QA/QC Manager - Fertilizer Manufacturing

About the role

The QA/QC Manager leads quality control and quality assurance across the NPK and NPS fertilizer manufacturing lines in Adama, Ethiopia, reporting to the General Manager / Operations Director. The role ensures adherence to product specifications, incoming raw material verification, in-process control and finished goods compliance.

Key responsibilities

• Oversee QA/QC activities for NPK, NPS and coated urea fertilizer lines, including raw materials, intermediate streams and finished bagged/bulk products
• Use material balance equations and chemical analysis to verify batch formulations, nutrient ratios (N-P-K-S) and blending accuracy
• Manage laboratory operations, equipment calibration, analytical methods (titration, spectrophotometry, moisture balance, sieve analysis) and reagents
• Develop and maintain testing standards, sampling plans, SOPs and product specifications under international regulatory frameworks
• Keep audit-ready documentation, COA registries, inspection reports and laboratory logs
• Lead root cause analysis of non-conformances and drive corrective and preventive actions (CAPA)
• Work with Production, Process Engineering and Supply Chain, train laboratory technicians and plant operators, and run continuous improvement initiatives

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Industrial Engineering, Agriculture or a closely related field
• 10+ years of hands-on QA/QC management experience in a solid NPK/NPS/Coated Urea granulation or blending plant
• Expert knowledge of fertilizer chemistry, analytical testing, mass balance and blending verification

Required skills

• Chemical analytical testing and mass/material balance calculations
• Statistical process control (SPC)
• Preferred: QMS and ISO standards (ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 17025), RCA methods (5-Why, Fishbone, FMEA) and CAPA