Director of Food Safety Processes

Driscoll’s•Watsonville, CA

5d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director, Food Safety Processes is the strategic leader accountable for defining and advancing Driscoll’s food safety and regulatory compliance framework across the United States, Canada, Mexico and Peru. The role translates emerging regulatory requirements, customer expectations, industry standards and business priorities into scalable policies, programs, governance and integrity systems. It owns the performance and continued evolution of the food safety compliance sub-function, ensuring requirements are clear, risk-based, practical and consistently embedded across growers, facilities and supply-chain operations. The Director combines produce-industry expertise and external relationships with enterprise influence. The role represents Driscoll’s with regulators, customers, academia, industry associations and technical partners; anticipates external developments; and leads strategies to protect consumers, strengthen trust in Driscoll’s brand and enable business continuity. The Director leads a direct report supporting food safety systems and consistent implementation across markets, and provides functional direction to cross-regional and cross-functional teams. The position owns the multi-year strategy, operating model and roadmap for the compliance sub-function; establishes enterprise governance for policies, standards, procedures, records and verification programs; and anticipates regulatory, certification, customer and industry developments. It sets priorities, allocates resources, defines decision rights, advises the Vice President of Food Safety and senior leaders, and builds external relationships that provide early insight and support science-based policy outcomes. The role requires on-site presence in Watsonville, California, or Guadalajara, Mexico; remote work is not authorized. Resumes must be submitted in English.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Chemistry, Microbiology or a related field.
More than 10 years of food safety experience.
Experience in the produce or perishable food sector, including regulatory compliance.
Familiarity with food safety and worker welfare regulations in Canada, Mexico, Peru and the United States.
Experience managing information systems.
Advanced Microsoft Office skills.
Outstanding verbal and written communication skills.
Advanced problem-solving and decision-making skills.
At least 3 years of people management experience.
Valid driver’s license and ability to be covered under the company vehicle insurance policy.
Ability to travel domestically and internationally.
Customer service competency.
Process improvement experience and formal training.

Nice To Haves

Graduate degree.
Fluency in Spanish and English.

Responsibilities

Define and execute Driscoll’s of the Americas food safety compliance strategy, including principles, governance and future-state standards for program design, implementation and continuous improvement.
Own the multi-year strategy, operating model and roadmap for the food safety compliance sub-function, aligned with functional strategy and business priorities.
Establish enterprise governance for food safety policies, standards, procedures, records and verification programs across the United States, Canada, Peru and Mexico.
Monitor and interpret scientific, regulatory, customer, certification and industry developments; assess enterprise impacts and direct cross-functional response strategies.
Set priorities, allocate resources and define decision rights for compliance programs, systems, audits and strategic initiatives.
Own the lifecycle of food safety policies, programs, standards, procedures, forms and records, including document control, approval, change-management and implementation protocols.
Provide strategic direction and governance for food safety compliance systems, including TELUS, FACTS, Azzule and SafetyChain; define future capabilities, data integrity expectations, system ownership and integration priorities.
Work with Driscoll’s Business Units to align compliance systems in support of the Global Movement of Fruit.
Establish enterprise compliance KPIs, dashboards and management-review routines; turn trends, audits, complaints, test results, regulatory developments and system data into executive insights and recommendations.
Advise the Vice President of Food Safety and senior leaders on material compliance risks, emerging issues, strategic choices and investment needs.
Represent Driscoll’s with regulators, customers, certification bodies, industry associations, standard-setting organizations, academic partners and other external stakeholders.
Build trusted external relationships and influence policies and practices relevant to the berry industry.
Set governance for intake, escalation, investigation, trending and closure of food safety-related customer and consumer concerns; use insights to identify systemic improvements.
Lead, coach and develop the direct-report position supporting compliance programs and processes.
Provide functional leadership to matrixed teams, clarify priorities and build compliance capability across regions and functions.
Travel domestically and internationally as required.