Quality Control Manager

Job Title:

Quality Control Manager / Director of Quality & Food Safety

Job Description

The Quality Control Manager / Director of Quality & Food Safety provides enterprise-level leadership for all quality, food safety, and regulatory compliance programs within a manufacturing environment. This role ensures best-in-class product integrity, drives continuous improvement initiatives, and aligns quality systems with business objectives and customer expectations. As a key member of the leadership team, this individual partners cross-functionally to support operational excellence, regulatory compliance, and customer satisfaction.

The position oversees food safety systems, audit readiness, preventive controls, laboratory operations, and crisis management while developing and mentoring a high-performing quality organization.

Responsibilities

+ Provide enterprise-level leadership for quality, food safety, and regulatory compliance programs across a manufacturing environment.

+ Design, implement, and maintain robust quality systems that ensure best-in-class product integrity and compliance with internal and external standards.

+ Oversee food safety systems, including HACCP, GMP, GFSI (with emphasis on BRC), allergen control, sanitation, environmental monitoring, and food defense programs.

+ Lead audit readiness efforts and manage customer, regulatory, and third-party audits to successful outcomes.

+ Direct and support FDA inspections, including routine and for-cause inspections, FDA swab-a-thons, and the development of responses to FDA-483 observations.

+ Manage complex customer complaints by leading internal investigations, determining root cause, implementing corrective and preventive actions (CAPA), and preparing detailed reports and presentations.

+ Lead external customer interactions related to quality issues, including conference calls and presentations, particularly for high-value and high-impact complaints.

+ Drive continuous improvement initiatives by developing and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) and implementing statistical process control (SPC) across operations.

+ Lead root cause analysis and CAPA processes to address non-conformances and systemic issues, ensuring sustainable corrective actions.

+ Collaborate closely with Manufacturing, R&D, and Supply Chain teams to align quality and food safety programs with operational and business objectives.

+ Provide customer-facing quality leadership, including crisis management and enterprise risk mitigation related to product quality and safety.

+ Oversee laboratory operations, including method execution, equipment calibration, and data integrity, to ensure reliable and compliant testing.

+ Develop, mentor, and manage a high-performing quality organization, including supervisors, coordinators, and quality technicians.

+ Set performance expectations, provide coaching and feedback, and support professional development for quality team members.

+ Support multi-site quality oversight, ensuring consistency of quality systems and standards across locations.

+ Contribute to the integration of quality systems into new product commercialization initiatives.

+ Ensure ongoing compliance with applicable regulatory requirements and industry standards, including FDA, USDA, FSMA, and GFSI schemes.

+ Partner with leadership to influence strategic decisions related to quality, food safety, and brand protection.

+ Prepare and present executive-level updates on quality performance, risks, and improvement initiatives.

+ Lead and support crisis management activities related to product quality, recalls, and significant customer issues.

Essential Skills

+ Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Chemistry, or a related Life Sciences field.

+ 5-12+ years of progressive quality or food safety leadership experience in food or consumables manufacturing.

+ Demonstrated enterprise-level quality and food safety leadership in manufacturing environments.

+ Strong expertise in HACCP, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), and GFSI programs, with BRC experience preferred.

+ Proven experience leading audits and regulatory inspections, including customer, regulatory, and third-party audits.

+ Hands-on experience with FDA inspections, including routine and for-cause inspections, FDA swab-a-thons, and drafting responses to FDA-483 observations.

+ Extensive experience managing complex customer complaints, including investigation, root cause determination, corrective actions, and external communication.

+ Experience handling a significant volume of customer complaints (greater than 10 per month) and high-value complaints in the range of $100,000 to $1,000,000 or more.

+ Strong capability in continuous improvement, KPI development, and implementation of statistical process control (SPC).

+ Proven leadership in root cause analysis and corrective and preventive action (CAPA) management.

+ Demonstrated ability to collaborate cross-functionally with Manufacturing, R&D, and Supply Chain teams.

+ Experience in customer-facing…