Food Safety & Quality Manager

Wonderful Citrus • Mission, TX

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About The Position

The Food Safety & Quality Manager leads and maintains the facility’s food safety, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance programs. The role ensures that citrus juice, concentrates, pulp cells, and related products meet customer specifications, regulatory requirements, and company standards. Working collaboratively with Operations, Maintenance, and Supply Chain, the manager promotes food safety, product consistency, operational efficiency, and continuous improvement.

The manager oversees the Food Safety Management System, HACCP plans, prerequisite programs, audits, inspections, risk assessments, investigations, corrective actions, sanitation, environmental monitoring, pest control, traceability, quality specifications, testing, product release, and quality control across processing and shipment. The position also directs laboratory operations and reporting, maintains product and testing records, and leads quality assurance and laboratory personnel.

This role establishes performance expectations and training, drives root cause analysis and continuous improvement, monitors food safety and quality KPIs, manages customer specifications and complaints, and oversees departmental resources and quality-related costs. The position may require long hours during fruit season, including weekends and nights.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Chemistry, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in food manufacturing quality assurance or food safety.
• Knowledge of Juice HACCP, FDA FSMA regulations, GMPs, sanitation, and food safety management systems.
• Experience leading teams, managing audits, conducting root cause analysis, and implementing corrective actions.
• Strong analytical, organizational, communication, and cross-functional leadership skills.
• Proficiency in quality data analysis, reporting systems, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Ability to frequently stand, walk, handle or feel items, reach, stoop, talk or hear, and taste or smell.
• Ability to frequently lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in citrus or beverage processing.
• Bilingual English/Spanish.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and maintain the Food Safety Management System (FSMS), HACCP plans, and prerequisite programs.
• Ensure compliance with FDA regulations, customer requirements, and applicable food safety certification standards.
• Lead food safety audits, inspections, risk assessments, investigations, and corrective actions; serve as the company’s audit representative.
• Maintain sanitation, environmental monitoring, pest control, and product traceability programs.
• Establish and maintain product specifications, quality standards, testing procedures, and product release requirements.
• Oversee quality control during extraction, processing, pasteurization, concentration, storage, and shipment.
• Monitor product characteristics including Brix, acidity, color, flavor, microbiological quality, and pulp content.
• Manage nonconforming products, customer complaints, product holds, and corrective actions.
• Partner with Operations to improve product consistency, reduce quality losses, and optimize processing performance.
• Direct laboratory operations, analytical testing, sampling procedures, and equipment calibration.
• Ensure accurate, reliable, and timely reporting of quality and food safety data; maintain testing documentation, Certificates of Analysis, and product records.
• Lead, develop, and hold quality assurance and laboratory personnel accountable; establish performance expectations and training programs.
• Promote a facility-wide food safety culture and drive root cause analysis, corrective and preventive actions, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Use data, technology, automation, and process standardization to improve quality, efficiency, and cost performance.
• Collaborate with plant leadership to identify risks, implement improvements, and achieve operational objectives.
• Establish and monitor KPIs for food safety, product quality, regulatory compliance, and cost of poor quality.
• Manage customer specifications, quality complaints, audits, and technical communications.
• Provide timely performance reporting and recommendations to plant leadership.
• Manage departmental resources, laboratory expenses, and quality-related costs.

Benefits

• Competitive benefits package including medical, vision, dental, and 401(k).
• Continued training.
• Education reimbursement program.
• Paid sick, vacation, and holiday time.
• Wonderful Giving, allowing employees to donate company money to a cause of their choice.
• Opportunities for advancement.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager