FSQA MANAGER ANACORTES PLANT

DescriptionTrident Seafoods is North America's largest vertically integrated seafood harvesting and processing company. Trident is a privately held, 100 percent USA-owned company with global operations in 6 countries and serves customers in almost 60 countries. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington (USA), Trident employs approximately 7,700 people worldwide each year and partners with over 2,700 independent fishermen and crewmembers in Alaska. Trident catches and processes virtually every commercial species of salmon, whitefish, and crab harvested in the North Pacific and Alaska. The global supply chain also encompasses cultured and wild species sourced from an international network of trusted suppliers.Summary: The Food Safety and Quality Assurance (FSQA) Manager develops, implements, executes, maintains, and continuously improves site food safety and quality assurance programs to prevent or eliminate defects in new or existing products. This role is responsible for ensuring site programs remain aligned with Support Center FSQA standards, state and federal regulations, NOAA Seafood Inspection Program requirements, customer requirements, and applicable third-party or GFSI expectations. The position requires disciplined program ownership, strong operational presence, timely escalation of food safety and quality risks, effective cross-functional collaboration, and consistent audit-ready execution.Essential Functions: (Responsibilities, Tasks, Supervisory Needs):Program Ownership & Operational Oversight:Own day-to-day execution of site FSQA programs and verify that controls operate as designed and remain audit-ready at all times.Actively verify CCPs, process controls, finished product quality, internal process execution, and key risk indicators including Cost of Poor Quality and First Pass Quality.Maintain a working understanding of plant operations and how FSQA requirements integrate with production, sanitation, maintenance, receiving, warehousing, and shipping.Adjust priorities as needed to address high-risk or emergent food safety and quality issues while maintaining visibility to Support Center FSQA and plant leadership.Food Safety Culture & Floor Presence:Maintain meaningful production floor presence, including a minimum expectation of approximately five hours per week and a target of daily engagement across shifts where practical.Verify execution of controls, adherence to specifications, product quality requirements, Good Manufacturing Practices, and overall process consistency.Engage employees and supervisors to reinforce food safety expectations, strengthen site food safety culture, and identify barriers to consistent execution.Communication, Escalation & Alignment:Follow established escalation protocols to promptly communicate food safety, legality, authenticity, regulatory, customer, and quality risks.Provide clear, factual, risk-based communication of trends, constraints, failures, or potential failures to Support Center FSQA and relevant site leadership.Ensure alignment with corporate FSQA direction through proactive coordination with Value Added Operations and Support Center FSQA.Communicate critical non-conformities within 24 hours and escalate all CCP breaches immediately when food safety risk is present.Audit, Regulatory Readiness & Corrective Actions:Maintain continuous readiness for regulatory, third-party, customer, and internal audits, including but not limited to WA Dept. of Health, BRC/BAP, USDC, FDA, customer, and other applicable standards.Lead FSQA activities during audits, support objective evidence gathering, and ensure findings are documented with appropriate risk context.Develop complete and accurate Corrective Action Reports with clear root cause, corrective action, preventive action, and effectiveness verification.Review CARs with Support Center FSQA prior to submission where required and ensure timely closure of audit and customer finding actions.Close internal audit findings within required timelines and assess corrective action effectiveness within seven days of implementation where applicable.Product Incident Notification, Holds & Risk Management:Maintain awareness of potential Product Incident Notification triggers and ensure immediate containment when product safety, legality, authenticity, or material quality risk is identified.Coordinate accurate and timely PIN submission, product hold/release communication, cross-functional follow-up, and status updates through closure.Escalate unresolved, recurring, or high-risk issues to the Plant Manager and Senior Corporate FSQA without delay.Quality Systems, Data & Continuous Improvement:Analyze, evaluate, and present information related to production capabilities, manufacturing problems, product quality, complaint trends, economic implications, and new product/process considerations.Conduct routine data reviews, including monthly Power BI or equivalent business review tools, to identify trends and initiate corrective or preventive actions.Monitor Cost of Poor Quality and First Pass Quality and partner with operations to drive measurable improvement and stronger data granularity by item, line, and issue where available.Develop and execute alternative methods and procedures to improve plant food safety and quality assurance systems.Cross-Functional Engagement & Meeting Participation:Participate in required FSQA meetings, including scheduled FSQA 1:1s, Value Added Operations meetings, Support Center FSQA check-ins, hold/risk/program reviews, and monthly USVA FSQA updates as applicable.Come prepared to provide concise updates on site risks, PINs, corrective actions, audit readiness, key metrics, constraints, and assigned deliverables.Maintain an up-to-date FSQA task list that tracks projects, risks, timelines, owners, and dependencies.If unable to attend a required FSQA meeting, provide notification at least one business day in advance through the applicable FSQA communication channel and identify coverage or follow-up as appropriate.Leadership, Training & Team Coverage:Train, guide, and oversee FSQA personnel to ensure adherence to department protocols, customer requirements, regulatory requirements, and audit standards.Provide guidance-based leadership, support development of FSQA staff, recognize team contributions, and promote engagement and accountability.Ensure coverage