Head of Sensory & Distillery Quality Control

Socket.dev; Bardstown (KY); On-site; USD 160,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid Vacation

11 Paid Holidays

Health, Dental & Vision eligibility

FSA/HSA

401K match

EAP

Maternity/Paternity Leave

Job summary

Heaven Hill seeks a Director of Sensory & Distillery Quality Control to lead a world-class program across our distillery portfolio. You will own sensory strategy, panel governance, blending strategy, and end-to-end quality control from grain to bottle.

Must possess deep technical expertise in fermentation, maturation, and production systems, with strong leadership and cross-functional collaboration skills to influence executive teams and operations.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in a relevant science field required.
• 12+ years in sensory, microbiology, fermentation, maturation, blending, or quality leadership.
• Proven track record building enterprise-level sensory/quality programs.
• Deep distilled spirits production experience, especially bourbon/American whiskey.
• Expertise in sensory methods, statistics, and data-driven decision making.

Responsibilities

• Lead enterprise sensory and distillery quality programs across brands and sites.
• Establish sensory standards, lexicons, and evaluation protocols.
• Build and govern high-performing sensory panels.
• Integrate microbiological, fermentation, analytical, and inventory data for quality decisions.
• Drive blending philosophy and aged whiskey strategies in collaboration with ops and Brand teams.
• Develop talent and ensure accountability across the quality organization.

Skills

Sensory science

Microbiology

Fermentation science

Quality leadership

Distilled spirits knowledge

Statistical analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Decision making

Education

MS/PhD in Microbiology, Fermentation Science, Food Science, Chemistry or related field

Job description

Heaven Hill seeks a Director of Sensory & Distillery Quality Control to lead a world-class program across our distillery portfolio. You will own sensory strategy, panel governance, blending strategy, and end-to-end quality control from grain to bottle.

Must possess deep technical expertise in fermentation, maturation, and production systems, with strong leadership and cross-functional collaboration skills to influence executive teams and operations.