Food Safety & Quality Manager

Food Safety & Quality Manager

The Food Safety & Quality Manager is responsible for leading the site's Food Safety and Quality Management programs, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, customer expectations, certification standards, and internal quality objectives. This individual will drive continuous improvement initiatives and promote a strong food safety culture throughout the facility.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, develop, coach, and mentor Food Safety & Quality team members while building a high-performing quality organization.
• Serve as the primary food safety leader for the facility and maintain oversight of food safety and quality systems.
• Manage internal, external, supplier, and regulatory audits, ensuring timely resolution of findings and corrective actions.
• Develop and monitor quality, food safety, sanitation, and operational performance metrics to drive continuous improvement.
• Partner with customers, auditors, and regulatory agencies during inspections, audits, and quality-related reviews.
• Provide direction to sanitation and cross-functional teams to ensure compliance with food safety and hygiene requirements.
• Ensure compliance with food safety programs, regulatory standards, certification requirements, and internal policies.
• Implement routine inspection and verification programs to maintain audit readiness and sanitary conditions throughout the facility.
• Oversee environmental monitoring, trend data, corrective actions, and verification activities related to pathogen control.
• Lead root cause investigations and corrective action plans for food safety, quality, and sanitation issues.
• Partner with Operations, Maintenance, R&D, Supply Chain, and other departments to support company food safety and quality objectives.
• Develop, maintain, and improve food safety documentation, programs, procedures, and preventive controls.
• Manage customer complaints, non-conformances, deviations, and corrective action programs to prevent recurrence.
• Champion a proactive food safety culture across all levels of the organization.
• Oversee product hold and release processes, including disposition and inventory controls related to quality concerns.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of Food Safety and Quality experience within food manufacturing, including leadership experience.
• Strong knowledge of food safety regulations, quality systems, preventive controls, and GFSI-certified environments.
• Experience supporting and leading third-party certification audits.
• Certifications such as HACCP, PCQI, SQF Practitioner, or equivalent strongly preferred.
• Understanding of food microbiology, environmental monitoring programs, and pathogen control strategies.
• Proven ability to lead teams and influence cross-functional stakeholders.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, and organizational skills.
• Experience driving continuous improvement initiatives through data analysis and risk-based decision making.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced manufacturing environment while managing multiple priorities.