during planned absences while respecting personal time except in emergencies.Conduct training necessary to meet or exceed FSQA standards, customer specifications, regulatory compliance, and third-party audit requirements.Sanitation Program Partnership:Partner with the Sanitation Manager and Operations to ensure full implementation and verification of sanitation programs.Support proactive identification of sanitation risks, recurring gaps, and opportunities for continuous improvement through structured review and communication.Coordinate with Support Center FSQA on sanitation concerns requiring corporate visibility or support.External, Regulatory & Vendor Interface:Interface with vendors to obtain information related to supply quality, vendor capacity, food safety systems, and quality standards.Liaise with governmental and regulatory bodies such as USDC, USDA, WSDA, and FDA as appropriate.Review technical publications, industry articles, and applicable standards to stay current on technical developments and regulatory expectations.Professional Communication & Collaboration Standards:Communicate clearly, timely, factually, professionally, and in a solution-oriented manner.Maintain non-accusatory communication and promote accountability, collaboration, and effective follow-through across departments.Cooperate with management personnel in formulating and establishing company policies, operating procedures, goals, and continuous improvement priorities.Other Duties:Perform other similar or related duties as requested or assigned.Acquire knowledge of Trident Environmental and Safety Policies by completing required training and performing designated work activities in accordance with procedures and work instructions.Notify designated personnel of environmental or safety incidents or risks not previously documented in accordance with Environmental Awareness and/or Safety training.This is a salaried exempt position between $105,000 to $130,000 per year.Trident Seafoods offers a comprehensive and quality benefits package. Full-time employees may be eligible for discretionary/performance-based incentives, medical, dental and vision insurance plans, optional HRA/HSA, telemedicine, employee assistance and wellness programs, long-term disability, basic life and AD&D, and 401(k) with a company match, paid time off, 10 paid holidays each year, and paid parental leave. For full-time employees, the initial paid time off benefit starts at 20 days per year, adjusted commensurate with relevant experience. Commuter and transit programs are also available.Minimum RequirementsTravel/On-Call Requirements: This position may require occasional travel to other sites, meetings, or training locations.Required Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in food science, Biological Sciences, or a related technical field; or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience as determined by the company.A minimum of two years of supervisory experience in Quality Assurance, preferably in food production or the seafood industry.High school diploma or equivalent.Intermediate proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, specifically Excel; ability to use data tools such as Power BI or equivalent business review systems is preferred for trend analysis.Knowledge of HACCP regulations, food safety programs, audit procedures, regulatory compliance, corrective action, and internal audit processes.Ability to communicate promptly and professionally with cross-functional partners, Support Center FSQA, plant leadership, regulatory bodies, customers, and vendors.Preferred Education & Experiences:HACCP certification.Working knowledge of Global Food Safety Initiative schemes including BRCGS, SQF, BAP, or other applicable third-party standards.Experience leading regulatory, customer, and third-party audits and preparing high-quality Corrective Action Reports.Experience with seafood, ready-to-eat, value-added, or other complex food manufacturing environments.Demonstrated experience using complaint, COPQ, FPQ, audit, and process-control data to drive continuous improvement.Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):Demonstrated leadership and coaching skills with the ability to lead, develop, and support QA team members, establish priorities, ensure adequate coverage, and maintain consistent quality standards.Working knowledge of government regulations, customer requirements, and industry food safety and quality standards, including HACCP, GFSI-recognized programs, BRC, BAP, FDA, USDC, and related regulatory frameworks.Ability to maintain programs, documentation, and records in an audit-ready state, proactively identifying and addressing gaps or compliance risks before they result in findings.Strong risk assessment and problem-solving skills with the ability to identify high-risk trends, recurring deviations, product holds, specification failures, and PIN triggers, and escalate concerns appropriately and in a timely manner.Proven ability to analyze quality and food safety data, identify trends, prioritize corrective actions, and support continuous improvement initiatives through data-driven decision making.Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to collaborate effectively across departments, including FSQA, Operations, Sanitation, Maintenance, and Support Center teams, while maintaining a professional, factual, solution-focused, and non-confrontational approach.Work Environment: Work is performed in office environments and manufacturing facility settings that may be loud, wet, cold, or otherwise require personal protective equipment (PPE). The role requires regular interaction with production areas, sanitation activities, warehousing, and processing equipment while following all safety, GMP, and PPE requirements.Work Ability Requirements:While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and reach with hands and arms.The employee is frequently required to climb or balance and is regularly required to sit; stoop, kneel, crouch, talk, or hear.The employee moves objects regularly up to 10 pounds and frequently up to 25 pounds.Specific vision abilities required by this job include distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to distinguish shades of color to identify abnormalities and/or defects in food products.Work Authorizations:This position is not eligible for immigration sponsorship.