FSQA Manager - On-Floor Quality & Compliance

mila-careers; Sumner (WA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health coverage

401(k) plan

Life & AD&D coverage

Job summary

MiLà is seeking a hands‑on FSQA Manager to lead food safety, quality assurance, USDA‑FSIS compliance, sanitation verification, SQF readiness, and quality execution for our USDA‑regulated frozen food manufacturing operation. This role is a plant leadership position with visible floor presence and collaboration with Operations, Sanitation, Maintenance, Supply Chain, R&D, and Procurement.

The ideal candidate will drive post‑lethality controls, environmental monitoring, allergen management, and

Qualifications

• 7+ years of food safety/quality assurance experience in food manufacturing.
• 3+ years of people leadership experience in plant quality or FSQA.
• Direct experience in a USDA‑FSIS-regulated manufacturing environment.
• Strong knowledge of HACCP, SSOP, GMPs, allergen control, sanitation verification, EMP, CAPA, and regulatory documentation.
• Experience with customer complaints, product holds, nonconforming product disposition, RCA, and corrective actions.
• Experience supporting GFSI, SQF, customer, regulatory, or third‑party audits.
• Ability to lead in a fast-paced, multi-shift plant environment.
• Strong communication, documentation, decision-making, and cross-functional leadership skills.
• Hands-on leadership style with regular presence on the production floor.

Responsibilities

• Lead food safety and quality systems, including HACCP, SSOP, GMPs, allergen control, foreign material prevention, environmental monitoring, sanitation verification, and SQF-related programs.
• Ensure compliance with USDA‑FSIS requirements and applicable FDA requirements for non-meat ingredients, sauces, packaging, and imported materials.
• Serve as the site contact for USDA‑FSIS inspection activities, NRs, corrective actions, documentation reviews, and HACCP reassessments.
• Verify sanitation effectiveness through pre‑op inspections, operational checks, ATP/allergen/micro testing, EMP results, trend reviews, and corrective actions.
• Support MiLa’s future RTE / prepared food growth by strengthening post‑lethality controls, including hygienic zoning, EMP, sanitation verification, traffic flow, allergen control, product handling, and finished product release practices.
• Lead readiness for SQF, customer, regulatory, internal, and third‑party audits.
• Own product quality standards for frozen dumplings, noodles, sauces, meal kits, and other prepared food products.
• Support product consistency for weight, filling, dough quality, meat‑to‑dough ratio, appearance, packaging, labeling, and finished product standards.
• Lead hold/release, product disposition, deviation management, and escalation of food safety or quality risks.
• Investigate customer complaints, foreign material findings, labeling issues, supplier defects, sanitation failures, and other quality concerns.
• Lead RCA/CAPA processes and ensure corrective actions are documented, verified, and sustained.
• Support supplier quality through COA review, ingredient and packaging specifications, supplier nonconformance investigations, and approval documentation.
• Maintain quality KPIs, including complaints, holds, NRs, audit findings, sanitation findings, EMP results, defects, and label errors.
• Participate in MiLa’s Daily Management System and ensure quality risks and actions are visible to plant leadership.
• Lead, coach, train, and develop the FSQA team across shifts.
• Build a culture where food safety and quality are owned by the full plant, not only by QA.

Skills

Food safety

Quality assurance

USDA-FSIS

Leadership

Audits & compliance

RCA/CAPA

Cross-functional

Documentation

Floor presence

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science or related

Job description

MiLà is seeking a hands‑on FSQA Manager to lead food safety, quality assurance, USDA‑FSIS compliance, sanitation verification, SQF readiness, and quality execution for our USDA‑regulated frozen food manufacturing operation. This role is a plant leadership position with visible floor presence and collaboration with Operations, Sanitation, Maintenance, Supply Chain, R&D, and Procurement.

The ideal candidate will drive post‑lethality controls, environmental monitoring, allergen management, and