Director, Food Safety & Quality

Lundberg Family Farms; Richvale (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Lundberg Family Farms is seeking a Director of Food Safety & Quality (FSQ) and Sanitation to lead at both strategic and hands-on levels. You will coach FSQ teams, solve technical problems, and model our standards across operations, finance, marketing, and R&D.

The role partners with leadership to ensure FSQ priorities are understood and executed. We require 10–15 years of progressive FSQ leadership, with experience maturing FSQ programs, strong HACCP/HARPC knowledge, and familiarity with GFSI

Qualifications

• 10-15 years of progressive FSQ experience with leadership of direct reports.
• Experience maturing FSQ programs beyond maintenance and firefighting.
• Strong technical grounding in HACCP/HARPC, sanitation, and GFSI schemes (SQF/BRC).
• Rice, milling, or grain processing experience preferred.
• ASQ CQM or Lean Six Sigma Black Belt preferred.
• Proven ability to influence cross-functionally and build FSQ ownership.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, adaptable for leadership audiences.

Responsibilities

• Assess and identify key FSQ improvement areas.
• Partner with senior leadership to set and align priorities with business goals.
• Convert priorities into clear, actionable plans with defined sequencing.
• Report progress and adjust priorities as needed.
• Lead and develop FSQ leaders to build bench strength and accountability.
• Serve as senior technical expert on food safety, quality, and regulatory matters.
• Strengthen FSQ systems through standardized processes, training, and decision frameworks.
• Drive performance and engagement through coaching and cross-functional collaboration.

Skills

Leadership

FSQ Leadership

HACCP/HARPC

GFSI Standards

Preventive Controls

Sanitation

ASQ CQM

Lean Six Sigma

Cross-functional Influence

Communication

Grain Processing

Job description

Brief Description

We are looking for a Director of Food Safety & Quality (FSQ) and Sanitation who can operate at two levels at once: contributing to the direction of our food safety and quality program, and rolling up their sleeves to coach teams, solve technical problems, and model the standards we expect. This is a hands‑on leadership role for someone who has helped build or mature FSQ teams before and knows that culture, capability, and technical rigor have to advance together, not in sequence.

You'll help identify where the business most needs to improve, build the team's ability to operationalize food safety and quality on the floor, and grow ownership of food safety culture well beyond the FSQ department, in operations, finance, marketing, R&D, and across the leadership team. This role works closely with company leadership to ensure FSQ priorities are well understood and well executed.

Key Responsibilities

• Assess and identify key food safety and quality improvement areas.
• Partner with senior leadership to set and align priorities with business goals.
• Convert priorities into clear, actionable plans with defined sequencing.
• Report progress and adjust priorities as needed.

Team Capability & Technical Leadership

• Lead and develop FSQ leaders to build bench strength, accountability, and consistent execution across operations.
• Serve as the senior technical expert on food safety, quality, and regulatory matters, providing hands‑on guidance and problem‑solving.
• Strengthen team capability to effectively execute FSQ systems through standardized processes, training, and clear decision frameworks.
• Drive performance and engagement through coaching, development planning, and a collaborative, accountable team environment.

Culture & Cross‑Functional Ownership

• Foster a culture where food safety and quality are shared responsibilities across all functions.
• Partner cross‑functionally to embed FSQ considerations into decisions on budgeting, product development, customer commitments, and suppliers.
• Build trusted relationships and influence stakeholders without relying solely on authority.
• Represent FSQ in cross‑functional and leadership forums, ensuring early and consistent integration into decision‑making.

What Success Looks Like In Year One

• A clear, well‑supported set of FSQ priorities, understood and backed by operations and leadership.
• A more capable FSQ team, with stronger ownership and decision‑making at the team‑leader level.
• Visible movement toward shared food safety and quality ownership in at least one function outside of operations.
• Demonstrated progress against the organization’s FSQ Priorities: zero waste, zero risk, zero compromise commitment, with credible evidence, not just intent.

Requirements

• 10-15 years of progressive food safety and quality experience, including leadership of direct reports who themselves lead teams.
• Experience contributing to or helping mature a food safety and quality program, not just maintaining an existing one.
• Strong technical grounding in HACCP/HARPC, preventive controls, sanitation, and GFSI scheme requirements (SQF, BRC, or equivalent) and certifications (organic, kosher, etc.).
• Rice, milling, or grain processing experience strongly preferred.
• ASQ Certified Quality Manager (CQM), Lean Six Sigma Black Belt preferred.
• Proven ability to influence cross‑functionally and build food safety ownership in groups that don’t report to you.
• Comfort operating at both a strategic level (priority‑setting, planning, communicating with leadership) and a hands‑on level (floor coaching, technical troubleshooting, incident response).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to adapt message and tone for peers, technical teams, and senior leadership.