Sr. Manager, Food Safety & Quality Assurance (FSQA)

We are seeking a strategic, hands-on FSQA leader to elevate and scale our food safety and quality systems across multiple production facilities in California. This role is pivotal as we expand into scratch cooking and more complex fresh food production, requiring a leader who can build robust, scalable systems while maintaining operational agility.

This is a high-visibility role with direct impact on operations, product quality, and regulatory compliance, overseeing Northern & Southern CA Operations (two sites).

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary liaison with USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA/FSIS), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and local health departments, ensuring all facilities maintain a constant state of audit readiness and confidently leading all regulatory inspections
• Design, validate, and continuously evolve HACCP programs across all applicable USDA categories, acting as the final authority on critical control points, including thermal processing (kill steps) and rapid cooling cycles for Ready-to-Eat (RTE) products
• Partner closely with Culinary and R&D to integrate new products into production, ensuring every recipe is fully embedded into HACCP plans, preventive controls, and analytical programs prior to launch
• Oversee the Environmental Monitoring Program (EMP), leveraging microbiological data, production trends, and operational insights to drive robust corrective and preventive actions (CAPA), root cause analysis (RCA), and continuous improvement
• Work in close partnership with Operations leadership to balance high-speed, high-volume production with uncompromising food safety and quality standards, ensuring efficiency targets are achieved without introducing risk
• Standardize and scale FSQA programs across NorCal and SoCal operations, building systems that support increased complexity, consistency, and growth
• Lead, coach, and develop FSQA teams across multiple sites, elevating capability, accountability, and performance
• Establish clear KPIs, reporting cadence, and governance to ensure visibility and ownership of food safety and quality outcomes

What You Bring

• 10+ years of progressive FSQA leadership experience within high-volume, USDA- and FDA-regulated food manufacturing environments
• Bilingual in English and Spanish required, with the ability to communicate effectively in both written and verbal formats with frontline teams to reinforce food safety and quality standards
• Proven ability to build, scale, and improve FSQA systems in complex, multi-site operations
• Deep technical expertise in food processing systems, including kill steps, cooling curves, and sanitary design
• Strong working knowledge of HACCP, FSMA Preventive Controls, GMPs, SSOPs, and environmental monitoring programs
• Experience supporting or leading scratch cooking or fresh food production environments highly preferred
• Demonstrated ability to influence and partner cross-functionally with Operations, Culinary, and Supply Chain leaders
• Hands-on leadership style with a track record of driving both strategic initiatives and day-to-day execution
• PCQI and HACCP certifications required, with expert-level understanding of USDA HACCP categories and regulatory expectations
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Food Science, Microbiology, or a related field

Schedule

• Primary hours align to production, typically 6:00 AM – 2:30 PM, with a strong on-site presence across NorCal and SoCal facilities
• Highly floor-facing and hands-on during peak production to ensure food safety and quality standards are consistently executed
• 20–30% travel required between Northern (San Lorenzo) and Southern California (Commerce) locations to maintain alignment and visibility
• Flexibility needed to support early startups, regulatory inspections, new product launches, and critical operational issues

Salary Range: $145,000 - $175,000