Demeter, Red Tractor Assurance, Freedom Foods, SALSA, and Retailer (M&S, Booths, Ocado, Waitrose, Budgens, Sainsbury, Selfridges & Harrods, and Fortnum & Masons) standards.
• Created database of detailed specifications for Raw Organic Burger, sausages, RTE Beef Jerky, Biltong, meat cuts, and packaged buffalo milk, ice cream, and mozzarella cheese.
• Improved product changeover time reduction and liaised with CI manager to implement Formula1 Pitstop mentality.
• Increased shelf life of different ages meat cuts by vacuum packaging products.
• Delivered timely feedback and grievance resolutions while treating employees respectfully to foster positive employee relations. 

Additional Experience

Quality Compliance Interim Consultant, Get Juiced (UK) Limited, Barnsley, United Kingdom

Laboratory Technician, Luton & Dunstable Hospital, Luton, United Kingdom

Pacemaker Clinic Assistant, Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospital, Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom

Master of Business Administration in Business Analytics

Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Ongoing

Post Graduate Program in Senior Executive Leadership Development with Focus on Emotional Intelligence (EI)

Centre of Creative Leadership, Colorado, USA

Bachelor of Honors in Biomedical Science; Major in Microbiology The University of Bedfordshire, UK