Food Safety Manager

Judge Direct Placement; Modesto (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Judge Direct Placement is seeking a senior FSQA leader in California to oversee the implementation, verification, and validation of food safety programs and to ensure compliance with GFSI standards and regulatory requirements.

The role manages relationships with USDA/FSIS/AMS and drives continuous improvement across QA, operations, and supplier interfaces while leading investigations into non-conformances and customer complaints.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• 5+ years of work experience in food processing with supervisory and management experience for food safety and quality systems.
• Proficient use of Microsoft Office products is required and experience with SAP and enterprise data management systems is strongly preferred.
• Previous managerial experience supervising salaried and non-salaried team members is required.
• Demonstrated proficiency leading and managing cross-functional teams is required.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary FSQA leader, overseeing the implementation, verification, and validation of food safety programs (e.g., HACCP, SSOP).
• Ensure compliance with GFSI standards, company internal audit requirements, and all applicable food safety regulations.
• Manage relationships with regulatory agencies (USDA, FSIS, AMS) and act as the site’s primary liaison.
• Retain and evaluate non-conforming products against customer, regulatory, and internal specifications; determine and execute product disposition, including release decisions.
• Lead the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of USDA regulations and company FSQA programs, including environmental monitoring, GMPs, pest control, allergen control, and finished product compliance.
• Oversee all product monitoring programs to ensure alignment with legal, customer, and company requirements.
• Supervise and ensure competency of all personnel, visitors, and contractors in maintaining food safety and quality standards.
• Design and coordinate training programs in partnership with HR, Operations, Sanitation, Maintenance, and FSQA teams to promote a strong food safety culture.
• Lead root cause investigations for pathogen-related issues, partnering with Operations to resolve processing, sanitation, and maintenance deficiencies.
• Drive investigations into product quality non-conformance and customer/consumer complaints; implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Collaborate with Operations leadership and regulatory bodies to address and resolve non-compliance issues; provide reports and trend analysis to corporate leadership.
• Evaluate and continuously improve FSQA programs and procedures to ensure alignment with regulatory and company standards.
• Manage FSQA data systems and reporting; analyze trends and communicate insights for continuous improvement.
• Lead cross-functional projects focused on enhancing product safety, quality, and process efficiency, including new product commercialization initiatives.
• Monitor and drive performance against FSQA key performance indicators (KPIs) to achieve corporate objectives.

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary FSQA leader, overseeing the implementation, verification, and validation of food safety programs (e.g., HACCP, SSOP).


• Ensure compliance with GFSI standards, company internal audit requirements, and all applicable food safety regulations.


• Manage relationships with regulatory agencies (USDA, FSIS, AMS) and act as the site’s primary liaison.


• Retain and evaluate non-conforming products against customer, regulatory, and internal specifications; determine and execute product disposition, including release decisions.


• Lead the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of USDA regulations and company FSQA programs, including environmental monitoring, GMPs, pest control, allergen control, and finished product compliance.


• Oversee all product monitoring programs to ensure alignment with legal, customer, and company requirements.


• Supervise and ensure competency of all personnel, visitors, and contractors in maintaining food safety and quality standards.


• Design and coordinate training programs in partnership with HR, Operations, Sanitation, Maintenance, and FSQA teams to promote a strong food safety culture.


• Lead root cause investigations for pathogen-related issues, partnering with Operations to resolve processing, sanitation, and maintenance deficiencies.


• Drive investigations into product quality non-conformance and customer/consumer complaints; implement corrective and preventive actions.


• Collaborate with Operations leadership and regulatory bodies to address and resolve non-compliance issues; provide reports and trend analysis to corporate leadership.


• Evaluate and continuously improve FSQA programs and procedures to ensure alignment with regulatory and company standards.


• Manage FSQA data systems and reporting; analyze trends and communicate insights for continuous improvement.


• Lead cross-functional projects focused on enhancing product safety, quality, and process efficiency, including new product commercialization initiatives.


• Monitor and drive performance against FSQA key performance indicators (KPIs) to achieve corporate objectives.

Requirements

• Bachelor\'s degree required


• 5+ years of work experience in food processing with supervisory and management experience for food safety and quality systems.


• Proficient use of Microsoft Office products is required and experience with SAP and enterprise data management systems is strongly preferred.


• Previous managerial experience supervising salaried and non-salaried team members is required.


• Demonstrated proficiency leading and managing cross-functional teams is required.