Regional Food Safety & Quality Assurance Manager II

Foremost Farms USA; Madison (WI); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance

401(k) Retirement Plan

Generous Paid Time Off

10 Paid Holidays

Paid Parental Leave

Health Savings Account (HSA)

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

Life and Disability Insurance

Daily Pay Option

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Referral Program

Career Growth Opportunities

Job summary

Foremost Farms USA is seeking a Regional Food Safety & Quality Assurance Manager II to lead the FSQA team across multiple plants, ensuring compliance with food safety and quality standards. This role emphasizes leadership development, collaboration with plant management, and continuous improvement of FSQA processes.

The position offers hybrid work with significant travel (up to 75%), and the successful candidate will guide regulatory alignment, customer requirements, and internal quality

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Biology, Dairy Science, or related field and 5+ years of leadership experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead and foster cross-functional collaboration across FSQA teams and plant operations.
• Provide regular feedback, 1:1s, and development plans to FSQA team members.
• Develop and coach the FSQA team for future roles and succession planning.
• Ensure compliance with Food Safety, HACCP, Quality, GMPS, and traceability procedures, and drive corrective actions.

Skills

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Biology/Dairy Science or related field

Job description

About Us

Foremost Farms USA is one of the largest, leading dairy cooperatives in the United States and major dairy food and ingredients manufacturing business. We represent hundreds of Midwest dairy farmer members located in seven Midwest states, and we produce about 500 million pounds of cheese and 50 million pounds of butter in plants across our network every year. "We Bring Dairy to Life" in seven manufacturing plants across Wisconsin and Michigan and in our headquarters in Middleton (Madison), Wisconsin; and we're looking for employees who are innovative and aim for excellence in our wide variety of production, field and business roles. Join us!

About This Opportunity

JOB TITLE: Regional Food Safety & Quality Assurance Manager II
POSITION TYPE: Full time
CLASSIFICATION: Exempt

Monday - Friday, Day Shift

Position Overview:

This position provides support, knowledge and leadership to plant FSQA team to improve and verify FSQA policies and procedures while gaining alignment across the plant and within corporate departments to ensure Foremost Farms products meet and exceed Cooperative, customer and regulatory quality and Food Safety requirements.This position will also lead the development of the plant FSQA team and team members.

Key Accountabilities:

Develops effective FSQA facilities team and team members:

• Leads and fosters cross-functional collaboration.
• Provides routine feedback to Manager I - FSQA including 1:1s, performance reviews and Individual Development plans.
• Provides leadership and guidance in developing challenging goals for the FSQA team that aligns with Cooperative strategies and personal growth.
• Develop team members with focus on succession planning and cross-coverage during absence.
• Develops Manager I - FSQA to perform current role efficiently and effectively while preparing individual for future roles within the organization.

Execution and improvement of FSQA procedures and policies:

• Collaborates with plant management team to ensure compliance to Food Safety and quality procedures including Food Safety / HACCP Plan, Quality Plan, GMPS, Product Traceability and Food Defense.
• Ensures facilities execute all Foremost Farms, Regulatory and Customer procedures and requirements.
• Assists facility to identify gaps and aids in determining root cause and sustainable solutions to identified gaps and audit findings.
• Ensures facilities have additional resources and expertise required to execute and improve on necessary procedures.

Support team on continuous improvement of first pass quality and customer deficiencies and escalation and problem solving on one-time high impact events:

• Acting as a technical resource for root cause analysis and resolution of food safety and quality issues
• Foster and lead Foremost Farms inter-department communications and between Foremost Farms and customers responding to customer concerns and updates on improvement activities / results.
• Identify and lead improvement activities within the facility to improve first pass quality and customer complaint metrics.
• Ensure proper escalation of high impact incidents or trends to stakeholders within Foremost Farms.
• Provide Foremost Farms member services and owners timely and accurate data and information to ensure the highest quality milk supply at farm and facility.

Assist in identification and problem solving of conditions within facility that may lead to increased food safety or decreased quality events:

• Identify risks and opportunities to reduce risk to food safety and quality and communicate to stakeholders.Provide leadership in corrective actions and resources necessary.
• Utilize or develop metrics to identify highest priority risks and ensure action plans developed and actioned upon.
• Engage in cross-functional teams as necessary to ensure efficient and sufficient use of resources available

Minimum Qualifications:

1. Bachelors (or equivalent experience) in Biology, Dairy Science, or related field of study or knowledge related to the job and minimum of five years of job-related experience and leadership.

Preferred Qualifications:

1. HACCP / PCQI certification / Food Defense / Intentional Adulteration
2. GFSI certification and/or program experience
3. Problem identification / root cause analysis experience
4. Dairy experience with cross-functional support and engagement
5. Microsoft Office proficiency, Tableau, Sales Force, ERP

Physical Setting:

Job Setting: Hybrid - corporate office, Foremost Farms facilities, work from home with travel up to 75%.

Benefits:

At Foremost Farms, we believe that you and your family matter most. That's why we're proud to offer one of the most comprehensive and competitive benefits packages in the area - designed to support your health, financial security, and work-life balance.

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance - Flexible coverage with options to meet the needs of you and your family
• 401(k) Retirement Plan - 100% company match on up to 8% of your contributions
• Generous Paid Time Off - Start with 200 hours of PTO (pro-rated for first year)
• 10 Paid Holidays - Enjoy time to rest and recharge
• Paid Parental Leave -6 weeks fully paid
• Health Savings Account (HSA) - when you elect the high-deductible health plan
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) - Save for medical and dependent care expenses
• Life and Disability Insurance - Financial protection for you and your loved ones
• Daily Pay Option - Access your earnings when you need them
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) - Free, confidential support for life's challenges
• Referral Program - Earn rewards for bringing great people to our team
• Career Growth Opportunities - Advance your skills and your career with us

Don't meet every single requirement? At Foremost Farms we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Equal Opportunity Employer
Minorities/Females/Veterans/Disabled are encouraged to apply.

At Foremost Farms USA, we believe that employee diversity brings strength to our organization. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity to all individuals regardless of their race, creed, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disabilities, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law.

Successful completion of pre-employment screening is required, which could include a drug test, background check, and other verifications or assessments to be sure you will be able to succeed in your position.