Food Safety & Quality Specialist

Fishwife Tinned Seafood Co.

2d•Remote

About The Position

Fishwife is a woman-founded and led food company aiming to make ethically-sourced, premium, and delicious tinned seafood a staple in every cupboard. We source from responsibly managed fisheries and aquaculture farms to bring the vibrance of conservas culture to the North American table. We launched in December 2020 and have been feature by publications like The New York Times, Bon Appetit, Forbes, Vogue, LA Times, INSIDER, and many more. POSITION OVERVIEW The Food Safety & Quality Specialist owns the program end to end: our food safety plan, seafood HACCP importer verification and FSVP, product specifications, certificates of analysis and lot release, supplier approval and audits, complaint and quality claim resolution with our canneries, and our recall and traceability program. You will decide whether a lot ships, you will be the person a cannery hears from when product does not meet spec, and you will lead us if product ever has to come off the shelf. This is an expert role on a small team. You will inherit a working foundation and will be expected to turn it into a system that is bulletproof everyday and still holds when our volume doubles. This position is a full-time, remote role reporting to the Product Development & Quality Manager. SCOPE OF OWNERSHIP The food safety plan and quality management system, including seafood HACCP importer requirements and FSVP Product specifications, COA review, and lot release for every finished good and critical ingredient Supplier and co-manufacturer approval, verification, and audits Consumer and customer complaints, CAPA, and quality claim resolution with our canneries Recall, withdrawal, and traceability readiness, including mock recalls Quality and compliance documentation that is organized, current, and retrievable on demand

Requirements

5+ years in food quality assurance or food safety, owning a program rather than supporting one
Has personally written or rebuilt a HACCP plan and kept it current through verification and reassessment
Seafood HACCP certified and PCQI trained, or able to complete both within 90 days of starting
Deep, hands-on recall experience: has led or co-led a recall, market withdrawal, or full mock recall, including classification, regulator and customer communication, and effectiveness checks
Experience managing quality at co-manufacturers or contract packers, ideally including international partners
Working fluency in the FDA requirements that govern imported, shelf-stable foods, including FSMA, FSVP, and preventive controls
Experience preparing for and hosting third-party, customer, and regulatory audits
Exceptionally organized with documentation, and comfortable in a role that is, by design, heavy on paperwork
Written communication that holds up with an external partner: clear, specific, respectful, and firm on the standard

Nice To Haves

Seafood or canned goods experience, especially with histamine-forming species, low-acid canned foods, or Better Process Control School certification
FSVP qualified individual experience, and familiarity with import entry, FDA holds, and customs documentation
Experience at a smaller or fast-growing brand where you built the program rather than inherited it
A degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Chemistry, or a related field
Spanish or another language spoken by our partner canneries

Responsibilities

Own, maintain, and annually reassess our food safety plan and quality management system, including importer obligations under the FDA seafood HACCP regulation (21 CFR Part 123) and our Foreign Supplier Verification Program as needed
Own recall readiness: maintain the recall plan, lead the recall team in an event from hazard assessment and classification through FDA and customer communication and effectiveness checks, and run mock recalls at least annually, closing every gap they expose
Maintain lot code standards and one-up, one-down traceability from cannery through our 3PL to the customer, and turn regulatory changes in FSMA traceability, labeling, and allergens into specific actions for the team
Keep every spec, COA, certificate, audit report, and import document current and retrievable within minutes across FoodLogiQ, TraceGains, and our Quality & Food Safety Hub, so Fishwife is audit-ready on any given day
Own product specifications end to end, from creation and version control to alignment between internal, cannery, and customer specs, with specs and release criteria set for every new item before first production
Accountable for the release COA standard by product and hazard, such as histamine, water activity, pH, seam integrity, and microbiological results where applicable, and hold every cannery to it
Review COAs and production records for every lot before release, and make and document each hold and release decision
Run verification testing with accredited third-party labs, including shelf-life validation, and serve as the internal authority on quality and food safety questions from Sales, Marketing, and Product Development
Own approval, reverification, and audits for canneries, co-manufacturers, and critical ingredient and packaging suppliers, including review of third-party certifications (BRCGS, SQF, IFS) and a supplier quality scorecard that measures performance rather than remembering it
Own the complaint management program with Customer Experience, investigate root cause, and drive corrective and preventive action to close with the responsible partner
Resolve quality claims with canneries: document the defect, quantify the impact, and recover credit or replacement product while keeping the relationship strong
Prepare Fishwife for customer, retailer, and regulatory audits, report quality KPIs with the decision each trend calls for, and write the SOPs a support resource can run under your direction