VP, FSQA

Mamas Creations•East Rutherford, NJ

1d•$185,000 - $200,000•Onsite

About The Position

The VP, FSQA is an enterprise-level role responsible for the strategic direction, governance, and execution of food safety and quality assurance systems across all company facilities and co-manufacturing partners, as well as external warehouse and distribution centers. This role serves as the enterprise authority on food safety, regulatory compliance, and quality assurance, ensuring that every product reflects Mama’s commitment to Grandma Quality, uncompromising food safety, craftsmanship, and integrity, while supporting operational scalability and growth. The VP, FSQA partners closely with Operations, People Operations, Supply Chain, R&D, and Executive Leadership to embed food safety and Grandma Quality as non-negotiable cultural and operational pillars, not just compliance requirements.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Chemistry, or related field (advanced degree preferred).
15+ years of progressive leadership experience in FSQA within food manufacturing, including multi-site responsibility.
Hold and maintain active, industry-appropriate certifications.
Deep working knowledge of USDA/FDA regulations, FSMA, HACCP, preventive controls, and audit frameworks.
Proven experience leading teams, managing audits, and driving culture change in manufacturing environments.
Experience supporting or leading FSQA integration during M&A strongly preferred.

Nice To Haves

advanced degree preferred

Responsibilities

Establish and execute a company-wide FSQA strategy aligned with business growth, M&A activity, and operational excellence.
Serve as the executive owner of food safety and quality governance across all facilities, ensuring consistent standards across the enterprise.
Lead, mentor, and develop FSQA leaders and teams, building a strong bench of technical and people leadership capability.
Act as a trusted advisor to executive leadership on food safety risk, regulatory exposure, and Grandma Quality performance.
Ensure full compliance with USDA, FDA, FSMA, SQF/BRC (as applicable), and customer audit requirements.
Own readiness for all regulatory inspections, customer audits, and third-party certifications, including corrective action planning and execution.
With a primary focus on preventative actions, serve as the primary escalation point for food safety incidents, recalls, regulatory actions, or customer quality issues.
Maintain enterprise-level policies, SOPs, and documentation related to food safety, sanitation, allergen control, HACCP, preventive controls, and GMPs.
Standardize FSQA processes, metrics, and reporting across all sites to ensure consistency, visibility, and accountability.
Partner with Operations and OpEx/CI leaders to drive root cause analysis (RCA), corrective and preventive actions (CAPA), and continuous improvement initiatives.
Ensure quality systems scale appropriately with production growth, new products, and new facilities.
Drive a proactive, preventive approach to quality, reducing rework, waste, and customer complaints.
Collaborate with Operations leadership to balance production efficiency with uncompromised food safety and Grandma quality standards.
Partner with People Operations to ensure FSQA training, accountability, and leadership behaviors are embedded into onboarding, performance management, and leadership development.
Work with Supply Chain and Procurement to ensure supplier qualification, audits, and quality standards meet enterprise expectations.
Support R&D and NPD teams on new product development, formulation changes, and process validations.
Establish and oversee the enterprise laboratory testing strategy, ensuring appropriate microbiological, chemical, and environmental testing programs across all facilities, driving for standardization on insource vs outsourced testing.
Ensure all internal and third-party laboratory testing meets regulatory, customer, and certification requirements, including validation, verification, and documentation standards.
Provide executive oversight of environmental monitoring programs (EMP), finished product testing, and raw material testing, including trend analysis and risk-based adjustments.
Review and act on testing results, trends, and deviations, ensuring timely escalation, root cause analysis, and corrective and preventive actions.
Ensure laboratory practices, data integrity, and recordkeeping support audit readiness and regulatory inspections at all times.
Lead FSQA diligence, risk assessment, and integration for acquisitions and new facilities.
Ensure newly acquired operations are rapidly aligned to Mama’s FSQA standards, culture, and expectations.
Build scalable systems that support long-term growth without increasing food safety or regulatory risk.
Lead in alignment with Mama’s core values of Commit to Craftsmanship with technical expertise, precision, and attention to detail.
Set uncompromising standards for food safety and Grandma Quality, taking pride in delivering products that meet the highest expectations.
Honor Heritage by protecting the integrity of Mama’s products, recipes, and brand reputation through disciplined quality systems.
Balance innovation and growth with respect for proven processes and standards.
Nurture Relationships by building strong, trust-based relationships across plants, departments, regulators, and external partners.
Coach and develop teams through clear expectations, accountability, and support.
Other related tasks, as necessary to drive results and support the business.