Food Safety & Quality Assurance Manager

About the Opportunity

A leading provider of culinary and food service solutions to the aviation and travel industry is seeking an experienced Food Safety & Quality Assurance Manager to lead food safety, quality, and sanitation programs at a large-scale food production facility in Portland.

This role offers full ownership of the site’s programs, from daily execution and regulatory compliance to team development, performance reporting, and continuous improvement. You will maintain a strong presence on the production floor, identify risks proactively, and provide site leadership with clear insight into department performance, improvement priorities, and corrective action progress.

We’re looking for a proven leader who can ramp up quickly, develop a capable Quality team, and partner with Operations and Production leaders to implement and sustain improvements. Success requires strong technical expertise and the ability to drive results through others in a fast-paced production environment.

What You’ll Do

• Own the site’s food safety, quality, and sanitation programs, ensuring compliance with company, customer, and regulatory requirements.

• Conduct daily production floor walks to assess practices, identify risks, and reinforce consistent food safety standards.

• Partner with Operations and Production leaders to identify root causes, establish corrective action plans, educate their teams, and ensure changes are implemented and sustained.

• Oversee sanitation practices and verification activities, working with responsible teams to address gaps and maintain effective controls.

• Conduct and oversee food safety monitoring and inspections, including temperature checks, HACCP log reviews, environmental swabbing, sanitation verification, and product quality checks.

• Lead or actively participate in customer, regulatory, and third-party audits, including preparing documentation, supporting inspections, and completing required follow-up actions.

• Verify that prepared food meets customer specifications, including product weight, preparation, handling, labeling, and storage requirements.

• Ensure compliance with applicable FDA, USDA, FSMA, HACCP, and current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) requirements.

• Hire, coach, train, and develop the Food Safety/Quality team, establishing clear expectations and individual development plans.

• Manage team performance and build bench strength so employees can take on greater responsibility.

• Train employees and leaders across departments on food safety procedures, sanitation practices, and compliance expectations.

• Maintain thorough records, reports, logs, and corrective action tracking.

• Analyze food safety, quality, and sanitation data to identify trends, evaluate corrective action effectiveness, and prioritize improvements.

• Report performance to site leadership, highlighting department-level strengths, gaps, risks, and recommended actions.

• Work collaboratively with Operations, Production, HR, and other leaders to strengthen food safety culture across all shifts.

What We’re Looking For

Required

• 5+ years of food safety and/or quality experience within a regulated food production or food manufacturing environment.

• Direct experience with food production and quality controls, including temperature management, preparation, storage, labeling, shelf life, and safe handling.

• Demonstrated management experience leading a food safety or quality team, including hiring, coaching, employee development, and performance management.

• Proven ownership of food safety or quality programs, with specific examples of improvements personally led and sustained.

• Ability to influence Operations and Production leaders and drive corrective actions through their teams.

• Experience working regularly on a production floor and collaborating with departments outside the Quality function.

• Experience with food safety audits and regulatory requirements, including FDA and/or USDA.

• PCQI and HACCP certifications.

• Strong knowledge of FSMA Preventive Controls, HACCP principles, applicable FDA/USDA regulations, and cGMP requirements.

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, and organizational skills.

• Ability to establish clear expectations, address resistance, and hold teams accountable for compliance.

• Strong attention to detail and the ability to maintain accurate documentation and records.

Preferred

• Experience in ready-to-eat food manufacturing, strongly preferred.

• Experience overseeing sanitation programs or teams within a food production facility.

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Biology, Chemistry, or a related field.

• Experience in a high-volume food manufacturing or production environment.

• Experience with environmental monitoring, microbiological testing, sanitation verification, and corrective action effectiveness.

• Experience leading customer, regulatory, or third-party audits.

Leadership Expectations

The successful candidate will independently lead the site’s food safety, quality, and sanitation programs and keep leadership informed of what is working, where gaps exist, and which actions require immediate attention.

You will combine hands-on floor involvement with the ability to build team capability and drive improvements across departments. This includes developing Quality employees, equipping Operations leaders to reinforce standards, and ensuring the responsible teams implement and sustain corrective actions.

We’re seeking someone who can share clear examples of developing employees, improving performance, and influencing change beyond their own department. Consistent adherence to food safety and quality requirements is a core expectation of this role.

Schedule & Work Environment

The facility operates 24/7, and this role requires flexibility to support production needs, employee shifts, and audit requirements.

• Regular interaction with teams across different shifts is expected.

• Occasional weekend availability may be required.

• Regulatory or customer audits may occur with limited notice and can last 2–3 days.

• Continuous overnight work is not expected, but availability outside standard business hours is required when operational or audit needs arise.

• This position requires regular, hands-on involvement on the production floor.

What We Offer

• Competitive base salary of $92,119 - $135,000 base salary, depending on experience

   

• Health, dental, and vision insurance

• Life and AD&D insurance

• 401(k) with company match

• Paid time off and paid holidays

• Benefits beginning day one

• Tuition reimbursement

• Free parking and free meals

• Professional development opportunities

• Access to a credit union

• Opportunity to own and strengthen food safety, quality, and sanitation programs within a large-scale food production operation

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