Back to jobs
New

Food Safety & Quality Specialist

Emeryville, CA
About us:
Based in Berkeley, CA, UPSIDE Foods grows meat, poultry, and seafood directly from real animal cells. These products are not vegan or vegetarian—they are delicious meat, made without the need to raise and slaughter billions of animals. In doing so, the company aims to address some of the most pressing environmental, animal welfare, and public health challenges, while still giving people the meat they love. 
 
Founded as the world’s first cultivated meat company in 2015, UPSIDE Foods (formerly Memphis Meats) has achieved numerous industry-defining milestones, including being the first company to produce multiple species of meat (beef, chicken, and duck) and to sell a cultivated meat product in the United States. The company believes that people shouldn’t have to choose between the foods they love and a thriving planet, and is working to build a better food system with access to delicious, humane, and sustainable meat, poultry, and seafood. 
 
UPSIDE Foods has won various industry awards, including New York Times’ Good Tech Awards, FastCo’s Next Big Thing in Tech and World Changing Ideas Awards, and the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation by the National Association for Business Resources. UPSIDE Foods has raised a total of $608 million, including from the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund (ADG), Baillie Gifford, Bill Gates, Cargill, John Doerr, John Mackey, Kimbal and Christiana Musk, Norwest, Richard Branson, Softbank, Temasek, Threshold, Tyson Foods, and others.
 
About this job:
The Food Safety & Quality Specialist will play a key supporting role in executing and enforcing the food safety and quality systems that will come to define cultivated meat food production, processing, and packaging processes required to ensure safe and delicious meat food products for consumers at pilot and commercial scale.
 
The Food Safety & Quality Specialist will be responsible for assisting with the implementation, execution, and enforcement of food safety and quality systems as products, processes, and company priorities are developed. This role supports the Food Safety Manager and the Food Safety and Quality Assurance Team, aiding in company precedent for scaled cultivated meat quality and food safety. The ideal candidate is eager to take on new challenges, is not afraid to fail and is willing to identify mistakes and learn from them.  
 
Responsibilities include:
  • Aid in the implementation, execution, and enforcement of food safety and quality systems that will be a critical pillar of manufacturing cell-cultured meat and an example for this new way of making food. Duties include but are not limited to:
  • Performing supporting tasks for the overall execution of the plant food safety and quality systems, such as
    • Document control and revisions
    • Production record review
    • Supplier documentation collection and review
    • Facility inspections and internal audits to ensure compliance with company food safety policies
    • Environmental monitoring and corrective action support, where applicable
    • External audit support, including FDA, USDA, and local regulatory agencies
    • Non-conformance and complaint investigation and CAPA 
    • Software implementation support as needed
  • Supporting the Quality Assurance plant lab team as needed for sample collection and analysis, operational inspections, sanitation verifications, calibration, and other duties as needed. 
  • Acts as a point person on behalf of the department for quality and day-to-day food safety issues at the plant.
  • Uphold, along with the Sr. Leadership, a strong culture and commitment to Quality and Food Safety throughout the UPSIDE Foods organization.
  • Must be able to carry up to 45 pounds. Must be able to sit or stand up for long periods of time while monitoring operations and performing daily tasks. Must be able to don Personal Protective Equipment (safety glasses, gloves, footwear, lab coats or coveralls) on a daily basis, as well as hearing and dust protection as needed.
About you:
  • Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (food science, food manufacturing, biology, etc.) preferred, or equivalent experience
  • 2+ years experience in food manufacturing within the food safety and quality department preferred
  • Strong organizational skills, written and verbal communication skills, and a keen eye for detail
  • Experience implementing GFSI programs preferred, including: Supplier Management, Sanitation/Pre-OP, Internal & External Auditing, CAPA/Root Cause Analysis, Document Control, Crisis Management, Customer Complaints, Environmental Monitoring, Food Defense, Food Fraud and Allergen Management
  • PCQI and/or HACCP certification preferred, but willing to train after hire
  • Experience with Google Suite (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive) preferred, ability to learn new software platforms quickly required
  • A collaborative nature that works well independently and with others
  • A willingness to work with teammates to build a healthy professional environment to produce delicious, safe meat products
Who you’ll work with:
  • This role will work with employees across the manufacturing organization to ensure that food safety standards are continuously met, including bioprocessing, food production, engineering, facilities, and office team members. 
Key Contributions in First Year:
  • Get familiarized with new methods for food production and how to incorporate food safety and quality in every process step.
  • Aid in the development and implementation of new food safety programs at UPSIDE Foods’ production facilities.
Compensation Range: $80,000 - $100,000*
*Pay may vary depending on factors including job-related knowledge and skills.
 
UPSIDE Benefits!
  • Stock options for all full-time incoming team members!
  • 90-100% employer-paid healthcare premiums for team members (medical [including HSA and FSA], dental, and vision)
  • Pet insurance for your furry family members!
  • Unlimited PTO
  • Company-sponsored learning & development opportunities
 
UPSIDE Foods is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Our company-wide mission is to create a product for everyone, so we are deeply committed to having teams and leaders that reflect this mission.

Create a Job Alert

Interested in building your career at UPSIDE Foods? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Select...
Select...

UPSIDE Custom Demographic Questions

At UPSIDE Foods, we value belonging and believe in fostering an environment where a diversity of perspectives can thrive. This core value is a pillar of our business and critical to our success. Your responses will be used (in aggregate only) to help us evaluate the diversity of our job applicant pool and how we can improve our efforts to attract a diverse range of candidates. Your responses will not be associated with your specific application and will not in any way be used in the hiring decision.

Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in UPSIDE Foods’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.