Job Description:
The Director of Quality is responsible for leading Midwest Co-Pack's Quality Assurance, Food Safety, Sanitation, Regulatory Compliance, and Quality Systems to ensure products consistently meet customer, regulatory, and company requirements. This position oversees the site's quality organization, laboratory operations, sanitation programs, customer quality initiatives, and quality management systems while partnering closely with Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Commercialization, and Supply Chain to support safe, efficient, and compliant manufacturing.
Responsibilities:
Food Safety & Quality Systems
- Lead and maintain the site's Food Safety and Quality Management Systems.
- Develop, implement, maintain, and continuously improve food safety and quality programs to ensure compliance with FDA regulations, FSMA, HACCP, GMPs, Preventive Controls, and customer quality requirements.
- Maintain quality manuals, specifications, standard operating procedures (SOPs), work instructions, quality documentation, and document control systems.
- Lead the Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) program, including root cause analysis, corrective action implementation, effectiveness verification, and continuous improvement.
- Manage product holds, deviations, non-conforming product investigations, and product disposition decisions.
- Ensure the facility maintains audit readiness and successfully completes FDA inspections, customer audits, and third-party food safety audits, including BRCGS certification.
Product Quality & Customer Quality
- Direct laboratory operations, testing programs, environmental monitoring, and quality verification activities.
- Ensure raw material, in-process, environmental, and finished product testing requirements are completed accurately and on time.
- Review quality data, customer feedback, and performance metrics to identify trends, risks, and improvement opportunities.
- Serve as the primary quality representative during customer visits, facility tours, technical meetings, commercialization activities, audits, and quality reviews.
- Support successful commercialization of new products while maintaining established quality standards.
- Develop and maintain strong working relationships with customer quality and technical teams through responsive communication, technical expertise, and professional representation of Midwest Co-Pack.
- Lead customer complaint investigations and ensure timely, accurate, and professional corrective action responses.
- Review customer specifications and quality requirements while partnering with Operations, Engineering, Commercialization, and Supply Chain to successfully launch new products and implement process improvements.
Sanitation & Certification Programs
- Direct the site's sanitation and environmental monitoring programs to ensure compliance with food safety and quality standards.
- Ensure sanitation verification activities, GMP compliance, and housekeeping standards consistently meet company, customer, and regulatory expectations.
- Manage specialty certification programs including USDA Organic certification through QAI, allergen management, gluten-free, CFR110, and other customer-specific certification requirements.
Leadership & Department Management
- Lead, coach, and develop Quality Technicians, sanitation personnel, and other direct reports.
- Establish departmental goals, priorities, staffing plans, and performance expectations aligned with business objectives.
- Conduct performance evaluations, provide coaching, and develop succession and employee development plans.
- Develop and deliver training programs related to food safety, GMPs, sanitation, quality systems, regulatory requirements, and customer standards.
- Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, customer focus, and operational excellence throughout the Quality organization.
Continuous Improvement
- Partner with Operations to reduce customer complaints, internal defects, product waste, rework, and quality-related downtime.
- Lead cross-functional root cause investigations and continuous improvement initiatives using structured problem-solving methodologies.
- Monitor quality KPIs and communicate trends, risks, and improvement opportunities to plant leadership.
- Support capital projects, equipment installations, and process improvements by ensuring food safety and quality requirements are incorporated into project design and implementation.
Performance Expectations:
1. Achieve established Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for food safety, quality, sanitation, customer satisfaction, and regulatory compliance.
2. Successfully maintain compliance with FDA regulations, FSMA, HACCP, GMPs, Preventive Controls, and customer quality requirements.
3. Successfully maintain BRC certification and USDA Organic certification while achieving successful outcomes during customer and regulatory audits.
4. Reduce customer complaints, internal quality defects, product holds, and quality-related waste through effective quality systems and continuous improvement.
Knowledge Skills & Abilities Required
To perform successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.
- Strong leadership, coaching, and employee development skills.
- Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills.
- Professional presence with the ability to confidently represent Midwest Co-Pack during customer meetings, facility tours, commercialization activities, audits, and regulatory inspections.
