Senior Manager, Food Safety & Quality

Our client is seeking a Senior FSQ Manager to lead quality, food safety, regulatory compliance, and consumer protection initiatives at a brand-new, state-of-the-art food manufacturing facility in Orangeburg, South Carolina. This newly created leadership role represents a unique opportunity to help build a manufacturing operation from the ground up and establish the quality culture, systems, processes, and team that will support the site from startup through full-scale production.

This is a highly visible, hands-on leadership position that will serve as the senior quality leader for the facility and sit as a key member of the Site Leadership Team. The successful candidate will be an experienced food manufacturing quality leader who thrives in fast-moving, ambiguous environments and can build processes, develop teams, influence cross-functional leaders, and make sound technical decisions in real time. The role will oversee 5 direct reports and 40 indirect reports once the plant is fully operational in 2029.

What’s the job?

• Serve as the senior Quality and Food Safety leader for the Orangeburg facility and a key member of the Site Leadership Team
• Lead the site’s quality and food safety agenda from raw materials through finished product release, ensuring standards and systems are consistently executed on the production floor
• Maintain a highly visible, hands-on presence in the manufacturing operation to verify standards, coach behaviors, drive accountability, and address issues in real time
• Build and establish the site’s Quality and Food Safety culture from the ground up, creating an environment where quality is non-negotiable, issues are escalated quickly, and corrective actions are sustained
• Serve as the senior site authority for product holds, risk assessments, quality and food safety escalations, and product dispositions
• Ensure compliance with company policies, FDA requirements, FSMA, HACCP/HARPC, GFSI standards, customer requirements, and applicable regulatory expectations
• Lead site readiness for internal audits, regulatory inspections, customer audits, corporate assessments, and other compliance activities
• Develop, implement, and maintain quality and food safety systems, processes, procedures, and controls necessary to support a new manufacturing facility
• Lead investigations involving consumer complaints, foreign material events, microbiological failures, labeling concerns, process deviations, and other quality or food safety risks
• Drive disciplined root cause analysis, corrective and preventive action (RCCA/CAPA), and continuous improvement initiatives to eliminate repeat failures and strengthen site controls
• Partner closely with Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Supply Chain, Sanitation, Planning, Warehousing, and Continuous Improvement to identify and resolve issues at their source
• Challenge the status quo and make timely decisions when product safety, regulatory compliance, quality, or consumer trust may be at risk
• Have the confidence and technical judgment to stop production when necessary to protect consumers, product quality, and regulatory compliance
• Lead, develop, and build the site’s FSQA team, establishing clear decision rights, shift coverage, performance expectations, and accountability
• Build technical capability through coaching, training, floor-based verification, problem solving, and development of quality and food safety talent
• Establish strong partnerships with operators, supervisors, mechanics, sanitation teams, and site leadership to embed quality and food safety into daily operations
• Provide quality and food safety leadership for capital projects, new product launches, commercialization activities, line trials, process changes, and continuous improvement initiatives
• Influence operational decisions and ensure quality and food safety considerations are incorporated into site strategy and execution
• Develop a high-performing, engaged FSQA organization capable of supporting the facility as it scales toward full production
• Help establish the site’s presence and reputation within the Orangeburg community while connecting local operations to broader enterprise quality and food safety strategy

What’s needed?

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Engineering, Microbiology, or a related field required
• 10+ years of progressive manufacturing quality leadership experience within food manufacturing or consumer packaged goods manufacturing
• Minimum of 5 years of plant-level quality management experience
• Strong expertise in GMPs, HACCP, sanitation, environmental monitoring, SPC, process controls, and food safety systems
• Strong understanding of FDA requirements, FSMA, GFSI standards, regulatory compliance, and customer quality requirements
• Proven experience leading quality and food safety programs within a manufacturing environment
• Demonstrated ability to build and lead teams, establish accountability, and develop technical capability
• Strong operational acumen with the ability to influence cross-functional teams and make sound decisions in a fast-paced manufacturing environment
• Experience driving cultural transformation, operational improvement, root cause analysis, and corrective/preventive action initiatives
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills, with the ability to effectively manage risk and respond to issues in real time
• Entrepreneurial, hands-on leadership style with the ability to build processes and teams from the ground up
• Strong communication, influencing, coaching, and change-management skills
• Ability to work onsite and maintain a consistent presence on the production floor; flexibility is essential, as schedules may vary based on production needs and operational requirements
• Advanced degree preferred
• Experience with SAP, quality management systems, specification systems, laboratory systems, and manufacturing data systems preferred

Key Details

• Compensation: $140,000–$148,000 base salary plus eligibility for an annual bonus based on company performance
• Location: Orangeburg, SC
• Work Model: Onsite
• Schedule: May vary based on production needs and operational requirements
• Benefits: Comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and financial wellness programs and paid time off (PTO)
• Employment Type: Direct Hire

If this position interests you and you meet the requirements, apply today!

Thank you,
Kelly Wagner
Director

#LI-KO1
LNESC