Quality Manager

Eagle Family Foods; Illinois; On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Eagle Foods in Illinois seeks a seasoned Quality Assurance leader to own the site Quality and Food Safety Management Systems, drive SQF and HACCP programs, and ensure regulatory and customer compliance across manufacturing facilities.

The role supervises QA and sanitation teams, coordinates audits, analyzes quality data, and partners with Operations, R&D, and Supply Chain to advance product safety, specifications, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related scientific discipline.
• 7–10 years of food safety/quality in manufacturing.
• Strong leadership of QA personnel and QMS.

Responsibilities

• Own and sustain site Quality and Food Safety Management Systems end-to-end.
• Lead SQF Practitioner and HACCP program development and oversight.
• Manage audits (SQF, regulatory, customer) and maintain readiness.
• Interpret codes/regulations; develop policies and controls.
• Lead root cause analyses and CAPA to prevent issues.
• Develop training on SQF, HACCP, allergens, GMPs.
• Supervise QA and Sanitation staff; ensure effective execution of quality activities.
• Partner with Operations, R&D, and Supply Chain to support product specs.
• Provide technical support to address safety, regulatory, supplier, and customer concerns.

Skills

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Root cause analysis

Quality data analysis

Microsoft Office

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Biology, or related

Tools

SQF

HACCP

Job description

At Eagle Foods we are builders. We are builders of brands, categories, and people. Eagle Foods enjoys a rich heritage with brands that have proven category leadership for more than 150 years. Eagle is a diversified food company producing and marketing sweetened condensed and evaporated milk, snacks and convenient meal solutions products. As a company, Eagle Foods is passionate about fostering an entrepreneurial spirit that boldly builds better people and better brands while focusing on the positive impact our company, our products and our people have on the world. Eagle Foods has a bold family of brands that consumers have come to rely on for decades, including Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk and Evaporated Milk, Magnolia® Sweetened Condensed Milk, PET® Milk, Popcorn Indiana, Cretors Popcorn, Helper and Suddenly Salad. Eagle Foods products are marketed and distributed across all U.S. retail channels, including grocery stores, club stores and mass-merchandisers, as well as foodservice and export, U.S. military, and private label business.

Responsibilities

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Own and sustain the site Quality and Food Safety Management Systems end-to-end, including document control, compliance, daily execution, KPI tracking, trending, and communication.
• Serve as the site food safety authority and align all functions on food safety and quality priorities, responsibilities, and execution requirements.
• Serve as the SQF Practitioner and lead the development, implementation, verification, and sustainment of programs, processes, and procedures required to achieve and maintain SQF certification.
• Serve as HACCP Team Leader and owner of the site HACCP system, ensuring hazard analyses and HACCP plans are properly developed, implemented, validated, verified, and sustained.
• Maintain continuous audit readiness and lead external audits, including SQF certification, regulatory, and customer audits.
• Interpret applicable code, regulatory, and customer requirements and translate them into clear site policies, procedures, work instructions, standards, and controls.
• Verify implementation and effectiveness of food safety and quality programs through routine monitoring, verification, internal auditing, and follow-up.
• Own customer and vendor quality interactions, including issue response, technical communication, corrective actions, follow-up, and closure.
• Provide technical leadership to investigate, correct, and prevent food safety and quality issues using structured root cause analysis and corrective and preventive action processes.
• Continuously improve and mature the Quality Management System through control planning, sustainment routines, verification, auditing, and standardization.
• Develop and deliver training on food safety and quality systems, including SQF code requirements, HACCP, food defense, allergens, GMPs, and related policies, procedures, and programs.
• Directly supervise Quality Assurance and Sanitation personnel, establish clear expectations, develop team capability, and ensure effective execution of floor and system-based quality activities.
• Effectively delegate food safety and quality program responsibilities across the Quality Assurance team and cross-functional partners, and audit for compliance, completion, and effectiveness.
• Partner with Operations, R&D, and Supply Chain to support product development, establish product specifications and standards, and drive consistent execution of food safety and quality priorities.
• Provide technical support and leadership to the plant to address emerging food safety, quality, regulatory, supplier, and customer concerns.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Qualifications & Competencies

• Bachelor's Degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Biology, or a related scientific discipline
• Minimum of 7-10 years of progressive food safety and quality experience in a manufacturing environment
• Demonstrated leadership experience managing Quality Assurance personnel and quality management systems.
• Strong knowledge of SQF, HACCP, GMPs, allergen management, food defense, and regulatory compliance requirements.
• Experience leading customer, regulatory, and third-party food safety and quality audits; SQF Practitioner experience preferred
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams, drive continuous improvement, and execute root cause analysis and corrective actions
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and quality data analysis, trending, and reporting