Director of Food Safety and Quality Assurance

Location: California

Director of Food Safety and Quality Assurance|POM Wonderful# Director of Food Safety and Quality Assurance

POM Wonderful | Del Rey, CA | Production/warehousing | Director | Full-time | Job e
* Email## Company Description From tree to table, POM Wonderful delivers a whole lot of healthy. Known for our iconic double-bubble bottle, we grow, harvest, package, and market fresh pomegranates, pomegranate arils, and a selection of delicious pomegranate-blended juices and teas. With over 9,000 acres in California’s Central Valley, POM Wonderful is committed to unleashing the antioxidant power of our handpicked pomegranates.

JOB SUMMARY:

Lead the end-to-end Food Safety & Quality Assurance (FSQA) strategy for Arils ready to eat product category, beverage portfolio and fresh ensuring robust governance, operational discipline, and continuous improvement at Del Rey & Buttonwillow facilities. Provide FSQA leadership to operations with focus on Arils domestic & Spring Arils program with emphasis on compliance, risk mitigation, continuous improvement and cost optimization.

SUPERVISORY SITUATIONS:  This position supervises Arils Quality Manager, Food Safety Regulatory & Technical Specialists in Del Rey and QA Supervisor in Buttonwillow. Dotted line responsibility for Sanitation team and contract manufacturing Supervisor with potential future responsibility for beverage QA operations.
* Compensation-*$ - $
* Salary* - with a discretionary bonus up to 20%. Final compensation will be dependent upon skills & experience.##

Job Description
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* ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

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* ** Own FSQA program architecture**: develop, maintain, and administrate SOPs, SSOPs, HACCP plans, validation/verification records, and document control in alignment with GFSI and regulatory expectations.
* ** Steward of risk management**: maintain and execute HACCP/HARPC, environmental monitoring, allergen control, foreign material prevention, and traceability/recall readiness.
* ** Accountable for KPIs**: yield impact from quality holds, claim rates, micro compliance (% pass), environmental positives rate, sanitation effectiveness score, audit closure cycle time, and FSQA cost-to-serve.
* ** Tight change control**: implement structured change management for new capital projects, process, equipment, formulation, labeling, and sanitation chemicals with documented risk assessments and sign‐offs.
* ** Structured CAPA administration**: ensure root‐cause rigor (5-Why/Fishbone), action effectiveness checks, and timely closure; maintain dashboards and executive reporting of trend analyses.
* ** Embed FSQA into daily operations**: partner with Plant Management, Production, Maintenance, and Sanitation to operationalize programs—turn standards into routines (pre‐op checks, process control limits, shift‐by‐shift verification).
* ** Operational coaching**: influence behaviors on the floor through presence, leadership, and targeted training; uplift ownership of quality and sanitation at line‐level.
* ** Tiered accountability rhythms**: lead weekly/monthly QA FMDS/KPI meetings (Tier 1–3) to review FSQA KPIs, environmental findings, customer complaints, and process capability; drive rapid response and escalation.
* ** Process capability & loss prevention**: collaborate with Ops to reduce variability, improve yields, and prevent defects (temperature control, dwell times, antimicrobial dosing, packaging integrity).
* ** Team development**: build a high‐performing FSQA and sanitation organization; define roles, succession, and training paths.
* ** Culture of quality**: foster a proactive, data‐driven, “go‐see” culture where operators own quality and sanitation outcomes.
* ** Training program ownership**: ensure competency‐based training for HACCP, GMPs, allergen control, sanitation, environmental monitoring, and recall procedures.
* Develop and maintain the scientific documentation used to support the critical hazard decisions for HARPC risk assessment including extended runs and special production needs.
* Assist in development of special department projects for shelf life enhancement and work in conjunction with R&D team on other pipeline projects.
* Maintain active role on internal…