Role Overview
The Head of Quality Excellence will be responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining robust quality assurance systems across Astros hub and warehouses. This role will focus on standardisation and implementation of product handling, storage, cold chain management and product/WMS/tools development to ensure goods meet Astros freshness, safety, and quality standards. You will collaborate closely with suppliers, operations, and warehouse teams to minimize wastage, improve product lifecycle management, and deliver the best customer experience.
Key Responsibilities
Product Quality Standards
- Define, monitor, and enforce product quality parameters (e.g., banana ripeness, water content for sprouts, freshness of perishables).
- Establish quality check protocols from receiving, storing, to last-mile dispatch.
Storage & Handling Excellence
- Develop clear guidelines for storing dry, fresh, and frozen products, including stacking rules, segregation, and shelf-life management.
- Create SOPs for handling wastage and near-expiry stock.
- Designing trial mechanism to improve handling and storage mechanism
- Establish of standard environmental parameters to be used in every point of chains
Cold Chain Process Management
- Standardize cold chain handling processes across suppliers, warehouses, and last-mile delivery.
- Ensure compliance with temperature and storage requirements at all stages.
Supplier & Inbound Quality Assurance
- Set quality acceptance standards with suppliers and commercial team, ensuring goods delivered match Astros requirements.
- Define inbound inspection procedures and frequency of supplier shipments.
Operational Excellence & Training
- Develop and enforce Good Housing Practices (GHP) across all facilities.
- Train warehouse and hub teams on product handling and quality monitoring practices.
- Establish a culture of quality excellence within operations.
Continuous Improvement & Monitoring
- Build, assess and maintain dashboards/KPIs for product wastage, rejection rates, and quality compliance.
- Drive root cause analysis and corrective actions for recurring quality issues.
Qualifications & Requirements
- Bachelors degree in Food Technology, Agriculture, Supply Chain, or related field (Masters preferred).
- 8+ years of experience in quality assurance, food safety, or warehouse operations (preferably in quick commerce, FMCG, or cold chain logistics).
- Strong understanding of food quality and safety standards, cold chain logistics, and warehouse handling practices.
- Experience in developing and implementing SOPs, audits, and supplier quality programs.
- Proven track record in managing fresh, frozen, and dry product categories.
- Strong leadership skills with the ability to train and influence cross-functional teams.
- Data-driven mindset; able to use KPIs to measure and improve performance.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Knowledge of local and international food safety regulations (e.g., BPOM, HACCP, ISO 22000) is a plus.
