Director of Food, Safety & Quality (FSQ)

Company Description

For use in all Link Snacks Job Descriptions – North American and Globally.

At Link Snacks, we show up hungry, roll up our sleeves, plaid or otherwise, and dive straight into the hard work. We don’t hide from challenges; we hunt them down. We push harder, move faster, and take the kinds of big swings that built this business in the North Woods of Wisconsin four decades ago.

We’re everyday people who deliver extraordinary results. Innovation, creativity, and urgency aren’t buzzwords, they’re expectations. And just like the real protein snacks we make across our global house of brands—Jack Link’s®, Lorissa’s Kitchen®, Golden Island®, BiFi®, and Peperami® and KOOEE!® to name a few—there’s nothing artificial about us. What you see is exactly what you get: humble, gritty, passionate people who show up every day ready to not just be a participate in the meat snack industry that the Link Family created, but to move faster, innovate harder and keep raising the bar so high, the rest of the world needs a ladder just to see it.

Dominating this space across the world takes a team. A team that runs together, succeeds together, and celebrates together. A team that’s full of relentless energy and spirit that can only be fueled by one thing: a fist full of our delicious meat snacks.

Real Meat Protein. Real People. Real Results. THAT is Link Snacks.

Job Description

JOB DESCRIPTION SUMMARY

Food Safety and Quality leadership position for a large Ready-to- Eat, USDA Inspected facility. Sets expectations both the Food Safety and Quality (FSQ) staff and cross functional teams in delivering food safety and quality standards for industry leading, branded food products. Determines the overall direction, coordination, and evaluation of all quality systems as they relate to achieving corporate FSQ objectives and delivering outstanding consumer experience for JL products.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Executes the Food Safety and Quality plan to ensure compliance with regulations, product specifications and organizational standards
  • Develop and maintain HACCP, SSOP Prerequisite Plans and ensure compliance with 9 CFR, Chapter III, Part 416 – Sanitation, Part 417 – Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Systems. 
  • Maintain scientific supporting documentation and validation results. 
  • Manage the microbiological, chemical and organoleptic testing of both finished product and in-process product and sanitation confirmation.
  • Reviews results, determines product disposition & timely release. 
  • Ensures Listeria environmental monitoring and control program execution including corrective actions, record keeping, and reporting 
  • Develop, review, monitor, and maintain all ingredient and process control systems. 
  • Develop and maintain SQF program and leads organization through certification and ongoing maintenance of program.
  • Review, monitor, and maintain all ingredient and process control systems
  • Conduct a mock recall bi-annually to verify the effectiveness and accuracy of data gathering and record keeping functions. 
  • Acts as the technical resource for facility during trouble shooting or process changes.
• Establish and manage FSQ Laboratory sampling, testing and documentation.
  • Ensures methods of microbiological and chemical analysis are conducted correctly and Good Laboratory Practices are followed.
  • Maintains documentation, prepares reports and analyzes testing data from laboratory
• Ensure all state, local, and federal Food Safety regulatory issues are adhered to. 
  • Function as the liaison between Operations and the USDA. 
  • Communicate with USDA-FSIS concerning regulatory issues 
  • Responds to NR’s and maintains tracking and reports  
  • Monitors regulatory changes and responds accordingly.
• Manages non-conforming product or process issues.
  • Monitors incoming inspection of materials and manages deviations through the Supplier Corrective Action Reporting process.
  • Conducts consumer complaint investigation, corrective actions, record keeping, and reporting. 
  • Addresses deviations from expectations with attention to detail and urgency.
• Training and development
  • Actively involved with onboarding of Operations team members creating a strong foundational understanding of GMP’s and SSOP’s leading toward a commitment to a reliable Food Safety Culture.
  • Identifies, hires and develops FSQ team me