Laboratory Manager: ISO 17025 & Meat Quality Leadership

Johnsonville; Sheboygan Falls (WI); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Monthly bonus

401k with company match

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Paid time off

Onsite fitness center

Onsite medical clinic

Job summary

Johnsonville seeks a Laboratory Coordinator (Manager) to lead microbiology and chemistry teams, building capabilities and driving ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation. You will partner across the organization to translate technical insights into actionable risk management and quality improvements.

You’ll oversee staff development, laboratory operations, and cross-functional collaboration to ensure accurate testing, defensible results, and continued alignment with regulatory and business needs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s in microbiology, food science, meat science, or related science required.
• 7+ years of progressive laboratory experience in food, meat, microbiology, chemistry, or another regulated testing environment, required.
• 3+ years of laboratory leadership or supervisory responsibility, required.
• Background working within or implementing an ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratory, required.
• A2LA assessment preparation or participation strongly preferred.
• Food or meat microbiology and chemistry testing background, including pathogen, environmental, compositional, and rapid methods, strongly preferred.
• Experience with LIMS, data governance, statistical analysis, and Microsoft 365 applications, preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead attainment and maintenance of A2LA accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025, including applications, scope, assessments, renewals, and corrective actions.
• Own the laboratory quality management system, including document control, internal audits, reviews, nonconforming work, complaints, corrective action, impartiality, confidentiality, and continual improvement.
• Maintain proficiency testing, quality indicators, and objective evidence showing effectiveness of the accredited scope.
• Provide technical oversight for meat and poultry sample receipt, preparation, microbiology and chemistry testing, result review, and reporting.
• Ensure methods are fit for use through verification, validation, quality controls, measurement traceability, equipment control, and uncertainty evaluation.
• Authorize defensible results and lead investigations, troubleshooting, technology evaluation, and plant/enterprise support.
• Coach laboratory staff, manage training, competency assessment, and succession planning.
• Direct staffing, workflow, sample custody, testing schedules, safety, supplies, budgets, and capacity.
• Maintain LIMS data integrity and use trends for process improvement.

Skills

ISO 17025 knowledge

Audit readiness

Quality control

Root-cause analysis

Technical leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication to leadership

Education

Bachelor’s in microbiology, food science, meat science, or related science

Tools

LIMS

Microsoft 365

Job description

Johnsonville seeks a Laboratory Coordinator (Manager) to lead microbiology and chemistry teams, building capabilities and driving ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation. You will partner across the organization to translate technical insights into actionable risk management and quality improvements.

You’ll oversee staff development, laboratory operations, and cross-functional collaboration to ensure accurate testing, defensible results, and continued alignment with regulatory and business needs.