Vp Of Food Safety And Quality

The VP of Food Safety and Quality is responsible for overseeing and leading the development and implementation of Food Safety and regulatory compliance programs within the company for both domestic and international business. This includes ensuring compliance with Food Safety regulations and requirements at Federal, State, and local levels, as well as implementing Food Safety best practices across all aspects of the organization.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES include the following and other duties as assigned:
1) Understanding all relevant regulatory requirements concerning Food Safety & Quality, product labeling, and production processing procedures. This includes requirements by local, state, and federal government bodies and regulatory agencies, both domestic and Export.
2) Oversee all plant's HACCP, pre-requisite quality programs, and FSQA-related programs to meet internal, regulatory, and customer requirements, continuously improving existing Food Safety and Quality programs
3) Develop and implement a comprehensive Food Safety and regulatory compliance program within the organization for domestic and international businesses, to ensure compliance with all relevant Food Safety and labeling regulations and requirements.
4) Interface with all regulatory agencies, certification bodies, and customers to ensure compliance.
5) Lead Food Safety and Labeling compliance development at all stages of new product development.
6) Manage ingredient/packaging change control to ensure compliance with product labeling and conformance to customer specifications.
7) Develop and implement guidelines and procedures for Food Safety & quality control, product labeling compliance, and product specification conformance for internal needs and external customers.
8) Develop and maintain policies and procedures to ensure Food Safety at all stages of the product lifecycle, from sourcing to distribution. 9) Manage relationships with regulatory agencies and ensure prompt identification and resolution of regulatory issues.
10) Lead the creation and implementation of training programs for employees on Food Safety and regulatory compliance.
11) Drive continuous improvement in Food Safety and compliance performance through data, analytics, and other tools.
12) Identify and evaluate emerging Food Safety and regulatory compliance risks and develop appropriate mitigation strategies.
13)Conducting internal audits to assess the effectiveness of the organization's regulatory and safety practices.
14) Lead product regulatory compliance activities including but not limited to label analysis, and import permit application, for imported products to ensure compliance with US local, state, and federal regulations.
15)Collaborate with foreign importers/customers for product export analysis to ensure products comply with food regulations required by the importing country, this includes but is not limited to product formula, labeling, and micro-testing requirements.
16) Lead product specification and process compliance based on B2B customer requirements.
17) Lead and develop a program to comply with customer and 3rd party audits including GFSI level, HACCP, and specialty claims.
18)Represent the organization in industry associations and regulatory forums.
19) Maintaining high-quality production standards, to ensure that products meet regulatory requirements, the VP of Food Safety and regulatory must create production standards and develop methodologies to enforce those standards.
20) Developing and implementing quality control procedures, that are designed to detect any non-conformances and address them promptly.
21) Drive KPI for continuous improvement 22) Lead the Recall team in emergencies.
QUALIFICATIONS Bachelor's degree in food science, Food Safety, food microbiology, or a related field, required: advanced degree preferred. Typically have 12-15 years of related work experience, food production experience is required. Thorough knowledge of HACCP, GMP & SOPs, FDA, USDA, SQF, and other regulatory requirements related to Food Safety and labeling within the food manufacturing industry.
Experience in the regulatory requirements of import/export of Food products for countries outside the US.
Strong communication skills, as the VP will need to communicate effectively with internal teams, external compliance agencies, and customers.
Certification in HACCP and/or other Food Safety certifications may be preferred, e.g., GFSI audit.
Significant experience and success in developing relationships with customers which has led to growth and ability to resolve issues to mutual satisfaction.
Experienced in handling regulatory audits.
Leadership skills, focused on results, employee engagement, decision-making, teamwork, multitasking, and setting priorities within Quality Assurance
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
Physically able to conduct inspections and carry equipment used for inspections. Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
Must be able to lift up to 10 pounds at a time.