Director of Quality and Compliance

Love artisan bread and building a proactive food safety culture? Take ownership of quality and compliance for a 110-year-old New York City institution, expanding wholesale operations, leading our team, and building our systems.
Orwashers

Orwashers Bakery (Orwashers.com) is a New York City institution, founded in 1916 in a small storefront on the Upper East Side. Today, Orwashers continues to be known for its New York classics including rye bread, pumpernickel, bagels, rugelach, black and white cookies and so much more.

In addition to selling bread to many of New York's top restaurants and gourmet grocery stores, Orwashers currently operates three retail bakeries in Manhattan and Long Island. We also deliver our breads and baked goods throughout Manhattan and distribute to carefully selected partners nationwide. While the company has grown since its humble beginnings over a century ago, the same values remain baked in: handmade classic breads and baked goods made fresh, locally, and with love each day.
What You Will Do

We are seeking a hands-on, detail-oriented Director of Quality and Compliance to lead all aspects of product quality, food safety, regulatory compliance, and SQF certification for our growing artisan bakery. Reporting directly to the CFO/COO, this deeply operational and team-focused leader will partner closely with our outsourced SQF consultant to build, achieve, and maintain SQF certification. The ultimate goal is to create food safety and quality systems that are sustainable, efficient, and seamlessly aligned with our culture and unique production environment.

This role requires a strong physical presence in our operations, with at least two-thirds of the time spent directly on the bakery floor. Working alongside the production teams, you will ensure consistent execution, reinforce standards, and coach employees to drive continuous improvement across all product quality and food safety practices while maintaining the integrity of our artisan baking traditions.
Responsibilities:

• Monitor product quality throughout production, with your primary focus being on the packing stage
• Conduct routine floor inspections and product evaluations to ensure adherence to specifications
• Identify root causes of quality issues and implement corrective and preventive actions
• Work closely with production leadership to improve processes, reduce waste, and maintain product excellence
• Develop and maintain quality metrics, reporting, and continuous improvement initiatives
• Maintain compliance with all SQF, FDA, FSMA, HACCP, GMP, sanitation, allergen, labeling, and traceability requirements
• Develop, implement, and maintain SOPs, policies, records, and documentation systems
• Coordinate internal audits, mock recalls, environmental monitoring, supplier approval, CAPA programs, and corrective actions
• Ensure all documentation is audit-ready and consistently maintained
• Act as the primary internal contact during audits and inspections
• Directly manage Frozen Packing Managers and support, train, mentor that team
• Build strong cross-functional relationships with production, operations, sanitation, and leadership teams
• Manage food safety training programs and employee compliance training
• Support facility readiness, sanitation verification, and operational best practices

Who You Are

The ideal candidate combines strong technical knowledge of food safety and quality systems with a practical understanding of artisan baking operations. You are a solution-oriented, safety-obsessed leader who can independently manage and successfully achieve SQF certification, all while bringing a personable, dependable attitude to the team and a genuine passion for local food, community, and the art of bread making.
Qualifications:

• 5+ years of quality assurance, food safety, or compliance leadership experience in a food manufacturing environment
• Experience in bakery, artisan bread, or fresh food manufacturing strongly preferred
• Direct experience with SQF implementation and/or maintenance required
• Bilingual English/Spanish (minimum conversational level Spanish)
• Strong knowledge of SQF, HACCP, and FSMA, including associated prerequisite programs and compliance requirements such as GMPs, sanitation, and environmental monitoring
• Proven ability to work effectively on a production floor in a fast-paced environment
• Strong leadership, communication, coaching, and organizational skills
• Highly detail-oriented with strong follow-through and accountability
• Comfortable building systems while also remaining highly hands-on operationally
• Ability to work up to 8 hours on your feet and lift up to 30 pounds
• SQF, PCQI, and HACCP certifications preferred

Benefits

• Salary range of $130 - $140k
• Bonus
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• 401(k)

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.