- Strong relationship-building skills with the ability to establish credibility and trust with customers, suppliers, certification bodies, auditors, and regulatory agencies.
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience with root cause analysis, CAPA, risk assessment, and continuous improvement methodologies.
- Thorough knowledge of FDA regulations, FSMA, HACCP, GMPs, Preventive Controls, sanitation programs, allergen management, environmental monitoring, and food manufacturing quality systems.
- Experience leading BRCGS certification, FDA inspections, customer audits, and USDA Organic certification programs (QAI or equivalent certifying body).
- Ability to interpret customer specifications and translate requirements into effective manufacturing quality systems.
- Ability to balance food safety, quality, customer expectations, and operational priorities through sound risk-based decision making.
- Strong organizational and project management skills with the ability to effectively manage multiple priorities.
- Experience with Microsoft Office applications, ERP systems, and quality reporting tools.
- Ability to analyze quality data, identify trends, develop meaningful KPIs, and communicate actionable business insights.
- Ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive improvements without direct authority.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality of operations, records, and proprietary customer information.
Education / Training / Certification \ License Required:
· Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, or a related field preferred. Equivalent food manufacturing quality experience will be considered.
· Minimum of three (3) years of quality experience in food manufacturing, including responsibility for food safety systems, regulatory compliance, customer quality, and personnel leadership.
· Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI) certification required or ability to obtain within one year of hire.
· Proficient knowledge of CFR110, Organics, and FSMA preferred.
· Experience supporting BRCGS certification, USDA Organic certification programs, FDA inspections, and major customer audit programs strongly preferred.
· HACCP certification preferred.
Physical Demands:
On the manufacturing floor the physical demands described are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. (Occasionally=up 33%, Frequently=34-66%, Regularly=more 66%) While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, talk, hear; use hands to grasp, manipulate and handle boxes, bags, pails, controls and supplies; walk; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel crouch, or crawl. Specific vision abilities required include close and distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
Work Environment:
While performing the duties of this job, the employee regularly works around food production equipment and moving mechanical parts and may occasionally work near cutting tools. The position is performed in a manufacturing environment where wet or humid conditions may be present due to routine cleaning and sanitation activities. Employees may have limited exposure to standard cleaning and sanitation chemicals used in food production. This role may require climbing ladders or stairs and working in areas where noise levels are moderate to high. Temperature conditions in certain production areas may be warm or cold due to equipment operation and the manufacturing process.
Although this is a fair and accurate description of the duties, knowledge, skills, abilities and working conditions of this position, it is not all inclusive.
Benefits:
· A 401k investment for your future
· Vacation time off earned from your 1st day of work!
· 8 paid holidays
· Advancement opportunities
· Health, Dental, Vision
Midwest Co-Pack Core Values
“Serving Customers, Supporting Each Other”
The following core values are the basis of our culture and the foundation of Midwest Co-Pack. We reflect these values daily in our attitudes, behaviors, and interactions with others both inside and outside of the company; in doing so our aspirations become reality.
Midwest Co-Pack exists to serve our customers, our business partners, our communities, and each other. Each has different needs, but are interconnected, and we recognize our responsibility to each.
We are a team. We are linked and responsible to each other. We communicate closely and openly. We transmit energy and enthusiasm. We recognize that diversity in opinions and experiences makes our team stronger.
No matter our position in the organization, we are accountable for our decisions and responsible for the outcomes. We find solutions, not excuses. We constantly strive to work in smarter, faster, and better ways. We take pride in our work.
We play to win. Winning in the market is the best measure of our success in delighting our consumers. We are driven by results and believe in excellence in all we do. We strive to be better today than we were yesterday.
At all times we demonstrate trustworthiness and ethics. We conduct our affairs in an atmosphere of mutual respect and dignity. We are genuine in our relationships and authentic to whom we are. We keep our promises.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $80,000.00 - $120,000.00 per year
Education:
- High school or equivalent (Preferred)
License/Certification:
- Driver's License (Preferred)
Work Location: In person
