Senior Program Manager, Food & Beverage - U.S.

DNV•Houston, TX

1d•Remote

About The Position

DNV Business Assurance is seeking to fill the role of Senior Program Manager, Food & Beverage. This position can be remote from anywhere in the Continental U.S.. The Senior Program Manager, Food & Beverage is accountable for the technical governance, delivery integrity, and business performance of assigned Food & Beverage certification schemes within DNV Business Assurance North America, including SQF and COSTCO programs. Serving as the primary technical authority for the Local Unit, the role ensures full alignment with DNV Global Technical Hub requirements, applicable accreditation standards (including ISO/IEC 17021 and ISO/IEC 17065), and scheme owner expectations. The position provides strategic technical leadership across auditors, operations, sales teams, and customers, while supporting accreditation readiness, resource planning, and continuous competence development. The role holds overall accountability for the operational profitability and technical integrity of the Food & Beverage certification portfolio in North America.

Requirements

Technical governance of Food & Beverage certification schemes (SQF, COSTCO, FSSC 22000, BRCGS).
Understanding of ISO/IEC 17021 and ISO/IEC 17065 accreditation standards.
Experience in line management of technical teams.
Expertise in interpreting standards and scheme rules.
Experience with technical reviews, certification decisions, and risk evaluations.
Ability to provide technical guidance to operations, sales, and customers.
Experience in auditor qualification, authorization, and development.
Knowledge of accreditation body assessments (e.g., ANAB).
Familiarity with scheme owners (e.g., SQF, COSTCO).

Responsibilities

Hold overall technical responsibility for all assigned Food & Beverage certification schemes within the Local Unit, including SQF and COSTCO.
Act as the Local Unit focal point for interpretation and implementation of requirements issued by the Global Technical Hub, including globally managed Food & Beverage schemes such as FSSC 22000 and BRCGS.
Provide line management for a team of approximately 6 full-time auditors, ~25 contracted auditors, and SQF technical reviewers and supporting roles (~30 resources in total).
Act as a senior technical escalation point for interpretation of standards and scheme rules, audit findings and technical nonconformities, and technical rejections and corrective action assessment.
Contribute to or oversee technical reviews, certification decisions, and risk evaluations, in accordance with scheme and accreditation rules.
Support Operations and Sales teams by providing authoritative technical guidance on scheme eligibility and scope, certification pathways, and interpretation of standards and requirements.
Engage directly with customers, as needed, to provide clear, accurate technical clarification that supports confidence in DNV certification outcomes.
Support onboarding and authorization of new auditors, including qualification and scope approvals, and scheme-specific authorization and maintenance.
Provide ongoing technical coaching, guidance, and consistency support to auditors.
Deliver or support annual training programs, including scheme and standard updates, industry and regulatory developments, and technical consistency and calibration activities.
Support and participate in witness audits and oversight activities, as required.
Actively support Accreditation Body assessments (e.g., ANAB), including activities related to ISO/IEC 17065.