Food Safety & Quality Manager

The Wonderful Company•Mission, TX

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, Supply Chain, and plant leadership, the manager supports food safety, product consistency, operational efficiency, and continuous improvement. The manager oversees the Food Safety Management System, HACCP plans, prerequisite programs, regulatory compliance, audits, inspections, and corrective actions. The position also manages quality standards and controls throughout processing, laboratory operations and testing, customer specifications and complaints, quality-related performance measures, and department resources. The manager leads quality assurance and laboratory personnel and promotes a strong facility-wide food safety culture. The role may require long hours during fruit season, including nights and weekends. The employee is frequently required to stand, walk, handle or feel objects, reach, stoop, talk or hear, and taste or smell, and must frequently lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.

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.
Demonstrated 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.
Frequently stand, walk, use hands to handle or feel, reach with hands and arms, stoop, talk or hear, and taste or smell; frequently lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
May be required to work long hours during fruit season, including weekends and nights.

Nice To Haves

Experience in citrus or beverage processing.
Bilingual in English and 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.
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 key performance indicators for food safety, product quality, regulatory compliance, and cost of poor quality.
Manage customer specifications, quality complaints, audits, and technical communications.
Provide performance reporting and recommendations to plant leadership.
Manage departmental resources, laboratory expenses, and quality-related costs.
Maintain regulatory compliance and effective food safety controls; improve first-pass product quality and reduce customer complaints, quality-related product losses, rework, and operating costs.
Ensure timely completion of corrective actions, audits, and employee training, and strengthen data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement across the facility.

Benefits

Medical insurance
Vision insurance
Dental insurance
401(k)
Continued training
Education reimbursement program
Paid sick time
Paid vacation time
Paid holidays
Wonderful Giving program, allowing employees to donate company money to a cause of their choice