Sr Director of Food Safety & Quality | Downers Grove, IL

Our client, a prominent producer and distributor in the food and beverage industry, is seeking a Senior Director of Food Safety & Quality. This role will oversee multiple plants across North America that manufacture and distribute baked goods and snack products. The ideal candidate will be a proven leader with the ability to further strengthen and elevate the Quality Department, a critical function at the core of the company's success.

Client Details

Our client is a leading manufacturer of private-label packaged foods and beverages, serving retail, food service, and industrial markets. With expertise in snacks, beverages, condiments, and meal solutions, the company enables retailers to deliver affordable, high-quality alternatives to national brands. Their large-scale operations and tailored solutions are designed to meet the evolving tastes and preferences of consumers throughout North America.

Description

• Lead and oversee compliance, quality assurance, and food safety programs across all operational sites, with a focus on continuous improvement in response to evolving regulations.
• Guide teams in building systems, skills, and processes to ensure full compliance with food safety laws, internal standards, and external audits (including customer, GFSI, regulatory, and identity-preserved requirements).
• Champion the creation and implementation of risk assessment, validation, verification, and monitoring programs for food safety plans, internal procedures, and the commissioning of new equipment or lines.
• Track emerging food safety and quality issues, and develop proactive strategies, policies, and procedures to mitigate risk. Serve as a technical advisor on complex food safety matters.
• Provide regular updates and strategic insights to the Food Safety & Compliance Steering Committee regarding program developments and execution.
• Communicate priorities and initiative progress to leadership, ensuring timely delivery and regulatory compliance across all initiatives.
• Maintain GFSI certifications and ensure adherence to internal Food Safety & Quality (FS&Q) systems across all production facilities.
• Identify and lead Continuous Improvement (CI) initiatives using tools such as SPC, Lean, Six Sigma, and Root Cause Analysis to enhance FS&Q performance.
• Supervise, coordinate, and evaluate the technical work of team members and project groups, while maintaining subject matter expertise in relevant categories.
• Drive disciplined use of the commercialization process for new product launches and product/process redesigns in collaboration with R&D, Packaging, Regulatory, and Operations teams.
• Support cross-functional projects involving Engineering, Procurement, and Supply Chain to ensure compliance with processing parameters and FS&Q standards, while meeting budget targets.
• Manage improvement programs based on trends from consumer feedback, internal deviations, and industry developments. Set measurable goals and lead each plant's improvement against key FS&Q KPIs.
• Assist with regulatory, customer, and third-party audits and inspections at manufacturing facilities as needed.

Profile

• 10 + years of leadership experience in Food Safety and Food Quality.
• Bachelor's Degree Required in Food Science, Microbiology, Biology, Master's degree is preferred.
• HACCP certification, SQF practitioner and PCQI certification preferred.
• Experience with Bakery processing preferred.
• Experience with food safety systems such as HACCP, GFSI, and preventive controls theory and methodology, product traceability, and third party audits.
• Must be a strong advocate of compliance, an experienced trainer, and an accomplished manager of technical resources.
• Up to 50% travel
• Sponsorship not provided

Job Offer

• Salary up to $230,000
• 30% Bonus
• Restricted stock options
• 4 weeks of PTO
• 11 Paid Holidays
• Variety of Health Insurance plans
• 401k match

MPI does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, or based on an individual's status in any group or class protected by applicable federal, state or local law. MPI encourages applications from minorities, women, the disabled, protected veterans and all other qualified applicants.