Food Safety and Compliance Manager

Job Summary

The Food Safety & Compliance Manager is responsible for leading, developing, planning and directing food safety and quality activities in support of Kettle Cuisine’s quality assurance operations and goals, ensuring that company standards are exceeded with a targeted emphasis on continuous improvement, providing support, structure and documented formal training for employees within the organization in all areas. This position is a key member of the leadership team and has direct budget responsibility for all areas which fall under his/her supervision. The position requires a hands-on, self-starter with the ability to motivate and lead subordinates and others. The Food Safety and Compliance Manager must be a skilled communicator who can convey information, ideas and policy to all levels within the organization. In the absence of the Food Safety and Compliance Manager the duties will be performed by either the Director of FS&QA, QA Manager, or as prescribed by the company’s organizational chart.

Role and Responsibilities

Develop and maintain food safety programs such as HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points), GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices), Preventive Controls and FSMA compliance.
Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local food safety regulations (FDA, USDA, SQF, OG).
Main POC for USDA IIC information sharing and connection to plant LEMP and LTD monitoring test results and documentation.
Oversee third-party and regulatory audits — help prepare documentation, connect with Department Managers on their RACI.
Lead internal audits and inspections and implement appropriate corrective actions.
Create, update, and enforce quality policies, SOPs, and specifications for raw materials, packaging, and finished goods.
Help establish and monitor quality metrics (e.g., defect rates, customer complaints, product rejections).
Maintain traceability and recall systems to ensure products can be tracked and recalled if needed.
Oversee the internal lab’s microbiological, chemical, and sensory testing of soups and raw material ingredients data.
Validate cleaning and sanitation effectiveness and environmental monitoring programs.
Investigate non-conformance of soups and vendor quality issues, deviations, and customer complaints to identify root causes and prevent recurrence.
Oversee and mentor QA lab technicians and QA Inspectors.
Conduct training sessions for employees on food safety, hygiene, allergen control, GMP and internal SPL’s.
Foster a culture of quality throughout the production facility.
Collaborate with production, maintenance, R&D, and supply chain teams to improve processes and product consistency.
Lead corrective and preventive action (CAPA) programs.
Audit and ensure QA Admin is maintaining detailed records for audits and traceability.
Prepare FS&Q reports for management showing trends, KPIs, and areas for improvement.
Manage supplier quality controllable findings — help to approve new vendors, review COAs, and conduct supplier audits when needed.
Other duties as required.

LEVEL OF RESPONSIBILITY

Works with little supervision, but work is reviewed. Exercises discretion within area of responsibility.
Builds concensus across functional areas.
Receives customer questions and responds within prescribed areas of knowledge.
Ineffective actions could result in significant loss of time, resources and/or could have moderate impact on the organization’s public image. Decisions or actions have a significant impact on the organization. Errors are difficult to detect and may be difficult and/or costly to correct. Decisions may have a significant impact on resources and organizational effectiveness; funding, productivity, service, quality, security of assets or external relationships may be adversely affected.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

Responsible for the work and results of employees within area of responsibility, influences others within organization.

SKILL REQUIRED

Bachelor's degree required in a field of science.; preferably Food Science or Microbiology.
HACCP Certified, PCQI Certified, SQF Practitioner, with USDA and FDA experience.
Requires requires 5+ years of experience.
On-the-job training of 3-6 months.
Creates advanced templates linking databases, spreadsheets and other documents.
Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, ERP system, LIMS and Quality system experience desired.

WORKING CONDITIONS AND PHYSICAL EFFORT

The work environmental characteristics described here are representative of those the Food Safety Manager encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

Physical Demands/Efforts

Work requires occasional physical exertion including some lifting of objects weighing up to 25 pounds.

Mental & Visual Demands

Work performed by this position requires a high degree of mental concentration required to prioritize and effectively execute extremely complex tasks.
Work requires frequent visual effort for extended periods of time.

Work Environment and Hazards

Employee works in a manufacturing setting with frequent exposure to heat/cold, dust, or other factors that may require protective equipment and still pose a hazard.
This position has infrequent exposure to hazards that could result in injury and loss of time at work.
Travel for this position is low at 10% and may require overnight stays.

ADDITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

Knowledge of Statistical Process Control, HACCP, microbiology, laboratory functions, Sanitation, and Hygienic design.
Aptean-Ross system experience preferred.
Knowledge of Food Processing equipment, preferably in a RTE facility.
Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing concepts and Strong Defect Root Cause Analysis process.
Strong project management skills; mathematical, statistical, analytical and problem solving skills.
Demonstrated ability to drive continuous improvement and manage to/achieve metrics.
Strong communication skills with the ability to interact effectively with frontline employees, peers, and executives.
Ability to drive positive change in both processes and systems and culture.
Strong internal and external customer focus with great follow-up.
Ability to provide afterhours support to a 24 X 7 operation for critical issues.Self-directed with high integrity and the maturity commensurate with being an effective leader.Bilingual (English and Spanish) – is preferred, not required.
Must be able manage multiple assignments and perform in a demanding, fast-paced environment.