QA Director I - Prepared Foods

JBS Foods • Perry, IA

20h

About The Position

JBS Prepared Foods is seeking a strategic QA Director to lead quality assurance, food safety, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement across its Prepared Foods business unit. The position develops and executes enterprise-wide strategies to ensure compliance, protect company brands, and support operational excellence. The role partners with Operations, Engineering, R&D, Supply Chain, Sales, Procurement, and executive leadership, and serves as a senior subject matter expert on quality and food safety. The position may be based near one of the listed plant locations or at the JBS Corporate Office in Greeley, Colorado, with travel to plants and headquarters of up to 75%.

The director leads quality and food safety teams and programs across facilities; oversees quality systems, product specifications, testing, verification, and performance metrics; and ensures effective corrective and preventive action processes. The role leads food safety program development and maintenance, regulatory and audit readiness, and responses to incidents, product concerns, recalls, and crises. It also drives data-informed continuous improvement, supports new product development and commercialization, and serves as a liaison with regulatory agencies, customers, suppliers, auditors, and industry stakeholders.

This is a salaried position. The listed base salary range is $130,000–$160,000, with eligibility for the company’s annual bonus plan. The role includes medical, dental, and vision coverage after 60 days; paid sick leave, vacation, and six company-observed holidays; a 401(k) company match after one year of service; and learning and development opportunities.

Requirements

• At least 6 years of progressive leadership experience in Quality Assurance and Food Safety within the food manufacturing industry.
• Deep knowledge of USDA requirements, HACCP, GMPs, SSOPs, environmental monitoring programs, and GFSI standards.
• Demonstrated success leading regulatory inspections, customer audits, and third-party certification programs.
• Experience leading quality and food safety programs in a multi-plant prepared foods or protein manufacturing environment.
• Strong leadership, organizational, and change management capabilities.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation communication skills.
• Ability and willingness to travel up to 75% of the time to plants and headquarters, and as business needs dictate.
• Ability to perform the job functions with or without reasonable accommodation.

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Food Safety, Quality Assurance, or a related field is strongly preferred.
• At least 3 years of leadership experience managing multi-site quality and food safety programs is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the strategic vision, goals, and roadmap for Quality Assurance and Food Safety across Prepared Foods.
• Lead, mentor, and develop quality and food safety professionals, fostering accountability, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.
• Partner with executive leadership to align quality and food safety initiatives with business objectives.
• Direct cross-functional initiatives involving Operations, Engineering, R&D, Procurement, and Supply Chain.
• Serve as the company’s senior subject matter expert on quality and food safety.
• Establish, maintain, and improve quality systems, product specifications, standards, and procedures for products, ingredients, and packaging.
• Oversee inspection, sampling, analytical testing, and verification programs to meet company, regulatory, and customer requirements.
• Monitor and report quality KPIs and metrics to guide performance improvements and decision-making.
• Ensure corrective and preventive action processes are implemented throughout the organization.
• Lead development, implementation, and enhancement of HACCP, sanitation/SSOP, GMP, environmental monitoring, and GFSI-recognized certification programs.
• Ensure compliance with USDA, customer, and other applicable regulatory requirements and maintain audit readiness across facilities.
• Lead responses to food safety incidents, product quality concerns, recalls, and crisis management activities as needed.
• Use data analytics and trend analysis to identify quality, food safety, and operational improvement opportunities.
• Drive enterprise-wide improvement initiatives to reduce defects, improve process control, and strengthen food safety culture.
• Stay current on regulations, technologies, industry trends, and best practices and evolve quality systems accordingly.
• Support innovation and commercialization by incorporating quality and food safety requirements into new product development.
• Serve as primary liaison with USDA, state regulatory agencies, industry associations, and other external stakeholders.
• Maintain productive relationships with customers, suppliers, auditors, and regulatory officials.
• Represent JBS Prepared Foods at industry events, professional organizations, and customer engagements as needed.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
• Travel to plants and headquarters, up to 75% of the time, and as business needs dictate.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage begin after 60 days of employment.
• Paid sick leave and vacation.
• Six company-observed holidays.
• 401(k) company match begins after the first year of service and follows the company vesting schedule.
• Eligible to participate in the annual bonus plan; bonus amount varies and is subject to program terms and conditions.
• Continuous learning opportunities and career growth through learning and development programs.

What This Job Offers

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