Food Safety & Quality Specialist

Accountabilities: Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance: Own, maintain, and annually reassess the food safety plan and quality management system, including seafood HACCP importer requirements under FDA 21 CFR Part 123 and the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP), as applicable. Recall & Traceability Management: Maintain recall and withdrawal procedures, lead recall response when needed, coordinate hazard assessments and product classifications, manage FDA and customer communications, verify recall effectiveness, and conduct at least annual mock recalls with documented corrective actions. Documentation & Compliance Readiness: Maintain accurate, current, and easily retrievable product specifications, certificates of analysis (COAs), audit reports, import records, and other quality documentation. Keep systems audit-ready and translate regulatory changes involving food safety, traceability, labeling, and allergens into actionable requirements. Product Specifications & Lot Release: Manage product specifications from creation through version control, ensuring alignment across internal teams, manufacturers, and customers. Establish product-specific release criteria before first production and review COAs and production records for every lot before making and documenting hold or release decisions. Testing & Quality Verification: Define COA requirements based on product and hazard profiles, including histamine, water activity, pH, can seam integrity, and microbiological results where applicable. Coordinate accredited third-party laboratory testing, including shelf-life validation, and advise Sales, Marketing, and Product Development on quality and food safety matters. Supplier & Manufacturing Quality: Own approval, reverification, and audit programs for canneries, co-manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, and packaging suppliers. Review third-party certifications such as BRCGS, SQF, and IFS, and maintain supplier scorecards to monitor performance and drive improvement. Complaints, Corrective Actions & Claims: Partner with Customer Experience to investigate consumer and customer complaints, identify root causes, and ensure corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) are completed. Resolve manufacturing quality claims by documenting defects, assessing impact, and pursuing credits or replacement products while maintaining productive partner relationships. Audits, Reporting & Process Improvement: Prepare for and support customer, retailer, third-party, and regulatory audits. Report quality KPIs and recommend actions based on trends, develop clear standard operating procedures, and establish scalable processes that maintain quality as production volume grows. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with internal stakeholders and external partners to uphold food safety standards, communicate quality expectations clearly, and reinforce a culture of accountability, autonomy, and continuous improvement. Requirements Professional Experience: At least 5 years of experience in food safety or quality assurance, with direct ownership of a program rather than a supporting role. This is a senior individual-contributor position, not an entry-level opportunity. HACCP Expertise: Demonstrated experience writing or rebuilding a HACCP plan and maintaining it through verification, reassessment, and ongoing compliance. Required Certifications: Seafood HACCP certification and Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI) training, or the ability to complete both within the first 90 days. Recall Leadership: Hands-on experience leading or co-leading a product recall, market withdrawal, or comprehensive mock recall, including classification, regulator and customer communication, and effectiveness checks. Supplier & Co-Manufacturer Quality: Experience managing quality systems for co-manufacturers, contract packers, and suppliers, ideally including international manufacturing partners. Regulatory Knowledge: Strong working knowledge of FDA requirements for imported, shelf-stable foods, including FSMA, FSVP, preventive controls, traceability, labeling, and allergen requirements. Audit Management: Experience preparing for and hosting third-party, customer, and regulatory audits, with the ability to address findings and implement corrective actions. Documentation & Organization: Exceptional organizational skills and a strong attention to detail, with the ability to maintain extensive compliance records and manage documentation-intensive workflows. Communication & Judgment: Clear, professional written communication skills, with the ability to be specific, respectful, and firm when communicating quality standards and resolving issues with external partners. Technical Tools: Familiarity with quality, documentation, and operational systems. Tools used in this role include Notion, Google Workspace, FoodLogiQ, TraceGains, Cin7 for ERP and lot tracking, and Gorgias for consumer complaints. Preferred Industry Experience: Experience with seafood or canned goods, particularly histamine-forming species or low-acid canned foods. Better Process Control School certification is an advantage. Additional Preferred Qualifications: Experience as an FSVP qualified individual, familiarity with import entry processes, FDA holds, and customs documentation, and experience building quality programs within a smaller or rapidly growing brand. Education: A degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Chemistry, or a related discipline is an advantage. Languages: Spanish or another language spoken by manufacturing partners is a plus. Benefits Competitive salary package. Strong health benefits. Unlimited vacation policy. Fully remote work arrangement within the United States. High level of autonomy and ownership over food safety and quality programs. Opportunity to build and scale systems within a growing business. Collaborative working relationships across product development, customer experience, suppliers, and manufacturing partners. An inclusive hiring approach that welcomes candidates from diverse backgrounds and experiences.