Food Safety Compliance & Culture Manager

Food Safety Compliance & Culture Manager Location: Irvine, CA, US, 92618 Employment Type: Salaried Work Arrangement: Remote Position Summary: The Manager of Food Safety Compliance and Culture provides proactive leadership in developing, implementing, and monitoring company's food safety culture and compliance strategy and related requirements, policies, procedures and training. The position serves as the lead for the internal audits, GFSI, and FSMA compliance. This includes compliance with food safety plans, Food Defense, FSVP, Sanitary Transport and any other current and future regulations. The manager is also responsible for assessing the food safety plans and verifying activities associated with Preventive Controls. This role ensures adherence to regulatory requirements, internal policies and best practices while fostering a strong food safety mindset across all levels of the organization. The manager will also establish a Food Safety Culture program to permeate the manufacturing facilities and be measurable and impactful. Major Duties and Responsibilities: Develops and execute a comprehensive food safety culture program that promotes, awareness, accountability, and continuous improvement across the organization. Assess food safety culture maturity through surveys, audits, and behavioral observations, Build awareness, training and education programs to drive cultural and behavioral changes. Develops and implements internal auditing programs to drive continuous improvement of Quality and Food Safety programs. Design and execute corporate audit program for food safety compliance and continuous improvement. Ensure auditors are calibrated and have competency to be effective in driving continuous improvement. Lead team of QA Audit Supervisors as a calibration tool. Lead risk-based assessments of food safety plans and ensure appropriate preventive controls are identified. Provide project support for Sanitation initiatives, Foreign material initiatives, and Environmental monitoring assessments. Verify environmental monitoring programs for high-risk areas, review site zoning, swabbing plans, testing, trending, escalation rules and sanitary design considerations. Report metrics related to supported programs and engage in continuous improvement activities. This role requires up to 25% travel to manufacturing sites and other locations to support audits, training, and program implementation. Education and Experience: B.S. degree in Microbiology / Food Science / Chemistry or related area and at least 5+ years industry food safety experience required. Minimum 3 years of experience in a food manufacturing environment including HACCP team experience. HACCP certification; SQF/BRC training, and Certification as Preventive Controls Qualified Individual required. Internal auditor certification is a plus. Minimum 3 years of people management experience (proven track record of leading teams - dirct reports and leading without authority) preferred. Knowledge and Skills: Must demonstrate strong problem solving and project management skills including root cause analysis, risk assessment and corrective/preventive action. People leadership and ability to influence cross functionally are critical. Experience building auditing programs, designing QMS systems, and utilizing technology such as SharePoint is preferred. Why Join Us: Ventura Foods innovates and manufactures food solutions for foodservice and retail businesses. We make exclusive products for the world's most iconic restaurants and retailers, we provide ready-to-go product solutions for professional kitchens, and we make consumer brands everyone knows and loves. When you work for Ventura Foods, you get a strong foundation of training, a manager who cares about you and celebrates your success, a safe environment, and challenging work. As part of our team, your future is limited only by how much you're willing to push yourself to get there. We invest in your growth because you invest in ours. Ventura Foods offers career growth opportunities as well as competitive compensation and benefits: Medical, Prescription, Dental, & Vision coverage beginning on your 1st day for eligible employees Profit Sharing and 401(k) matching (after eligible criteria is met) Paid Vacation, Sick Time, and Holidays Employee Appreciation Events and Employee Assistance Programs Salary Base Range of $101,914.10 - $159,871.32* Annual bonus (based on the incentive program terms and conditions) *The "base salary range" provided above is a good faith estimate of what we expect to pay for this position in the specified markets. Ventura Foods reserves the right to pay outside of the given range based on a variety of factors including but not limited to: candidate skills and experience, complexity of the job, budgetary factors, and location/geography. Ventura Foods conducts regular reviews of compensation ranges and therefore reserves the right to alter this range at any given time. Diversity & Inclusion: Our commitment to a diverse and inclusive environment in which all employees are treated with respect is evident in our company culture and values. We believe that fostering an environment of inclusion and a focus on diversity across our organization is vital to attracting top talent, driving innovation, and meeting the high expectations of our customers in a rapidly evolving global marketplace. Ventura Foods is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.