Manager, Food Safety & Quality Assurance

Vaco; Carson (CA); On-site; USD 105,000 - 138,000; Full time

Job summary

Vaco is seeking an experienced Manager, Food Safety & Quality Assurance in Carson, CA to lead the QA team within an FDA-regulated facility. You will manage food safety programs, ensure HACCP compliance, and drive corrective actions with a focus on audits and continuous improvement.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years in food safety/quality, leadership experience, and strong knowledge of HACCP, GMPs, CAPA, and regulatory standards. This is an on-site role with travel minimal.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field is preferred.
• Seafood HACCP and PCQI certifications are strongly preferred.
• Experience with BRCGS/SQF is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead and direct the QA team on a day-to-day basis.
• Maintain and oversee food safety and quality programs, documentation, policies, and QA logs.
• Ensure HACCP plans and corrective actions are executed and documented.
• Review CCP monitoring and quality records for accuracy.
• Manage product holds and investigate quality concerns.
• Oversee sanitation verification and environmental monitoring.
• Prepare for audits by FDA, BRCGS/SQF, and customers.

Skills

Bilingual English/Spanish

Leadership

Food safety

Quality Assurance

Regulatory compliance

Education

Bachelor's degree in Food Science/Microbiology/Biology/Chemistry

Seafood HACCP & PCQI certifications

BRCGS/SQF familiarity

Job description

Manager, Food Safety & Quality Assurance

Location: Carson, CA 90810

Industry: Food Manufacturing

Salary: $105,000-$138,000 annually, depending on experience

Employment Type: Direct Hire

Schedule: Full-Time | On-Site | Approximately 7:00 AM-4:00 PM

Travel: Less than 10%

Language: Bilingual English/Spanish required

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Manager, Food Safety & Quality Assurance to lead day-to-day food safety and quality operations within an FDA-regulated food manufacturing and processing environment.

This is a hands-on leadership role responsible for overseeing a team of QA professionals while ensuring food safety programs, regulatory requirements, audit standards, documentation, and quality processes are consistently executed across the operation.

The ideal candidate will bring 5+ years of food safety/quality experience within food or beverage manufacturing, previous leadership experience, and a strong understanding of HACCP, food safety audits, sanitation, environmental monitoring, CAPA, and regulatory compliance.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and provide day-to-day direction to the Quality Assurance team
• Maintain and oversee food safety and quality programs, documentation, policies, and QA logs
• Ensure HACCP plans, monitoring procedures, corrective actions, and verification activities are properly executed and documented
• Review CCP monitoring, corrective action, calibration, and other quality records for accuracy and completeness
• Manage product holds and investigate food safety, temperature, labeling, foreign material, and other quality concerns
• Oversee sanitation verification, pre-operational inspections, environmental monitoring, and related corrective actions
• Maintain a strong state of readiness for BRCGS/SQF, FDA, and customer audits
• Lead internal audits and GMP inspections and ensure identified issues are corrected
• Investigate customer complaints and quality issues, conduct root cause analysis, and manage CAPA activities
• Maintain supplier approval documentation and ensure required records remain current
• Support customer quality requirements, specifications, documentation, and portals
• Develop and update food safety policies, procedures, logs, and training materials
• Provide food safety, GMP, HACCP, and CCP training to employees
• Partner closely with Production, Sanitation, Sourcing, Operations, and other departments to resolve food safety and quality issues
• Support recalls, mock recalls, regulatory inspections, and traceability exercises
• Track quality metrics and provide reporting on food safety and quality performance

Qualifications

• 5+ years of food safety and quality experience within food or beverage manufacturing
• Previous experience leading or supervising QA employees
• Bilingual English/Spanish required
• Strong working knowledge of HACCP, GMPs, SSOPs, CAPA, sanitation, environmental monitoring, and food safety compliance
• Experience preparing for and supporting food safety and regulatory audits
• BRCGS or SQF experience strongly preferred
• Comfortable working in an FDA-regulated production environment
• Strong documentation, reporting, and administrative skills
• Ability to develop and maintain food safety procedures, policies, and quality records
• Strong analytical and root-cause problem-solving skills
• Ability to manage multiple priorities within a fast-moving manufacturing environment

Education & Certifications

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Biology, Chemistry, or a related field preferred
• Significant progressive food safety/quality experience may be considered in place of a degree
• Seafood HACCP and PCQI experience/certifications strongly preferred
• BRCGS/SQF Practitioner, internal auditor, or lead auditor training is a plus

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is an assertive, analytical, highly organized QA leader who is comfortable making decisions and backing them up with food safety standards, regulatory requirements, and data.

This person needs to be comfortable working in an environment where priorities can change quickly and multiple food safety, quality, production, and operational issues may need attention simultaneously.

Strong candidates could come from seafood, meat/protein, refrigerated foods, food processing, beverage, or other regulated food manufacturing environments. Seafood experience is highly valuable, but broader food or beverage manufacturing experience can also translate well.

Work Environment

This is a fully onsite position based in Carson, CA. The role will spend time both in an office and throughout the processing facility, including production areas, docks, coolers, and freezers.

The position may occasionally require early mornings, evenings, or weekends to support audits, inspections, production needs, or food safety incidents. Travel to other company facilities is expected to remain under 10%.