Senior Director - Quality, Food Safety & Regulatory

POSITION SUMMARY

The Senior Director of Quality, Food Safety & Regulatory leads company-wide quality, food safety, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement across a multi-site beverage manufacturing network. This role sets standards, strengthens systems, develops site Quality leaders, and serves as a senior technical resource to Operations, R&D, Supply Chain, Engineering, Commercial teams, and executive leadership.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Quality & Food Safety Systems: Lead and continuously improve the corporate Quality and Food Safety Management System across manufacturing sites, including HACCP, FSMA, GMP, GFSI/FSSC 22000, sanitation, allergen, environmental monitoring, traceability, and preventive control programs.

Regulatory & Audit Leadership: Ensure compliance with applicable FDA and other regulatory requirements and lead or support regulatory inspections, certification audits, customer audits, corrective actions, and ongoing compliance initiatives.

Technical & Processing Oversight: Provide senior technical leadership for beverage processing and packaging, including pasteurization, hot-fill, aseptic, low-acid/acidified products, powders, bag-in-box, sanitation, analytical testing, and microbiological controls.

Risk & Crisis Management: Lead significant food safety, quality, supplier, customer, product hold, withdrawal, recall, contamination, and manufacturing investigations and ensure effective risk assessment, escalation, containment, and corrective action.

Quality Governance & Improvement: Own corporate systems for CAPA, deviations, document control, internal audits, management review, validation, verification, change management, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement.

Supplier & Customer Quality: Oversee supplier quality strategy and provide senior-level support for significant customer quality and food safety matters, using performance trends to drive systemic improvement.

Data & Performance Management: Establish meaningful quality and food safety KPIs, identify trends across sites, and use data to prioritize risk reduction, resources, and continuous improvement.

People & Cross-Functional Leadership: Develop and coach Quality leaders and partner with Operations, R&D, Engineering, Supply Chain, Procurement, Sales, and Marketing so quality and regulatory requirements are built into products, processes, equipment, suppliers, and operational changes.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Chemistry, Engineering, Quality, or a related technical field preferred; equivalent directly relevant experience may be considered.
• Significant progressive leadership experience in food or beverage Quality, Food Safety, and Regulatory functions, including leadership of Quality teams in manufacturing environments.
• Multi-site, corporate, or enterprise-level quality leadership experience strongly preferred.
• Strong working knowledge of FDA food regulations, FSMA preventive controls, HACCP, GMPs, GFSI-recognized food safety systems, sanitation, allergen management, environmental monitoring, microbiological controls, supplier quality, labeling, traceability, and recall/withdrawal management.
• Experience with beverage processing and packaging technologies such as pasteurization, hot-fill, aseptic processing, low-acid/acidified foods, preserved beverages, refrigerated products, powders, and bag-in-box systems is highly desirable.
• Ability to translate technical, regulatory, audit, supplier, complaint, and quality performance data into practical business decisions and influence leaders across the organization.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

• Consistent and effective Quality and Food Safety systems across all manufacturing sites.
• Strong regulatory, certification, customer, and supplier quality performance with timely closure of findings.
• Fewer repeat quality and food safety issues through effective CAPA, prevention, and risk reduction.
• Clear, actionable quality KPIs and effective executive management review.
• Stronger Quality leadership capability, engagement, and succession readiness.

WORK REQUIREMENTS

This role requires regular engagement in manufacturing environments and periodic travel to company facilities, suppliers, customers, laboratories, or regulatory and audit activities.

This job description summarizes the general nature and level of work performed and is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications.