Quality Food Safety Manager

Bright City Talent; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Bright City Talent is seeking a seasoned Food Safety and Quality Manager to drive a robust culture of quality across manufacturing and supply chain. You will lead HACCP, GMP, audits, and continuous improvement initiatives while partnering with Production, Operations and Technical teams.

The role requires hands-on leadership, strong regulatory knowledge, and the ability to balance strategic oversight with operational execution in a fast-paced FMCG environment.

Qualifications

• Proven experience with HACCP, GMP, and food safety systems.
• Experience managing audits and certification processes.
• Strong leadership to develop and manage a team.
• Solid risk management, analysis and continuous improvement skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement and maintain the Quality and Food Safety Management Systems.
• Ensure compliance with applicable food safety legislation, standards, customer requirements and policies.
• Maintain and improve HACCP, GMP and prerequisite programmes.
• Monitor and manage food safety risks across manufacturing and supply chain.
• Oversee product testing, sampling, inspections and verification activities.
• Lead audits and ensure corrective actions are closed out.

Skills

HACCP/GMP

Audits & Certs

Leadership

Risk Management

CI/Process Improvement

Education

Food Safety Certification/Degree

Job description

The Food Safety and Quality Manager will be responsible for driving a strong quality and food safety culture, maintaining robust food safety management systems, managing compliance and audits, and working closely with Production, Operations, Technical, Procurement and other stakeholders to identify and eliminate quality risks.

Key Responsibilities

Quality & Food Safety Management

• Develop, implement and maintain the company’s Quality and Food Safety Management Systems.

• Ensure compliance with applicable food safety legislation, standards, customer requirements and company policies.

• Maintain and continuously improve HACCP, GMP and prerequisite programmes.

• Monitor and manage food safety risks across the manufacturing and supply chain environment.

• Establish and monitor quality standards, specifications, procedures and controls.

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives aimed at reducing quality defects, waste, customer complaints and food safety risks.

• Ensure effective control of raw materials, packaging, production processes and finished products.

• Oversee product testing, sampling, inspections and verification activities.

Audits & Compliance

• Manage internal, external, customer and certification audits.

• Ensure audit findings, non-conformances and corrective actions are effectively addressed and closed out.

• Maintain all relevant quality and food safety documentation and records.

• Monitor regulatory and legislative developments and ensure ongoing compliance.

• Liaise with customers, suppliers, certification bodies, laboratories and regulatory authorities where required.

Food Safety Culture

• Promote a proactive food safety and quality culture throughout the organisation.

• Develop and deliver relevant quality and food safety training to employees.

• Ensure employees understand and adhere to GMP, hygiene, food safety and quality requirements.

• Conduct regular inspections and verification activities across production and operational areas.

• Identify areas of non-compliance and implement appropriate corrective and preventative actions.

Quality Control & Continuous Improvement

• Analyse quality data, trends, complaints and non-conformances to identify recurring issues and improvement opportunities.

• Lead root-cause analysis and corrective/preventative action processes.

• Establish appropriate quality KPIs and provide regular reporting to management.

• Work closely with Production and Operations to resolve quality issues and improve process controls.

• Drive initiatives to improve product consistency, reduce waste and minimise customer complaints.

• Ensure effective product traceability, recall and withdrawal systems are maintained and periodically tested.

Supplier & Customer Quality

• Manage quality requirements and standards for raw materials, packaging and suppliers.

• Participate in supplier approval, evaluation and monitoring processes.

• Investigate customer complaints and ensure timely root-cause analysis and corrective action.

• Maintain strong relationships with key customers regarding quality and food safety matters.

• Ensure customer specifications and quality requirements are understood and implemented operationally.

Team Leadership

• Lead, develop and manage the Quality and Food Safety team.

• Set clear objectives, responsibilities and performance standards.

• Build technical capability through coaching, training and development.

• Foster accountability and a culture of continuous improvement.

Requirements:

• Proven experience managing HACCP, GMP, and food safety systems.

• Strong knowledge of food safety legislation, standards, and regulations.

• Experience managing audits and certification processes.

• Leadership skills with the ability to develop teams.

• Skills in risk management, analysis, and continuous improvement.

• Ability to foster a culture of quality and safety.

Familiarity with the following:

• Food and Beverage industry regulations

• Manufacturing processes

• Supplier evaluation and approval

This is a hands-on leadership role suited to an individual with strong FMCG/ manufacturing experience who can balance strategic oversight with operational execution.

This role is a fixed term contract role.