FSQ RTE Manager

Job Description

FSQ RTE Manager (Technical Authority) is the single point of authority for food safety within all Ready-to-Eat (RTE) production and packaging operations.

This role is responsible for ensuring that no contamination pathway exists between environmental, personnel, or process risks and finished product. The position operates as a real‑time risk controller, making immediate decisions on product safety, production continuation, and release.

In this structure:

• Sanitation executes cleaning (Plant Manager)
• FSQ RTE defines standards and approves effectiveness

• Real‑Time Food Safety Authority
  • Make final decisions on product release / hold, line startup approval, and production shutdowns
  • Lead escalation and response to deviations, sanitation failures, and environmental risks
• Hygienic Zoning Design & Enforcement
  • Define and enforce RAW → RTE separation, personnel and material flow, and controlled entry/exit points
  • Audit zoning behavior daily – boot wash compliance and tool segregation
  • Eliminate all cross‑contamination pathways
• Sanitation Standards & Validation
  • Define sanitation expectations: 7‑step cleaning system
  • Validate cleaning effectiveness through direct observation, ATP and micro results
  • Reject sanitation that does not meet standard
• Pre‑Operational Control
  • Own pre‑op verification standards
  • Audit high‑risk equipment and repeat issue areas
  • Ensure no production begins under unsafe conditions
• Environmental Monitoring & Pathogen Control
  • Partner with Micro Lab Manager to interpret trends and identify harborage points
  • Lead response to Listeria risks
  • Eliminate repeat contamination zones
• High‑Risk Vector Control
  • Define and enforce controls for drains, condensation, and equipment niches
  • Enforce drain segregation and no‑spray policies
• Floor Leadership & Enforcement
  • Maintain strong floor presence
  • Correct GMP violations immediately
  • Hold operations, sanitation, and maintenance accountable

• Process & Food Safety Authority (Highest Risk Area)
  • Kill step (smokehouse lethality)
  • Cooling, drying, and post‑lethality handling
  • RTE contamination prevention (Listeria risk)
• Process Validation
  • Thermal validation
  • Challenge studies
  • Scientific basis of controls

• 8+ years in food safety/QA leadership
• RTE food experience (strongly required)
• Deep expertise in
  • HACCP, FSMA, GMPs
  • Hygienic zoning
  • Sanitation systems
• Proven ability to
  • Enforce standards
  • Make high‑pressure decisions

• RTE environmental positive rate
• Pre‑op pass rate and repeat issues
• Zoning/GMP compliance
• Food safety incidents
• Audit performance

Salary range: $94,000 – $106,000. Base pay is one component of the total rewards package. Additional rewards may include annual incentive and program‑specific awards. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, 401k participation, paid holidays, and paid time off.

Required:

standing, walking, using hands to handle or feel, lifting up to 25 lbs, occasional lifting up to 50 lbs. Vision: close vision.

Plant/office setting with varying temperatures and noise levels, exposure to manufacturing equipment movement and wet/slippery floors. Travel may be required.

Jack Link's is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Jack Link’s uses E‑Verify for Form I‑9 processing. If work authorization cannot be verified, guidance will be provided. E‑Verify is not used to pre‑screen applicants or re‑verify current employees.