Job Description

Lead Food Safety at Scale

You start your day on the production floor at Oakhouse Bakery—walking lines, verifying allergen changeovers, scanning sanitation verifications, and checking environmental swab trends from the night shift. A supplier calls about a spec change; you triage the risk with Supply Chain. Later, you host a CAPA review with Operations and Maintenance, closing the loop on a customer complaint. By afternoon, you’re guiding your team through an SQF internal audit and preparing for a DATCP visit, while coaching new leaders on GMPs and food defense.

The Role

As the Senior Food Safety & Quality Systems Manager, you own the programs that keep our baked goods safe, compliant, and consistently excellent. You will drive SQF certification, meet FDA and DATCP requirements, and ensure adherence to customer and certification standards such as USDA Organic, OU Kosher, Gluten-Free, Non-GMO, and Rainforest Alliance. You are a hands-on people leader who mentors an 8-person Quality team and oversees a 21-person Sanitation team.

Reports to: Director of Operations

Direct Leadership: 8 Quality professionals and 21 Sanitation team members

What You’ll Do

• Build and elevate a proactive food safety culture grounded in servant leadership, open communication, and empowerment.
• Own the Food Safety Plan (HACCP/Preventive Controls): hazard analysis, CCP/CP monitoring, verification, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure SQF certification readiness and compliance with FDA, DATCP, and customer/third-party certification standards.
• Oversee allergen control, environmental monitoring (EMP), sanitation verification, and positive release.
• Lead CAPA investigations with strong root-cause analysis; partner cross-functionally to deploy sustainable fixes.
• Lead internal/external audits and regulatory inspections; serve as the primary quality contact for customers and certifiers.
• Collaborate with Operations, Maintenance, R&D, and Supply Chain to strengthen controls, documentation, and risk-based decision making.
• Drive training on GMPs, allergens, food defense, and core FSQA programs—ensuring adoption on the floor.
• Measure and communicate performance: complaints, audit results, swab trends, and other key FSQA metrics to senior leadership.

What You Bring

• Bachelor’s in Food Science, Microbiology, or related field; or equivalent experience.
• 8+ years in Food Safety/Quality with 5+ years leading teams.
• Proven audit management and response experience.
• HACCP, PCQI, and SQF practitioner experience strongly preferred.
• Expertise with SQF/GFSI, FDA 21 CFR, allergen controls, and EMP best practices.
• Data-driven problem solver and decisive leader; excellent communicator and trainer. Bilingual English/Spanish is a plus.
• Hands-on presence; willing to support off-shift investigations, training, and audits.

Work Environment

Primarily on-site, daytime schedule with flexibility for off-shift support, audits, and investigations. You’ll actively engage across production, warehouse, and sanitation areas, maintaining a strong presence on the floor.

Proficiencies

• Leadership / People Management
• Bachelor’s Degree

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