Regional Quality Assurance Manager

Monterey Mushrooms•Madisonville, KY

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Regional Quality Assurance Manager will direct the Quality Assurance and food-safety programs for Amycel's spawn and Spawn Mate supplement production, providing quality oversight for both the Madisonville, TX and San Juan Bautista, CA, and New Albany, IN facilities. This leadership position stands up and matures a robust sanitation and environmental-monitoring program, drives disciplined root cause analysis, and builds a closed-loop continuous-improvement system that steadily reduces product contamination, product defects, and process defects. The role provides effective communication across all levels of the organization, develops and trains staff, leads Quality process-improvement projects, and works with Corporate Quality Assurance on continuous-improvement initiatives. Based in Madisonville with occasional travel to San Juan Bautista and other network sites; occasional nights, weekends, and coverage beyond normal hours may be required.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science in Food Science, Ag Science, Microbiology, Biology, or a related discipline (or 10+ years of direct equivalent experience).
Seven or more years of plant or corporate quality assurance experience, including operations management.
HACCP or PCQI certified; experience designing and implementing HACCP programs.
Experience maintaining audited food-safety and organic programs (e.g., PrimusGFS, CCOF/OMRI).
Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Office 365 programs.

Nice To Haves

Working knowledge of microbiology, aseptic technique, environmental monitoring, and sanitation chemistry.
Strong command of root cause analysis and continuous-improvement tools (5-Why, Fishbone, FMEA, Pareto, CAPA).
Strong systems thinking with KPI-driven improvement and a hands-on management style.
Excellent project management and organizational skills; able to develop a plan of action from a concept and carry it through to completion.
Ability to develop and manage a department budget, monitor spending, and prioritize resources.
Ability to interface across all levels of the organization and to work under pressure and tight deadlines with humor and grace.
Highly proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Office 365 programs.

Responsibilities

Direct, develop, and maintain the facility's quality system in compliance with the Corporate Quality Policy, ensuring the safety, purity, and quality of all raw materials, cultures, inoculum, and finished spawn and supplement products.
Maintain and strengthen the sites' current food-safety and compliance programs — including PrimusGFS (San Juan Bautista) and organic (CCOF/OMRI) certification — and lead the roadmap toward GFSI certification as the program matures. Support kosher requirements where applicable to specific products.
Develop, lead, and validate robust plant GMP, hygiene, and sanitation programs across all shifts, including a master sanitation schedule that meets or exceeds regulatory and company standards.
Build and lead a comprehensive environmental monitoring program (air, surface, water, and personnel) to detect and control contaminants such as bacteria and wild/competitor molds; manage cleanroom, laminar-flow, HEPA, and positive-pressure controls and enforce aseptic technique and gowning.
Establish and validate control points for media preparation, substrate/grain sterilization (autoclave cycles, biological indicators), inoculation, and incubation — applying HACCP like principles judiciously to focus controls where risk is greatest and avoid unnecessary record-keeping burden.
Lead pest and vector control relevant to grain-based spawn (including mites and flies that can vector contamination) and manage foreign-material and allergen controls.
Lead root cause analysis investigations for deviations, hot spots, and elevated results, ensuring corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) are fully implemented and verified for effectiveness and that organisms are not reintroduced into the environment.
Lead the customer complaint resolution process; investigate and drive the corrective actions needed to mitigate quality problems and respond to specific customer quality concerns.
Serve as the primary contact for regulatory bodies, customers, and third-party auditors; develop and facilitate internal audits of raw materials, packaging components, suppliers, and warehousing procedures; make customer/market visits as required.
Manage the QA document-control and food-safety records system in partnership with the culture/R&D team, who retain ownership of culture operations and master production SOPs.
Design and execute closed-loop programs using KPIs and metrics to drive continuous improvement in product quality, process efficiency, and waste reduction; drive measurable reductions in product contamination, product defects, and process defects.
Advise the Plant Management Team on quality trends; provide technical support for process instructions, formulas, and product specifications; maintain instrument calibration and data integrity.
Prepare and manage the annual operating budget for the Quality Assurance department; own the site quality KPIs and contribute directly to facility and division P&L accountability.