Quality Assurance Manager

SweetLife By Sucro; University Park (IL); On-site; USD 70,000 - 99,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Collaborative culture

Career growth potential

Leadership ownership of QA function

Job summary

A fast-growing sugar refining company in University Park, IL is seeking a Quality Assurance Manager to oversee food safety, quality, and compliance programs. Responsibilities include leading the QA team, managing audits, and ensuring compliance with FDA, State, and GFSI standards. The ideal candidate has 5–10 years of experience in QA leadership within food manufacturing and is able to thrive in a dynamic environment. Join a collaborative culture with opportunities for career growth.

Qualifications

• 5–10 years of QA/Food Safety leadership in food or ingredient manufacturing.
• Strong knowledge of HACCP, FSMA, GFSI/BRC programs.
• Experience managing audits and leading plant-level QA teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the QA/food safety team and oversee lab operations.
• Own all plant quality programs and certifications.
• Manage internal/external audits and ensure compliance.

Skills

QA leadership

Knowledge of HACCP

Compliance management

Audit management

Job description

Base pay range

$70,000.00/yr - $99,000.00/yr

THIS ROLE IS ON-SITE AT THEIR UNIVERSITY PARK, IL FACILITY

Sweet Life Services, a fast-growing sugar refining and ingredient processing company, is seeking a hands‑on Quality Assurance Manager to lead all plant‑level food safety, quality, and compliance programs. This is a newly created role reporting to the Director of QA and Terminal (Plant) Manager, with responsibility for overseeing the QA team, managing audits, and maintaining certifications (BRC, FSMA, HACCP, Organic, Kosher, etc.).

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the QA/food safety team and oversee lab operations.
• Own all plant quality programs (GMP, HACCP, FSMA, BRC, SOPs, hold/release, document control).
• Manage internal/external audits, customer audits, mock recalls, and corrective actions.
• Ensure compliance with FDA, State, and GFSI standards.
• Monitor KPIs, drive continuous improvement, and support new product/equipment start‑ups.
• Oversee certification programs (Organic, Kosher, Social Compliance).

What We’re Looking For

• 5–10 years of QA/Food Safety leadership in food or ingredient manufacturing.
• Strong knowledge of HACCP, FSMA, GFSI/BRC programs.
• PCQI, HACCP, and SQF Practitioner (or equivalent) certifications preferred.
• Experience managing audits and leading plant-level QA teams.
• Able to work on‑site daily and thrive in a growing, fast‑paced environment.

Why Join Sweet Life

• Brand‑new, growing facility with major customers in the food & confectionery space.
• Opportunity to build and elevate a QA function with full leadership ownership.
• Collaborative culture with support from an experienced Director of QA.
• Career growth potential within a rapidly expanding company.

Location: University Park, IL