Vice President, Food Safety & Quality Assurance

Kinder's•Walnut Creek, CA

9d•$275,000 - $300,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Vice President of Food Safety & Quality Assurance is the enterprise leader responsible for defining and executing Kinder's food safety, quality, regulatory compliance, and risk management strategy. This executive will ensure that Kinder's delivers safe, compliant, and consistently exceptional products while supporting rapid growth, innovation, and operational excellence. Reporting as a key member of the leadership team, this role partners closely with Product Development, Supply Chain, Operations, Commercialization, and Manufacturing partners to establish scalable systems, strengthen quality capabilities, and protect the integrity of the Kinder's brand.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Chemistry, or a related scientific discipline required; advanced degree preferred.
25+ years of progressive leadership experience in Food Safety, Quality Assurance, or Regulatory functions within the food and beverage industry.
Deep expertise in FDA regulations, FSMA, HACCP, allergen management, food manufacturing quality systems, and supplier quality programs.
Demonstrated success leading quality organizations within high-growth CPG, food manufacturing, or branded consumer products environments.
Experience overseeing contract manufacturing networks and supplier quality programs.
Proven ability to build scalable systems, lead through complexity, and drive organizational change.
Strong executive presence with the ability to influence senior leaders and cross-functional stakeholders.
Exceptional analytical, problem-solving, communication, and decision-making capabilities.
Results-oriented leader with a balance of strategic vision and operational execution.

Responsibilities

Define and execute the enterprise Food Safety and Quality strategy, ensuring alignment with Kinder's growth objectives and brand standards.
Build, lead, and develop a high-performing Quality organization capable of supporting a rapidly scaling business.
Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, consumer focus, and risk-based decision making across the organization.
Establish performance metrics, governance processes, and reporting mechanisms to measure quality performance and drive operational excellence.
Serve as the company's senior authority on food safety, quality assurance, regulatory compliance, and risk mitigation.
Ensure compliance with all applicable FDA, USDA, FSMA, HACCP, labeling, allergen management, and food safety requirements.
Develop and maintain proactive systems that identify, assess, and mitigate food safety and quality risks across the supply chain.
Lead enterprise crisis management and product incident response efforts, ensuring rapid, effective decision-making that protects consumers and the Kinder's brand.
Lead regulatory compliance programs governing ingredients, formulations, packaging, specifications, labeling, and finished products.
Ensure robust documentation, specification management, and change control processes that create a single source of truth across the organization.
Oversee regulatory reviews and approvals for new products, packaging updates, and commercialization initiatives.
Maintain readiness for audits, inspections, and regulatory inquiries.
Leverage consumer insights, complaint data, testing results, and quality metrics to identify trends and drive corrective actions.
Lead root-cause analysis and preventative action initiatives that improve product consistency and consumer satisfaction.
Establish a data-driven approach to quality management that enables informed decision-making and continuous improvement.
Partner with Commercialization, Product Development, Supply Chain, Operations, and Finance leaders to balance quality, speed, innovation, and business objectives.
Influence strategic decisions by providing clear assessments of quality risks, trade-offs, and opportunities.
Champion a "quality-first" mindset while enabling efficient execution of innovation and growth initiatives.