Plant Quality Food Safety Manager

Danone•Jacksonville, FL

22h•Onsite

About The Position

At Danone, quality and food safety are at the heart of everything we do. We're looking for a passionate and strategic Plant Quality Food Safety Manager, internally called QFS Plant Leader (PQM), to lead our Quality & Food Safety function at our Jacksonville, Florida beverage manufacturing facility. In this role, you'll help ensure that every product we produce meets the highest standards of quality, compliance, and consumer trust while building a culture where food safety is everyone's responsibility. As a key member of the Jacksonville plant leadership team, reporting to the Plant Director, you'll be responsible for safeguarding product quality, ensuring regulatory compliance, and building a culture where food safety is embedded in every decision. You'll lead a Quality and Food safety organization of approximately 20 associates and leaders while partnering across the business to drive performance, innovation, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in food science, Food Technology, Chemistry, Microbiology, or another related field, required.
5+ years of progressive experience in quality, food safety, or a related function within food, beverage, pharmaceutical, or other regulated manufacturing environments.
Experience leading teams and influencing cross-functional stakeholders.
Strong understanding of Quality and Food Safety Management Systems within a food or beverage manufacturing or regulated environment.
Working knowledge of food safety regulations, risk‑based quality principles, and compliance requirements.
Strong communication skills with the ability to engage effectively at all levels of the organization.
Demonstrated success using structured problem-solving and continuous improvement methodologies.
Ability to work in and support a 24/7 manufacturing environment as business needs require.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in a related scientific discipline.
Experience working in highly regulated manufacturing environments with advanced quality systems and certification requirements.

Responsibilities

Lead and continuously strengthen Quality & Food Safety programs across all of the Jacksonville plant operations.
Ensure compliance with regulatory, customer, and Danone standards, including FDA requirements, FSSC 22000, and other relevant certifications.
Champion a culture of quality, food safety, and consumer-first decision making throughout the organization.
Develop and execute the site's Quality Business Plan, aligning priorities with plant and company strategy.
Drive continuous improvement in quality, food safety, and operational performance through data-driven decision making.
Lead Quality & Food Safety teams, coaching and developing talent to build strong organizational capability.
Provide quality governance for plant projects, change management initiatives, and risk assessments.
Manage product quality incidents and lead crisis response activities when needed.
Partner closely with Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, and other functions to ensure consistent execution and results.
Own departmental budget management and participate in key capital investment projects.
Ensure adherence to plant standards and procedures (including but not limited to GMP, AIB, FDA, IWS, Quality, Safety, Finance, ISO, HOPE, Danone Behaviors, Daily Direction Setting, Driving OE).
Participate and own the implementation and deployment of IWS system and its pillars (Leadership foundation, Daily Direction Setting, Driving OE; Autonomous Maintenance; planned Maintenance; Focused Improvement; Education and Training; Environmental, Health and Safety; Quality; Organization; Supply Network; Early Equipment Management) with the objective of owning your space, owning your performance (Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery, Mobilization, Nature) and owning your continuous improvement.