Director of Quality

Full-time - Senior

Horse Cave, KY

Food Manufacturing

About the position

The Quality Director provides strategic direction and leadership to Quality Teams across the Horse Cave site. Oversees all aspects of food safety, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance within the site. This role involves ensuring development and implementation of the quality systems, ensuring that products meet established standards, and driving continuous improvement initiatives. The director collaborates with cross-functional teams, including production, procurement, and R&D, to maintain and enhance product quality and safety and create alignment and commitment to our Food Safety Programs and initiatives to maintain the highest standards of food quality, safety, and compliance.

Responsibilities

• Ensure development and implementation of quality assurance policies and procedures to ensure the consistent production of safe and high-quality food products.
• Conduct routine quality audits and inspections of products and facilities to identify opportunities for ongoing improvement and streamlining.
• Ensure compliance with internal and external quality standards (e.g., FDA, USDA, HACCP, ISO).
• Collaborate with customer service, sales, and marketing to address quality-related concerns ensuring robust, sustainable corrective actions are implemented.
• Collaborate with suppliers and internal teams to establish and maintain quality and safety standards for incoming ingredients and materials.
• Ensure development and implementation of food safety programs, including HACCP and GMP.
• Support investigations into quality or safety issues, including product recalls and provide technical guidance to the teams and ongoing development in risk assessment principles.
• Oversee coordination of regular audits and inspections of site production facilities to ensure they meet industry and company standards.
• Ensure proper documentation and reporting of food safety practices.
• Work closely with Food Safety Leaders to develop and implement protocols for handling food safety incidents and product recalls, if necessary.
• Stay updated on industry regulations and standards.
• Ensure all products meet local, national, and international regulatory requirements.
• Liaise with regulatory agencies during audits and inspections.
• Lead, mentor, and develop the quality assurance and food safety team on quality and food safety protocols and best practices to promote a culture of quality throughout all manufacturing sites.
• Identify areas for improvement in production and quality systems.
• Implement new technologies and methodologies to enhance product quality and operational efficiency.
• Work closely with Supplier Quality team to ensure raw material quality is maintained.
• Partner with R&D and commercialization teams to develop and launch new products with quality standards in mind.
• Identify opportunities for continuous improvements and cost savings while maintaining product quality and safety.
• Build strong partnerships across departments, including sanitation, production, R&D, regulatory, and supply chain to align quality initiatives with organizational goals.
• Monitor quality and safety performance and lead action/resolution planning across site.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Microbiology or other related science field.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in quality within the food industry.
• Manufacturing production/operations experience desired.
• Previous experience working in a food manufacturing facility.
• Excellent leadership skills including previous experience successfully leading and developing managers and teams.
• Strong knowledge of food safety regulations and industry standards.
• Knowledge and/or certification in FSMA, HAACP, GFSI, PCQI.
• Strong interpersonal skills and collaborative approach is required.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills to evaluate data and make sound decisions.
• Experience working with emulsions/suspensions and SAP preferred.
• Must be able to travel up to 10-15%.