Food Safety & Quality Program Manager

Founded in 2013, Home Chef is the leading meal solutions company with both a retail and online presence. Available online at homechef.com and in retail at more than 2,100 Kroger grocery stores, Home Chef is committed to inspiring and enabling more people to cook simple, delicious meals, no matter how busy they are.

In 2023, Home Chef introduced a new brand, Tempo! Tempo features a rotating selection of ready-to-heat meals delivered directly to your door. These meals are better-for-you versions of familiar favorites, designed to save you time and reduce stress while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Our Tempo menu includes options that are protein-packed, fiber-rich, calorie and carb conscious, keto-friendly, and dietitian-approved.

Similar to our recipes, we recognize that variety is the spice of life, and therefore, our employees also bring their uniqueness and color to our fantastic team. We’re eager to work with humble team players and pragmatic next-level thinkers to innovate on Home Chef’s offerings.

The FSQA Program Manager is responsible for advancing Home Chef’s food safety and quality assurance initiatives with a continuous improvement focus. This role will develop, enhance, and implement food safety programs, identify improvement opportunities, and promote compliance with regulatory and company standards. Collaborating closely with both corporate and plant FSQA teams, the FSQA Program Manager will drive process efficiencies and innovations that reduce risk and enhance product quality.

Detailed Responsibilities

Development and implementation of policies and programs

• Work with Director of FSQA to align on Home Chef’s food safety and quality vision, goals, and priorities
• Provide guidance to site FSQA teams to mitigate food safety, sanitation and quality risk 
• Oversee the development, implementation, review, and maintenance of the SQF System, including food safety and quality fundamentals, and the food safety and quality plans in accordance with FSMA
• Work closely alongside plant and corporate teams to implement new food safety and quality programs or roll out changes to existing programs as they relate to food safety, quality, and/or sanitationManage communication with plant and corporate stakeholders regarding new or updated programs
• Lead site specialists and superintendents through regulations, policy and program development and improvement
• Serve as point person for leading investigations on any major food safety, quality and sanitation issues, escalating to FSQA Director as necessary

Continuous Improvement and Program Development

• Partner with the Director of FSQA to establish a vision for continuous improvement within Home Chef’s food safety programs.
• Identify and implement enhancements to existing food safety and quality processes to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
• Ensure FSQA programs align with best practices and industry standards, including SQF and FSMA requirements.
• Analyze data and trends to proactively address areas of food safety risk and quality assurance gaps.
• Develop and implement training materials to standardize best practices and drive program adoption at all facility levels.

Manage Corporate FSQA Resources and Cross-functional Collaboration

• Manage corporate FSQA resources to ensure efficient execution of improvement initiatives across departments.
• Collaborate with plant FSQA teams and corporate stakeholders on program updates, providing clear guidance on new initiatives.
• Oversee the deployment of technology and tools that support continuous improvement in FSQA processes.

Serve as Corporate FSQA Team Lead for Operations Led Process Improvements

• Provides leadership and is an active member of project teams to ensure food safety concerns are addressed at assigned plants
• Serve as point person, representing FSQA Team for all major changes in tools and/or systems (i.e. Quality Management System)
• Anticipate impacts to food safety, quality, and/or sanitation as new products and/or processes are introduced, generate solutions to address needs
• Keep FSQA Leadership Team up to date on all process changes and/or improvements, providing guidance to site teams 
• Maintain up-to-date records on program performance metrics, identifying trends that indicate improvement opportunities.

This position requires 40% travel

Qualifications

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability needed for this role. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities.

• Minimum Bachelor’s degree is food science, food technology, microbiology or a related field
• In lieu of a Bachelor’s degree, a combination of education and experience may be considered, provided the candidate has demonstrated technical proficiency in the areas of food safety, food microbiology, food defense, and food policy
• 5+ years experience in quality assurance, food safety, food distribution, food manufacturing, supply chain or related field
• HACCP certification and experience maintaining HACCP program strongly preferred
• SQF Practitioner certification preferred; Previous experience with GFSI, SQF and USDA audits
• Understanding of Food Safety regulations, laws, and best practices including those from FDA, USDA, and other state and local entities
• Knowledge of food microbiology, food safety, and food defense
• Experience developing, implementing, and maintaining food safety programs
• Demonstrated experience in implementing and sustaining continuous improvement initiatives.
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to use data to inform program enhancements.
• 2+ years experience managing and coaching a team, ability to influence others
• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal skills, capable of influencing and training cross-functional teams.
• Self-motivated, adaptable to a fast-paced environment, and committed to driving efficiency and innovation.
• If not already obtained, must complete PCQI and HACCP training within 3 months of hire

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