Quality Assurance Manager

Gem-Pack Berries; Santa Monica (CA); On-site; USD 85,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Gem-Pack Berries is seeking a Quality Assurance Manager to lead the QA function across all coolers and growing regions, ensuring fruit quality aligns with customer and retailer specifications. This role provides strategic and operational leadership on quality standards, grading, and inspections, reporting to the Director of Global Ag Operations.

The position requires 5+ years in QA, strong leadership, and the ability to manage cross-functional teams, with travel across California and other

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressively responsible experience in Quality Assurance or Quality Management.
• 3+ years in a Quality Assurance management and supervisory role.
• Strong knowledge of quality standards, grading specifications, inspection procedures, and customer requirements.

Responsibilities

• Define quality goals and objectives by berry.
• Develop, implement, and maintain the company’s quality programs, policies, and standards.
• Oversee and ensure a consistent, objective, and reliable fruit inspection methodology across coolers and regions.
• Prepare and distribute weekly quality KPI reports by region, berry, defect, cooler, and grower.
• Investigate quality issues, customer complaints, and non-conformances; implement corrective actions.
• Train and develop QC personnel and growers on quality standards, inspection procedures, and requirements.

Skills

Quality Assurance

Quality management

Leadership

Bilingual English/Spanish

Education

Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Agricultural Business, Food Science, Supply Chain, Business Administration, or a related field

Tools

ERP systems

BI tools

Excel

Job description

The Quality Assurance Manager is responsible for leading and overseeing Gem-Pack Berries’ overall Quality Assurance function, ensuring that fruit quality consistently meets or exceeds company, customer, retailer, and consumer expectations. This position provides strategic and operational leadership over quality standards, specifications, grading, inspection, and fruit-handling processes across all coolers and growing regions. The Quality Assurance Manager will establish and maintain reliable fruit quality specifications and grading systems while ensuring a consistent, objective, and trustworthy inspection process. This role oversees quality performance, reporting, team development, customer complaints, corrective actions, and continuous improvement initiatives, while partnering closely with Operations, Supply Chain, Sales, Growers, and other key stakeholders. This position reports to the Director of Global Ag Operations. This is an in-office role based in Oxnard or Santa Monica, California.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Quality Standards & Specifications:

• Work with company stakeholders to define quality goals and objectives by berry
• Understand and maintain alignment with industry retailer Quality Gold Standard and specifications
• Develop, implement, and maintain the company’s Quality programs, policies, procedures, and standards
• Ensure quality standards are clearly communicated and consistently applied across the organization.

Berry inspection and Quality Control:

• Continuously review and optimize fruit quality specifications, grading standards, and inspection requirements to meet company and customer expectations.
• Oversee and ensure a consistent, objective, and reliable fruit inspection methodology across coolers and regions
• Establish and maintain appropriate sample sizes, pallet review procedures, ERP usage, and objective grading standards.
• Ensure quality processes, procedures, and required timelines are followed from fruit arrival through the cold-chain process and ultimately through truck loading.
• Maintain consistency in quality inspection practices across locations.
• Maintain consistency in quality inspection practices across locations, shifts, and teams.
• Monitor inspection practices and identify opportunities to improve consistency, accuracy, and efficiency

Quality Reporting:

• Prepare and distribute weekly quality KPI reports by region, berry, defect, cooler, and grower
• Develop and maintain quality metrics and reporting tools to identify trends, opportunities, and areas requiring attention or corrective action.
• Lead weekly Quality Committee meetings with key stakeholders to review performance, identify trends, and establish preventive and corrective action plans.

Quality Issues and Complaints:

• Investigate quality issues, customer complaints, and non- conformances
• Generate, document, and summarize findings and recommendations
• Develop and implement appropriate corrective and preventive actions.
• Monitor corrective actions to ensure they are effectively implemented and sustained.

Cross- Functional Collaboration:

• Partner with Operations, Supply Chain, Sales, Growers, and other stakeholders to improve product quality, operational performance, and customer satisfaction.
• Promote a culture of quality, accountability, consistency, and continuous improvement throughout the organization.

Training & Development:

• Train and develop QC personnel and growers on quality standards, specifications, inspection procedures, and requirements.
• Hire, train, supervise, coach, and mange QC personnel
• Establish clear performance expectations and provide regular feedback, coaching, and development

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Responsible for overall supervisor, leadership, and development of the Quality Assurance department, including Quality Assurance supervisors, and seasonal Quality Assurance Technicians.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Experience:

• Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Agricultural Business, Food Science, Supply Chain, Business Administration, or a related field preferred.
• 5+ years of progressively responsible experience in Quality Assurance, Quality Management, or a related role; experience within the fresh produce industry strongly preferred.
• 3+ years in a Quality Assurance management and supervisory role
• In-depth knowledge of quality assurance principles, food quality standards, grading specifications, inspection procedures, and customer requirements.
• Strong understanding of industry and retailer quality standards and the ability to translate those requirements into effective internal processes and procedures.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in English and Spanish.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, meet overlapping deadlines, and adapt effectively to changing business and operational needs.
• Strong analytical, critical-thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, with the ability to identify trends, investigate issues, determine root causes, and implement corrective actions.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint; experience with ERP systems, quality management systems, and business intelligence (BI) tools preferred.

Travel Requirements:

• Frequent travel throughout the company’s growing regions, including California, Florida, Texas, Baja, Mexico, and third-party logistics (3PL) facilities.

Work Environment/Physical Demands:

• This position may require up to approximately 70% of working time in agricultural field environments, including growing regions, farms, cooler facilities, and other operational locations. The remaining time may be spent in an office or remote setting, depending on business needs.
• Work may occur in varying outdoor conditions, including heat, cold, dust, uneven terrain, and other conditions typical of agricultural and produce-growing environments.
• Must be able to stand and walk for extended periods of time, including conducting field, cooler, and quality inspections.
• Must be able to occasionally lift and carry up to 30 pounds.
• Must be able to move throughout agricultural, cooler, warehouse, and production environments as needed to perform the essential functions of the position.
• May be required to wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and comply with applicable food safety, safety, and facility requirements.

Compensation Range:

The anticipated salary range for this position is $85,000–$125,000 annually, depending on qualifications, experience, skills, and other job-related factors.