Food Safety Quality Director

Michael Foods Inc.•Gaylord, MN

11h•$113,987 - $177,820

About The Position

Employee Safety and Food Safety are top priorities within Michael Foods. The Director of Food Safety and Quality is a corporate, multi-site leader responsible for setting expectations, standardizing programs, and ensuring effective execution of food safety, quality, and sanitation requirements across multiple manufacturing facilities. This role leads and develops site Food Safety & Quality leadership, partners closely with Operations and cross-functional teams, and drives audit readiness, regulatory and customer compliance, recall preparedness, and verification activities through risk-based systems and continuous improvement.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Safety or a related technical discipline.
8+ years of experience in quality management and quality systems within food manufacturing.
Expertise in food safety and quality systems/requirements, including FSMA, GFSI-aligned standards, HACCP, cGMPs, and audit processes.
Strong project management and change management capability.
Skilled in structured problem solving and investigation methodologies.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate technical information to non-technical audiences.
Demonstrated leadership, planning, and influencing skills across multiple layers of an organization.
Proficiency with standard PC tools in a Windows environment.
Ability to travel approximately 70 – 80%.

Nice To Haves

Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI) certification/experience.
Experience leading GFSI scheme certification audits (e.g., SQF, BRC, or FSSC 22000) and managing nonconformance closure.
Experience with environmental monitoring programs (EMP), allergen risk management, sanitation validation/verification, and microbiological trending.
Comfort with data tools and systems used in FSQ (QMS platforms, LIMS, Excel analytics, SAP QM, Tableau or similar preferred).

Responsibilities

Corporate program ownership (multi-site): Own and govern the enterprise food safety and quality management system across multiple facilities, including FSMA requirements, HACCP/Preventive Controls, GFSI-aligned standards, Codex Alimentarius Food Hygiene principles, sanitation/SSOP expectations, and current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs).
Leadership, coaching, and capability building: Lead multiple layers of the FSQ organization by directly managing and developing site Food Safety & Quality Leaders and influencing cross-functional partners. Ensure sanitation performance and continuous improvement are effectively led through site FSQ leadership, with clear expectations, routines, and accountability.
Organization structure & operating cadence: Establish and maintain a clear operating rhythm across sites (e.g., regular 1:1s with site FSQ leaders, standard site scorecards, quarterly performance reviews, best-practice sharing, and defined escalation pathways) to drive consistent execution and continuous improvement.
Standardization and execution: Set multi-site strategies, objectives, and priorities; deploy standardized policies, procedures, and operating routines. Ensure consistent daily execution at the facility level through site FSQ leadership to meet corporate standards, customer requirements, and regulatory expectations.
Regulatory engagement: Maintain professional, effective working relationships with local and regional regulatory officials, including USDA-FSIS and FDA, and support inspections, inquiries, and follow-up actions.
Cross-functional integration: Ensure food safety and quality requirements are embedded in key cross-functional processes from concept through commercialization, creating alignment with Supply Chain and enterprise priorities.
Audit and inspection readiness: Lead readiness activities for customer, third-party, and regulatory audits/inspections; ensure timely, effective closure of findings using corrective and preventive action (CAPA) and root cause analysis tools.
Sanitation governance and verification: Establish sanitation and hygienic design expectations and ensure effective verification activities (e.g., pre-operational inspections, ATP/rapid methods as applicable, microbiological testing and trending, environmental monitoring). Drive cross-site learning and improvement.
Recall and incident preparedness: Support and/or lead product issue response activities, including product holds, investigations, customer notifications, and recall readiness (e.g., mock recalls) in partnership with corporate stakeholders.
Customer and business partnership: Represent Food Safety & Quality to customers and internal business teams; provide technical support on product issues and opportunities and improve visibility and communication of FSQ performance.
Continuous improvement and metrics: Leverage continuous improvement tools and industry best practices to improve processes. Develop meaningful metrics and dashboards, translate data into actionable insights, and drive improvements tied to defined KPIs.
Oversight & routine activities: Conduct and/or ensure routine assessments of facilities, equipment, and personnel practices across assigned manufacturing sites to identify gaps and correct potential hazards related to food safety, quality, sanitation, and regulatory compliance. Identify emerging risks and heightened regulatory expectations; develop practical solutions and standardized programs to strengthen compliance and performance across the supply chain.