Food Safety & Quality Assurance Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Food Safety & Quality Assurance Manager

Location: Jamaica, NY — JFK Airport
Work Location: On-Site
Compensation: $94,000–$140,427 base salary + 10% target annual incentive
Schedule: Full-Time

About the Opportunity

A leading provider of culinary and food service solutions to the aviation and travel industry is seeking a Food Safety & Quality Assurance Manager to lead food safety, quality, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement within a high-volume food production operation.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who has owned food safety programs within daily production, led teams through audits and inspections, and implemented corrective actions that deliver lasting improvements.

You will partner with production and operations leaders to strengthen food safety culture, solve problems, and sustain consistent standards. Success requires practical technical knowledge, confident leadership, and the ability to bring teams together around food safety expectations.

What You'll Do

• Lead and maintain the facility's food safety and quality management systems, ensuring compliance with FDA, FSMA, applicable USDA requirements, cGMPs, and customer and company standards.

• Manage HACCP plans and preventive controls across food preparation, cooking, chilling, assembly, and ready-to-eat production.

• Evaluate process risks and establish appropriate critical control points, operational prerequisite programs, and monitoring procedures.

• Maintain a regular presence on the production floor to verify food handling, temperature controls, sanitation, allergen management, and other operational practices.

• Oversee the environmental monitoring program, microbiological testing, sanitation verification, and responses to findings.

• Lead facility preparation for regulatory inspections and customer audits, including follow-up and corrective action completion.

• Conduct root cause investigations, develop corrective and preventive action plans, and verify that improvements are effective and sustained.

• Manage traceability and recall readiness, including exercises that verify the facility's ability to trace products and ingredients.

• Support supplier approval processes and ensure teams understand and follow requirements for approved ingredients.

• Review HACCP logs, food safety records, procedures, and reports for accuracy and compliance.

• Evaluate product and process quality, including portion control, equipment practices, and customer specifications.

• Oversee pest control and other food safety-related vendors.

• Recruit, train, coach, develop, and evaluate Food Safety team members.

• Partner with Operations, Production, HR, Sales, and regional quality leadership to resolve issues and reinforce accountability.

• Build food safety awareness among managers and employees through training, clear expectations, and consistent follow-through.

What We're Looking For

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of food safety and quality experience , including at least 2 years of management experience with direct responsibility for leading a team.

• Hands-on experience owning food safety programs within food production, food manufacturing, or a comparable high-volume operation.

• HACCP certification and PCQI certification.

• Practical experience with high-risk food processes, including ready-to-eat production involving cooking and chilling, or comparable manufacturing processes with thermal treatment and preventive controls.

• Strong working knowledge of FDA food manufacturing requirements, FSMA, applicable provisions of the Code of Federal Regulations, cGMPs, and relevant USDA requirements.

• Experience managing environmental monitoring programs and responding to findings.

• Experience receiving audits or regulatory inspections as the facility's food safety representative and owning root cause analysis, corrective actions, and follow-through.

• Understanding of food microbiology, process controls, traceability, allergen management, and sanitation.

• Strong analytical, organizational, documentation, and communication skills.

• Ability to influence other managers, lead employees, and hold teams accountable.

Candidates should demonstrate experience implementing solutions within an operating facility , beyond identifying findings through auditing or inspection work.

Education

A bachelor's degree in Food Science, Food Microbiology, Biology, Chemistry, Nutrition, Engineering, or a related technical discipline is preferred. Candidates with substantial relevant experience and applicable technical certifications will also be considered.

The Right Leadership Style

We're looking for a leader who can:

• Bring production, operations, and food safety teams together to solve problems.

• Handle resistance professionally and communicate expectations clearly.

• Provide constructive feedback and follow through when standards are not met.

• Build strong working relationships while maintaining food safety requirements.

• Strengthen food safety culture through managers' actions and employee engagement.

• Remain composed and practical in a demanding production environment.

• Implement improvements and sustain them over time.

• Commit to building a stable team and lasting operational consistency.

Preferred Experience

• High-volume prepared food, ready-to-eat food manufacturing, airline catering, or comparable complex food production.

• Customer-specific food safety and quality requirements.

• Demonstrated success improving food safety performance and culture.

• A record of sustained ownership of food safety programs and team development.

Airline catering experience is helpful but not required.

Why Join

Take a key leadership role in a large-scale food production operation serving the aviation and travel industry, with the opportunity to strengthen systems, develop a team, and make a lasting operational impact.

Benefits include:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance

• 401(k) with company matching

• Paid time off and holidays

• Life and AD&D insurance

• Benefits beginning day one

• Tuition reimbursement

• Free parking

• Professional development opportunities

• Additional company benefits

Compensation: $94,000–$140,427 base salary, based on experience, qualifications, education, and other applicable factors, plus eligibility for a 10% target annual incentive based on financial and operational performance.