Food Safety Manager

GU Energy Labs is a family-owned market-leading global sports nutrition brand, and we are looking for a Food Safety Manager to join our team!

The Food Safety Manager is an integral part of the Quality and Regulatory team at GU Energy Labs. Reporting to the Director of Quality Assurance & Regulatory Compliance, the Food Safety Manager is responsible for Food Safety, quality control, and compliance associated with our full line of sports nutrition products. This role works to ensure our products meet or exceed current FSMA and Dietary Supplement guidelines. The Food Safety Manager partners with many other members of the GU Crew to assist with training and compliance and having excellent written and verbal communication skills is a must. The ideal candidate has 7+ years of Quality and Food Safety experience in the food or supplement industry and is enthusiastic about developing Food Safety, Quality, and Compliance programs that actively contribute to a culture of continuous improvement. 

Our ideal candidate also connects with GU’s core values of Athleticism, Accountability, Innovation, Collaboration, Longevity, and Love.

This is an on-site position and will be required to work from our Berkeley HQ.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develops, implements, and maintains the GU’s Food Safety Programs (Food Safety Plan, Food Defense Plan, HACCP, etc.)
• Conducts Food Safety Audits (GMP, Vulnerability Checks, Glass and plastic checks, etc.) as needed and promptly addresses corrective actions.
• Performs internal audits on current practices (including documentation) as required to ensure compliance, identify gaps, and implement continuous improvements as needed.
• Create and periodically update QA/QC policies and procedures as needed.
• Responsible for investigating the root cause analysis, resolving the Food Safety issues, and documenting the incidents appropriately using Safefood 360 or other QMS platforms.
• Manage and monitor employee training programs to meet the GMP requirements (onboarding and periodic refresher training on GMP, SOP & SSOPs).
• Responsible for the verification and validation of the in-process preventive controls.
• Partners with the Director of Quality Assurance & Regulatory Compliance to ensure compliance with all GU product documentation in an ever-changing regulatory environment.
• Responsible for Quality and Compliance of the approval process, including but not limited to Raw Materials, Finished Products, and Copacker Finished Products.
• Collaborates with the Director of the Manufacturing and Maintenance staff to establish a strong preventive maintenance program and ensure all documentation meets the cGMP requirements.
• Oversee the Sanitation program at GU with a proactive approach towards continuous product/process safety improvements.
• Responsible for the environmental monitoring program and partners with the production team on addressing non-conformances appropriately.
• Responsible for the Mock Recall drills (Traceability exercises) for GU Products.
• Partner with Quality and R&D teams to ensure document compliance for product batches made in the GU pilot facility.
• Oversee the documentation (record keeping) for all the ingredients, all finished products, FDA or other regulatory agency audit documentation, and testing results.
• Responsible for stability studies and periodic testing of all the GU products.
• Partners with the Director of QA & Regulatory in presenting the QA-KPIs to the management during the Food Safety Team meetings.
• Responds to routine customer inquiries and follows up promptly.
• Participates in training to update the skill set related to the job and career development symposia, industry and governmental groups, and conferences.
• Represents GU and its interests when working with regulatory bodies and customers.
• Other duties as required or assigned to support business needs.

SKILLS/QUALIFICATIONS

• 7+ years of Quality and Food Safety experience in the food or supplement industry.
• Expertise in US regulatory requirements required.
• Master’s degree required in Food Science or a similar major preferred.
• PCQI certification is desired.
• Knowledge of or experience with the following is preferred.
• HACCP, FSMA, 21 CFR Part 110/111/101/117, Kosher, and other regulatory issues
• GFSI, GMP, GFCO, Vegan, and Organic certification implementation experience
• Experience with internal/ third-party audits (NSF, AIB, etc.) 
• Well organized with excellent judgment and strong creative problem-solving skills.
• Quick analytical thinker; comfortable with ambiguity and change.
• Effective decision-maker with the ability to work well under pressure.
• Occasional time with employees in the plant during morning or evening shifts required.