Food Safety & Quality Assurance Manager

Accelera; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Accelera, a growing food manufacturing company in the Greater Boston area, is seeking an experienced, hands-on Food Safety & Quality Assurance Manager to elevate its safety, quality, and sanitation programs on the production floor.

The role owns the Food Safety Management System, leads QA and Sanitation teams, and ensures regulatory compliance including SQF and FDA. You will develop people, drive improvements, and build a culture where food safety and quality are everyone's responsibility.

Qualifications

• Minimum five (5) years of progressive Food Safety & Quality leadership experience in an FDA-regulated food manufacturing environment.
• Current PCQI, SQF Practitioner, HACCP, and OSHA Certification required.
• Experience leading audits (SQF, FDA, customer, third-party) and managing sanitation programs.
• Strong leadership, communication, organizational, coaching, and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency with quality management software and Microsoft Office.

Responsibilities

• Lead SQF, FDA, customer, regulatory, and internal audits and drive corrective actions (CAPA).
• Oversee QA and sanitation programs to ensure safe, high-quality products.
• Maintain an audit-ready facility with ongoing training and KPI monitoring.
• Coach and develop QA and sanitation teams for continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with Operations and Leadership to uphold food safety and quality standards.

Skills

Quality Inspection Experience

Food and Beverage Manufacturing

Food Safety and Quality Assurance (FSQ

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control

Job description

Lead Food Safety. Drive Quality. Make an Impact.

An established and growing food manufacturing company in the Greater Boston area is seeking an experienced, hands‑on Food Safety & Quality Assurance Manager to take its food safety, quality, and sanitation programs to the next level.

This is an exciting opportunity for a strong leader who is passionate about food safety, thrives in a fast-paced manufacturing environment, and enjoys building high-performing teams, improving processes, and driving meaningful change.

In this highly impactful role, you'll take ownership of the company's Food Safety Management System, lead the Quality Assurance and Sanitation teams, oversee regulatory compliance and SQF certification, and work closely with Operations and Senior Leadership to maintain the highest standards of food safety and product quality.

We're looking for more than someone who can maintain compliance. We want a proactive, results-driven leader who can challenge the status quo, identify opportunities for improvement, develop people, and build a culture where food safety and quality are everyone's responsibility.

If you're a food safety professional who enjoys being on the production floor, solving problems, leading teams, and making a visible impact, this could be the opportunity you've been looking for.

Join a company that values quality, continuous improvement, and strong leadership—and play a key role in shaping its future!

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance

Serve as the Company's Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI) and SQF Practitioner.

Develop, implement, maintain, and continuously improve the Food Safety Management System.

Ensure compliance with FDA, FSMA, SQF, HACCP, GMPs, OSHA, customer requirements, RSPO, Kosher, and other applicable regulatory standards.

Maintain and oversee HACCP, Preventive Controls, Allergen Control, Food Defense, Food Fraud, Traceability, Pest Control, Calibration, Environmental Monitoring, Supplier Approval, Recall, SOP, and SSOP programs.

Maintain the facility in a constant state of audit readiness and lead all regulatory, customer, and third-party inspections.

Own and continuously improve the Company's Product Recall and Positive Recall Program, including mock recalls, traceability verification, product withdrawal procedures, and regulatory/customer communications.

Quality Assurance & Sanitation

Lead all quality assurance and sanitation activities to ensure the production of safe, high-quality products.

Maintain an exceptionally clean, organized, and inspection-ready manufacturing facility through effective sanitation programs and verification activities.

Oversee sanitation effectiveness through visual inspections, ATP testing, environmental monitoring, microbiological testing, and trend analysis.

Monitor production processes to ensure compliance with GMPs, food safety requirements, sanitation standards, and quality specifications.

Manage product inspections, laboratory testing, CCP verification, product specifications, label approvals, product holds, and product release.

Review and approve maintenance activity sign-offs to verify equipment is properly cleaned, inspected, and safe for production following maintenance work.

Leadership & Accountability

Build, coach, and develop a high-performing QA and Sanitation team by establishing clear expectations, providing ongoing training, and promoting continuous improvement.

Foster a proactive food safety culture where every employee understands and embraces their responsibility for food safety, product quality, sanitation, and workplace safety.

Hold employees and supervisors accountable for compliance with GMPs, food safety, sanitation, quality standards, and company policies through coaching, corrective action, and performance management.

Partner closely with Production Leadership, Maintenance, Warehouse, and Human Resources to promptly resolve food safety, quality, sanitation, and employee performance concerns.

Exercise the authority to stop production whenever food safety, product quality, or employee safety is compromised.

Lead all SQF, FDA, customer, regulatory, and internal audits, ensuring timely completion of corrective and preventive actions.

Conduct root cause investigations and implement corrective actions to prevent recurrence of food safety and quality issues.

Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on sanitation, product quality, regulatory compliance, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction.

Develop and deliver training programs on Food Safety, HACCP, GMPs, Sanitation, Allergen Control, SQF, OSHA, and Quality Systems.

Monitor departmental KPIs and communicate food safety and quality performance metrics to Leadership while identifying opportunities for improvement.

Participate as a core member of the Technical Change Management process, evaluating the food safety and regulatory impact of changes to equipment, ingredients, processes, packaging, suppliers, and products before implementation.

Lead the Company's Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) program by ensuring root cause investigations are completed, corrective actions are implemented, verified for effectiveness, and documented to prevent recurrence.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Minimum five (5) years of progressive Food Safety & Quality leadership experience in an FDA-regulated food manufacturing environment.

Current PCQI, SQF Practitioner, HACCP, and OSHA Certification required.

Strong knowledge of FDA regulations, FSMA, SQF, HACCP, GMPs, SSOPs, Allergen Control, Environmental Monitoring, Food Defense, Food Fraud, CAPA, and Root Cause Analysis.

Experience leading SQF, FDA, customer, and third-party audits.

Experience managing sanitation programs and leading QA teams.

Strong leadership, communication, organizational, coaching, and problem-solving skills.

Proficiency with Microsoft Office and quality management software.

You should be proficient in:

• Quality Inspection Experience
• Food and Beverage Manufacturing
• Food Safety and Quality Assurance (FSQA)
• Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)