Sensory/Olfactive Quality Manager

Osmo; Elizabeth (NJ); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Ground-floor ownership

Growth path to Director

Catered lunch with NJ/Brooklyn shuttes

401(k) with company match

Equity in high-growth company

Flexible PTO & family leave

Commuter benefits

Job summary

Osmo, a digital olfaction company, is seeking a Head of Quality Control in Elizabeth, NJ to build and lead QC for raw materials and finished fragrance. You will apply both automated testing results and fragrance judging to ensure product integrity from inbound materials to outbound product.

You will oversee lab documentation, SOPs, calibration, and investigations, while growing a QC team and coordinating with Purchasing, Warehouse, and Production. On-site five days a week.

Qualifications

• Direct fragrance QC experience required.
• 5+ years in fragrance QC; 8–12 years ideal.
• Independent decision-making and sensory evaluation skills.

Responsibilities

• Own Raw Material Quality and judge incoming material results.
• Apply olfactive judgment to materials and finished goods.
• Protect finished goods quality with triangulation testing before shipment.
• Build and continuously improve the QC program, processes, and documentation.
• Make real‑time accept/reject calls and escalate only truly ambiguous cases.
• Identify gaps and drive corrective actions in the QC process.

Skills

Fragrance QC

Quality systems

Sensory evaluation

Independent decision-making

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering

Tools

SOPs & CAPA processes

Laboratory calibration

Job description

Who we are at Osmo:

Osmo is a digital olfaction company, on a mission to give computers a sense of smell to improve the health and wellbeing of human life. Why? Our sense of smell both enriches and saves lives, and has a deep and direct connection to our emotions and memory.

Olfactory Intelligence has applications across industries including fragrance, manufacturing, security, medicine, and more. We believe in the power of automation and thoughtfully applied AI/ML to solve problems beyond the reach of human intuition alone.

We're headquartered in Elizabeth, NJ, with an additional office in Somerville, MA. We provide complimentary shuttle service from Brooklyn and Newark, NJ.

About the Role

This is a ground-floor opportunity to build and lead Quality Control at Osmo. You'll own quality on both ends of the plant, raw materials coming in and finished fragrance going out, using real fragrance‑industry judgment that automated testing alone can't provide. You'll have the autonomy to build the program end to end and the trust to make real‑time calls from day one.

What You'll Do

• Own Raw Material Quality — Judge incoming material results from automated testing, deciding when an out‑of‑spec reading is a real defect versus normal variation in a natural material.

• Apply Trained Olfactive Judgment — Evaluate raw materials and finished goods using olfactive evaluation the equipment can't replicate.

• Protect Finished Goods Quality — Run triangulation testing on outgoing product to confirm it matches prior batches before it reaches a customer.

• Build the QC Program — Design and continuously improve the process, documentation, and systems this function runs on, picking up from groundwork already laid.

• Make the Call — Decide accept or reject in real time, multiple times a day, escalating only genuinely ambiguous cases.

• Fix What's Broken — Spot gaps in the current process and drive the fix, rather than operating inside a system someone else already defined.

• Own Investigations — Lead root cause analysis on non‑conforming materials, out‑of‑spec results, and customer quality concerns, and drive corrective actions.

• Run the Lab — Maintain lab documentation, SOPs, method records, and equipment calibration and qualification.

• Track Quality KPIs — Monitor and report on QC turnaround time, effectiveness, and recurring issues.

• Build the Team — Grow and lead a QC team as headcount is added.

• Partner Across the Floor — Work directly with Purchasing, Warehouse, Shipping and Receiving, Fragrance Development, Production, and the internal AI team on raw material and finished goods decisions.

Who You Are

• 5+ Years in Fragrance QC — Direct fragrance industry experience required; adjacent industries like flavor, cosmetics, or specialty chemicals don't clear the bar here. 8 to 12 years is ideal.

• A Builder, Not Just an Operator — You've stood up or fixed a QC process before, not only executed inside one someone else built.

• Trained Nose — Organoleptic and sensory evaluation skill specific to fragrance raw materials and finished goods.

• Independent Decision-Maker — Comfortable making high-frequency accept or reject calls without over‑escalating routine judgment.

• Quality Systems Fluent — Working knowledge of quality documentation, audits, and CAPA/root cause processes in a regulated manufacturing environment.

• Direct Communicator — Low‑bureaucracy, thrives in a fast-moving, still‑being‑built environment.

• Technical Degree Preferred — Bachelor's in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related scientific field preferred; equivalent hands‑on experience accepted in place of a degree.

• On Site in Elizabeth, NJ — In the plant 5 days a week.

What Success Looks Like (First 6-12 Months)

Establish a real, working quality QC program from a process and systems standpoint, building on the groundwork already started. Qualify raw materials at scale. Get product to customers cleanly and consistently, without holds or rejections after the fact.

What We Offer (Full Time Roles Only)

• Ground‑Floor Ownership — Build a quality function from the foundation up, not maintain someone else’s finished system.

• Real Growth Path — Room to grow into a Director of QC role as Osmo scales to multiple sites, with potential to grow the function into a broader quality department.

• Catered Lunch — Mon/Wed/Fri; NJ and Brooklyn shuttles

• 401(k) savings plan and employer match

• Competitive salary and meaningful equity in a high-growth company

• Flexible PTO and paid family leave

• Commuter benefits (pre‑tax transit and parking)

We are committed to recruiting, developing, and retaining an incredible team optimized for a diversity of thought, background, and approaches.

For all Full-Time Employees, compensation is just one component of Osmo’s total rewards approach, which is designed to support the well‑being, growth, and long‑term success of our team members. Depending on the role, this may include base salary or contract‑based pay, along with access to health, dental, and vision coverage; a 401(k) retirement savings plan with company match; flexible paid time off and company holidays; and equity or incentive compensation for eligible roles. Actual compensation will vary based on factors such as experience, skills, location, internal equity, and other relevant business considerations. Osmo regularly reviews pay ranges and compensation structures to ensure they remain competitive, equitable, and aligned with current market data.

All employment decisions and responsibilities are determined based on current ability and your ability to grow, without regard to race, color, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, marital status, physical, mental, or sensory disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire