Food Safety & Quality Assurance Manager

Location
:
Minneapolis, MN Job Type
:
Full-Time, On-Site Compensation
: $92,119 - $135,000 base salary

A leading provider of culinary and food service solutions to the aviation and travel industry is seeking an experienced Food Safety & Quality Assurance Manager to lead food safety, quality, and sanitation programs at a large-scale food production facility in Portland.

This role offers full ownership of the site’s programs, from daily execution and regulatory compliance to team development, performance reporting, and continuous improvement. You will maintain a strong presence on the production floor, identify risks proactively, and provide site leadership with clear insight into department performance, improvement priorities, and corrective action progress.

We’re looking for a proven leader who can ramp up quickly, develop a capable Quality team, and partner with Operations and Production leaders to implement and sustain improvements. Success requires strong technical expertise and the ability to drive results through others in a fast-paced production environment.

• Own the site’s food safety, quality, and sanitation programs, ensuring compliance with company, customer, and regulatory requirements.
• Conduct daily production floor walks to assess practices, identify risks, and reinforce consistent food safety standards.
• Partner with Operations and Production leaders to identify root causes, establish corrective action plans, educate their teams, and ensure changes are implemented and sustained.
• Oversee sanitation practices and verification activities, working with responsible teams to address gaps and maintain effective controls.
• Conduct and oversee food safety monitoring and inspections, including temperature checks, HACCP log reviews, environmental swabbing, sanitation verification, and product quality checks.
• Lead or actively participate in customer, regulatory, and third-party audits, including preparing documentation, supporting inspections, and completing required follow-up actions.
• Verify that prepared food meets customer specifications, including product weight, preparation, handling, labeling, and storage requirements.
• Ensure compliance with applicable FDA, USDA, FSMA, HACCP, and current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) requirements.
• Hire, coach, train, and develop the Food Safety/Quality team, establishing clear expectations and individual development plans.
• Manage team performance and build bench strength so employees can take on greater responsibility.
• Train employees and leaders across departments on food safety procedures, sanitation practices, and compliance expectations.
• Maintain thorough records, reports, logs, and corrective action tracking.
• Analyze food safety, quality, and sanitation data to identify trends, evaluate corrective action effectiveness, and prioritize improvements.
• Report performance to site leadership, highlighting department-level strengths, gaps, risks, and recommended actions.
• Work collaboratively with Operations, Production, HR, and other leaders to strengthen food safety culture across all shifts.

• 5+ years of food safety and/or quality experience within a regulated food production or food manufacturing environment.
• Direct experience with food production and quality controls, including temperature management, preparation, storage, labeling, shelf life, and safe handling.
• Demonstrated management experience leading a food safety or quality team, including hiring, coaching, employee development, and performance management.
• Proven ownership of food safety or quality programs, with specific examples of improvements personally led and sustained.
• Ability to influence Operations and Production leaders and drive…