DIRECTOR OF FOOD SAFETY & QUALITY chez Opal Foods

Opal Foods is searching for an established senior leader to oversee Opal Foods' Food Safety, Quality, Biosecurity, and Farm Regulatory Compliance programs.

Role Description/Summary

The Opal Foods Director of Food Safety & Quality will have operational responsibility for leading, developing, and implementing the company’s initiatives related to Food Safety, Quality, Biosecurity, and Farm Regulatory Compliance.

Essential Job Functions – Must be able to perform these tasks with or without reasonable accommodations.

Food Safety & Quality Leadership

• Serve as Opal Foods’ subject matter expert for Food Safety, Quality, Biosecurity, and Farm Regulatory Compliance.
• Lead customer-facing FSQA programs and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders.
• Monitor industry, SQF, and FSMA trends to anticipate and address changes or new requirements, including product traceability.
• Develop and implement KPIs to measure FSQ performance in collaboration with the Operations and Supply Chain departments.
• Promote process improvements through performance data analysis and root cause investigations.
• Work closely with Opal Compliance Officer to address process deficiencies at Opal locations and overall.

Regulatory Compliance & Program Oversight

• Ensure regulatory compliance and audit readiness across all Opal site locations.
• Maintain, verify, validate, and update plant food safety and quality programs, including GMPs, HACCP, SQF, and environmental monitoring.
• In cooperation with Supply Chain and Customer Support, develop and maintain processes for tracking recalls and other compliance requirements.
• Update programs in accordance with new SQF editions and communicate changes to all relevant parties.
• Conduct internal audits and inspections of Opal facilities and customer distribution centers, ensuring timely corrective actions.
• Collaborate with external auditing bodies to create audit schedules and assist sites in preparation.

Team Development & Training

• Lead, mentor, and support FSQ team members to ensure operational excellence.
• Develop and implement training and orientation for management, employees, and departments to ensure in-depth understanding of food safety and quality programs.
• Recruit, interview, and onboard FSQ personnel.
• Provide resources and guidance to processing, QC, and distribution teams for compliance and continuous improvement.

Reporting & Communication

• Prepare accurate and detailed reports of findings, recommendations, and corrective actions.
• Communicate effectively with all stakeholders to ensure alignment with FSQ initiatives.

Other Responsibilities - Other duties will be assigned as needed to support operational initiatives, activities, and needs.

Required Qualifications 

1. Bachelor’s degree in food science or related area of study. (High School Diploma or equivalent combined with extensive professional work experience may be considered in lieu of degree)
2. Minimum of 10 years’ progressive work experience in FSQA
3. Verified ability to read, write, and speak at a technical level in English
4. Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)
5. Previous experience developing and working in FSQA processes and systems
6. Ability to travel overnight to operations in other states as needed based on operational needs.

Preferred Qualifications 

1. Previous FSQA Director or Manager level experience highly preferred
2. Previous experience working in the shell egg industry and/or food processing preferred.
3. Previous experience in SQF systems highly preferred.

Previous experience working closely with USDA, FDA, and similar regulatory agencies is preferred.