Sr. Manager, Food Safety, Quality & Regulatory (FSQR)

Who We Are

At JonnyPops, our team is empowered to make an impact at work every day from producing high-quality, innovative frozen novelties to spreading kindness one pop at a time. We look for bright and ambitious individuals who seek out challenges, thrive in fast-paced and high-growth environments, align with our core values, and get fulfilment from seeing their work transform the world around them.

Based in Elk River, MN, JonnyPops develops, manufactures, distributes, and markets frozen novelties. Retailers from coast to coast including Target, Costco, Publix, Kroger, Cub, along with thousands of regional and local grocers make JonnyPops part of their assortment.

Growing from a dorm room start-up in 2012, JonnyPops’ mission is to make "A Better Pop for a Better World!" JonnyPops leads the frozen novelties space in innovation and uses simple ingredients with no artificial dyes. Every pop stick includes a kind deed, spreading kindness every day.

Joining JonnyPops is an exciting opportunity to be part of high-growth brand and have a direct impact on the company’s success. Join our team and help us make “A Better Pop, for a Better World!”

Job Summary

The Manager, Food Safety, Regulatory & Compliance, is an leader accountable for the Food Safety, Quality, & Regulatory (FSQR) program. This role protects the company and its brands by translating regulatory and customer requirements into clear, sustainable programs across the product lifecycle.

The role partners closely with Plant FSQA, R&D, Supply Chain, Procurement, Marketing, Sales, Legal, and external partners. It provides subject-matter leadership and program governance and escalates material food safety, regulatory, customer, and business risks to the VP, R&D and Quality.

Essential Food Safety Responsibilities

Cross-Functional Leadership and Program Effectiveness

• Senior point of accountability across FSQR, owning regulatory and compliance work and leading the team members responsible for supplier quality and labeling and claims

· Act as the company subject-matter expert for regulatory, customer compliance, recall readiness, and technical risk governance.

· Partner with Plant FSQA on execution at the manufacturing site and with R&D/Product Quality on labeling, specifications, claims, and ingredient compliance.

• Develop practical metrics, dashboards, and management reviews that show program health, open risks, overdue actions, and recurring trends.

• Drive corrective and preventive actions across functions through influence, clear ownership, and disciplined follow-up.

• Serve as a Food Safety Team member and support SQF/GFSI and customer audit readiness within the role’s areas of accountability.

Regulatory Compliance

• Own U.S. federal and state regulatory compliance and coordinate international regulatory requirements for products, ingredients, packaging, and market entry.

• Monitor emerging regulations and assess business impacts, including food labeling, food additives, standards of identity, bioengineered food disclosure, Prop 65, PFAS, and packaging legislation.

• Serve as the primary FSQR contact for regulatory agency interactions and support regulatory inspections, inquiries, submissions, and issue resolution.

• Maintain regulatory records, compliance assessments, decision documentation, and role-based regulatory training and awareness.

• Provide regulatory review and approval for ingredients, formulas, innovations, and changes with potential compliance impact.

Customer Quality & Compliance Programs

• Own customer quality and compliance requirements for key retail and foodservice accounts, including customer technical questionnaires, documentation requests, portals, and launch requirements.

• Coordinate customer and retailer audits, responses, corrective actions, and ongoing compliance commitments.

• Coordinate customer recall communications and retailer-specific recall requirements.

• Oversee customer supplier-code-of-conduct, sustainability, and technical compliance requirements in partnership with the appropriate business owners.

Food Safety Risk Assessments

• Lead or facilitate documented food safety and regulatory risk assessments for new ingredients, products, processes, equipment, suppliers, and process changes.

• Own corporate food fraud, food defense, and vulnerability-assessment governance, including review cadence and action tracking.

• Coordinate emerging-hazard, environmental-pathogen, preventive-control, and regulatory risk reviews with Plant FSQA and technical subject-matter experts.

• Ensure risks, decisions, mitigations, owners, and due dates are documented and escalated based on significance.

Recalls & Crisis Management

• Own recall and market-withdrawal program governance, including the decision framework, roles, contact lists, templates, and records.

• Lead recall readiness assessments and mock recalls; document gaps and drive corrective actions to closure.

• Coordinate traceability verification, regulatory reporting support, customer notifications, retail coordination, and crisis communications with the designated cross-functional team.

• Facilitate food safety and regulatory incident management, emerging-issue assessment, root-cause follow-up, and post-event lessons learned.

• Provide governance for product hold and release decisions while Plant FSQA retains site-level execution responsibilities.

Technical Governance

• Own the FSQR technical approval framework for commercialization, product risk reviews, and cross-functional technical signoffs.

• Govern formula, ingredient, label, specification, product-quality-standard, and change approvals in partnership with functional owners.

• Ensure regulatory review of innovation projects and material product, process, packaging, or supplier changes.

• Maintain technical document control and clear scientific and regulatory decision records.

• Clarify decision rights, escalate unresolved technical risks, and verify required approvals are complete before launch or implementation.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Regulatory Affairs, Microbiology, Chemistry, Nutrition, or a related field required.

• 5-7+ years of progressive experience in food regulatory affairs, food safety, quality, or customer compliance in a food manufacturing or CPG environment.

• Working knowledge of FDA food regulations, FSMA preventive controls, food labeling, allergens, claims, and applicable state requirements; international experience preferred.

• Experience leading recalls or mock recalls, customer compliance programs, technical risk assessments, and cross-functional issue resolution.

• Ability to translate complex regulatory and technical requirements into practical programs, decisions, and communications.

• Strong judgment, written communication, organization, and influencing skills, with the ability to manage multiple high-risk priorities.

• Preferred certifications include PCQI, HACCP, SQF Practitioner, Lead Auditor, or comparable regulatory/food safety credentials.

Additional Requirements

• Naturally curious, comfortable with ambiguity, and committed to continuous improvement and proactive risk identification.

• Alignment with the JonnyPops mission and kindness-based culture.

• Ability to travel between company locations and to suppliers, customers, laboratories, or regulatory meetings as business needs require.

• Flexibility to support urgent food safety, regulatory, customer, recall, or crisis events outside normal business hours when needed.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

This role operates in office and food-manufacturing environments and may require periods of standing, walking, sitting, and computer work. The employee must be able to follow plant GMP, food safety, PPE, and cold-environment requirements while visiting production, warehouse, or laboratory areas. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Pay Range:
135,000-150,000

Physical Demands and Work Environment
Physical demands and work environment described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to stand, sit, walk, use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls; talk and hear, and reach with hands or arms. The employee is frequently required to climb or balance, and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee consistently lifts and/or moves up to 100 lbs and is on their feet for the majority of the workday. Works comfortably in a variable temperature environment.

JonnyPops offers a competitive benefits package which includes the following:

• Medical/Health Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• HSA
• FSA
• DCFSA
• Life & AD&D Insurance
• Short & Long Term Disability
• FTO/PTO
• EAP Programs
• Paid Holidays
• Employee Referral Program
• Sick & Safe Leave
• 401k
• Company Sponsored Meal Plan

* Hired candidates may be eligible to receive additional compensation in the form of bonuses and/or commissions.