Head of Quality

Miller Leith; Brisbane; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Miller Leith is partnering to appoint an experienced Head of Quality Assurance to lead quality, food safety, and compliance across established meat processing operations in Australia. This senior role demands strategic vision and hands-on execution to meet domestic and export standards.

You will set quality direction across sites, develop QA capability, oversee HACCP and GMP, and drive continuous improvement while aligning with senior leadership to embed quality in daily operations.

Qualifications

• Significant senior-level Quality Assurance experience within the meat processing industry.
• Previous meat processing & export experience essential.
• Proven experience leading QA teams across multiple sites or business units.
• Strong technical knowledge of HACCP, GMP, food safety and quality management systems.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership and direction across quality assurance and food safety.
• Establish and maintain consistent quality standards, systems and processes across both operations.
• Lead, mentor and develop site-based QA Manager and their respective teams.
• Ensure compliance with Australian export meat regulations, DAFF requirements, AS 4696 and relevant importing country standards.
• Oversee HACCP, GMP and broader food safety and quality management systems, identifying opportunities to strengthen processes and improve performance.
• Lead regulatory, customer and third-party audits, ensuring the business remains audit-ready and compliant.
• Monitor quality performance, identify emerging risks and provide meaningful reporting and recommendations to senior leadership.
• Build strong working relationships with operational leaders, ensuring quality and food safety remain embedded in day-to-day operations.

Skills

Quality leadership

Meat processing

Export experience

Regulatory compliance

HACCP

GMP

Audits

Stakeholder management

Job description

• Highly strategic role to uplift and build capability

An opportunity to take ownership of quality, food safety and compliance across established meat processing operations.

We are partnering with a well-established Australian business to appoint an experienced Head of Quality Assurance. This is a senior leadership position suited to a strategic quality professional who understands the complexities of meat processing, export markets and highly regulated food production environments.

Supporting multiple sites, you will play a key role in setting quality standards, strengthening systems and driving consistency across the business. Working closely with senior leadership and site management teams, you will provide direction to the QA function while ensuring the business continues to meet domestic, export and customer requirements.

The Opportunity

This role goes beyond day-to-day quality assurance. You will be responsible for providing strategic direction across the quality function, developing capability within the QA teams and ensuring a consistent approach to food safety, regulatory compliance and continuous improvement.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Provide strategic leadership and direction across quality assurance and food safety
• Establish and maintain consistent quality standards, systems and processes across both operations.
• Lead, mentor and develop site-based QA Manager and their respective teams.
• Ensure compliance with Australian export meat regulations, DAFF requirements, AS 4696 and relevant importing country standards.
• Oversee HACCP, GMP and broader food safety and quality management systems, identifying opportunities to strengthen processes and improve performance.
• Lead regulatory, customer and third-party audits, ensuring the business remains audit-ready and compliant.
• Monitor quality performance, identify emerging risks and provide meaningful reporting and recommendations to senior leadership.
• Build strong working relationships with operational leaders, ensuring quality and food safety remain embedded in day-to-day operations.

About You

We are looking for a commercially minded and strategic quality leader who can balance the bigger picture with the practical realities of a meat processing environment.

You will be confident influencing senior stakeholders, developing capable QA teams and driving improvements across multiple operations. Just as importantly, you will understand the regulatory demands of export meat processing and be comfortable navigating complex compliance requirements.

To be considered, you will bring:

• Significant senior-level Quality Assurance experience within the meat processing industry.
• Previous meat processing & strong export experience is essential,
• Proven experience leading QA teams, ideally across multiple sites or business units.
• Strong technical knowledge of HACCP, GMP, food safety and quality management systems.
• Experience managing regulatory, customer and external audits.
• A strong understanding of relevant industry standards and programs, including AUS-MEAT, MSA, NLIS and Halal.

If you are an experienced meat processing quality professional looking for a broader, strategic leadership role, we would be interested in hearing from you.