Customer Quality Manager

Kettle Cuisine, LLC.; Savage (MD); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Kettle Cuisine, LLC is seeking a Customer Quality Manager at the Savage, MD plant to lead quality-service interactions with customers and ensure clear, consistent expectations across internal teams. The Customer Quality Analyst supports complaint execution, KPI analysis, and reporting under this role.

The successful candidate will translate customer quality requirements into actionable plans, coordinate investigations, and drive continuous improvement with cross-functional partners.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in a related field.
• Minimum five years in food-manufacturing quality or customer-facing technical roles.
• Experience with customer audits, quality reviews, or supplier coordination preferred.
• Strong communication, investigation coordination, and priority management.

Responsibilities

• Translate customer quality-service standards and communicate them to internal teams.
• Serve as primary quality contact for customers; coordinate responses to questions and complaints.
• Initiate and maintain customer quality reviews with evidence-based follow-up.
• Review complaints, KPIs, customer feedback, and trends with FSQ teams.
• Coordinate supplier-assurance questions to align customer expectations with controls.
• Escalate material risks and ensure accurate, verifiable communications.

Skills

Customer communication

Investigation coordination

Specification interpretation

Trend review

Cross-functional follow-through

Education

Bachelor’s degree in food science, Quality, Business, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered.

Job description

Job Details: Job Location: Savage Plant - Savage, MD 20763, Salary Range: $90,000.00 - $120,000.00 Salary, Job Description

The Customer Quality Manager leads Kettle Cuisine’s quality-service relationship with customers and ensures customer expectations are clearly understood, communicated, and managed across internal teams. The Customer Quality Analyst supports complaint execution, KPI analysis, and reporting under this role.

Responsibilities:

• Translate customer expectations for quality-service standards and communicate those standards for our customer's quality expectations, quality limits, quality values, agreed specifications, and quality service commitments to the Customer Quality Technical team, Quality and Food Safety Program Managers, and FSQ site leadership.
• Serve as a primary quality contact for customers; coordinate timely, accurate responses to quality questions, complaints, reviews, and follow-up actions.
• Initiate and maintain customer quality reviews, using clear evidence, trend analysis, action owners, and follow-up to support customer confidence.
• Partner with Customer Quality Analyst and site FSQ teams to review complaints, quality KPIs, customer feedback, controllable incidents, and emerging trends.
• Coordinate customer supplier-assurance questions with the appropriate Quality, Procurement, and Technical Services owners; confirm that customer expectations and documented supplier controls are aligned.
• Escalate material risks promptly and ensure customer-facing communications are factual, appropriately reviewed, and consistent with verified evidence.

Qualifications (Education / Experience / Skills)

• Bachelor’s degree in food science, Quality, Business, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered.
• Five or more years in food-manufacturing quality, customer quality, complaint management, or a related customer-facing technical role.
• Demonstrated skill in customer communication, investigation coordination, specification interpretation, trend review, and cross-functional follow-through.
• Able to communicate technical findings clearly and professionally, manage competing priorities, and maintain confidentiality and sound judgment.
• Experience with customer audits, quality reviews, or supplier-assurance coordination preferred.

Success Measures

• Customer quality inquiries and reviews are handled within agreed response expectations with clear ownership and documented follow-up.
• Customer requirements and specifications are communicated accurately to internal stakeholders.
• Complaint, KPI, and sentiment trends are routinely reviewed and converted into appropriate customer and internal actions.

As a Leader Within the Kettle Cuisine Team, You Are Expected To

• Model and support Kettle Cuisine’s Core Values and safety culture.
• Develop individual team members and their careers.
• Create a culture of accountability and performance.
• Drive a focus on quality assurance and continuous improvement.
• Plan work, track results, and resolve issues.

Required Attributes

• Self-directed, with high integrity and sound judgment.
• Positive, collaborative, and able to build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Organized and able to manage priorities, projects, and metrics in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills appropriate to the role.
• Willing to address difficult situations with patience and respect.
• Able to provide after-hours support for critical issues when required by the role.
• Enthusiastic about food and committed to safe, high-quality products.