Manager, Supplier Food Safety and Quality Assurance

Job description

Senior Food Safety Manager is a role within the Food Safety & Quality organization, focusing primarily on WWGS Private Brands. This position is responsible for ensuring the safety, compliance, and continuous improvement of all food production sites that supply our private brand portfolio. The manager will lead a team focused on facility approvals, conduct rigorous due diligence and facility reviews, and manage corrective and preventive actions (CAPAs).

The role requires deep collaboration with cross-functional teams and proficiency in multiple digital platforms, including Foodlogiq, CMX1, and internal Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) tools. Candidate must have a proven track record leading Food Safety Professionals, utilizing soft skills, effective decision making, and metrics to drive improvements across an organization.

Key job responsibilities

1. Leadership Presence

• Demonstrated ability to drive performance within a food safety team
• Cross-functional networking across stakeholder business units to champion food safety
• Ability to present metrics rich data to teams and persuade an audience to support proposals.

2. Facility Approval & Due Diligence

New Facility Qualification

• Perform the end-to-end qualification of new food production sites for WWGS Private Brands, ensuring all regulatory, hygiene, and safety standards are met before any product is released.

Ongoing Due Diligence

• Maintain and update due diligence documentation for all existing production sites, including audits, certifications, and compliance evidence.

Risk Assessment

• Perform periodic risk assessments to identify potential hazards and develop mitigation strategies.

Onboarding Process

• Optimize and implement an efficient supplier onboarding workflow that integrates food safety criteria, facility qualification, and system data entry.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Work closely with Procurement, Supply Chain, Product Development, and Quality teams to align food safety requirements with procurement strategies and product launch timelines.

3. Facility Reviews & Inspections

On-Site Reviews

• Conduct comprehensive reviews at risk prioritized production sites to verify adherence to food safety standards, GMPs, and internal policies.

Audit Leadership

• Coordinate and lead internal and third party audits, incorporate findings, and ensure timely implementation of corrective actions.

Supplier Scorecarding

• Maintain a supplier scorecard system that captures performance metrics (e.g., audit results, CAPA closure rates, compliance status) and feeds into supplier selection and renewal decisions.

4. Systems & Tool Proficiency

Platform Management

• Become an expert user of Foodlogiq, CMX1, and internal Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) tools. Ensure all food safety data is accurately entered, maintained, and reported through these systems.

Process Optimization

• Advise on how to leverage these tools to streamline supplier onboarding, improve visibility into supplier performance, and automate routine due diligence tasks.

Data-Driven Decision Making

• Pull and analyze data from the platforms to generate insights, dashboards, and trend reports that support strategic decision-making.

5. Corrective & Preventive Actions (CAPA)

Incident Management

• Work closely with the Incident Management team to investigate and close out CAPAs resulting from food safety incidents, non-conformances, or audit findings.

Root Cause Analysis

• Lead root cause investigations, develop effective corrective actions, and verify effectiveness of preventive actions.

CAPA Tracking

• Maintain a centralized CAPA log within the appropriate system, ensuring timely closure and documentation of all actions.

6. Policy, Procedure & Compliance

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

• Develop, maintain, and enforce SOPs related to facility qualification, audit planning, and CAPA management.

Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure all activities comply with FDA, FSMA, USDA, and other applicable food safety regulations.

Continuous Improvement

• Champion a culture of continuous improvement through regular reviews of processes, metrics, and system capabilities.

7. Reporting & Communication

Executive Reporting

• Provide regular updates to senior leadership on key metrics (e.g., audit results, CAPA closure rates, supplier performance) through dashboards and written reports.

Cross-Functional Updates

• Deliver clear, data driven presentations to cross-functional teams to communicate risk status, audit findings, and improvement initiatives.

About the team

We build customer trust in our food safety and quality programs.

We do this through our long term vision, operational excellence, partnership with business stakeholders, and commitment to technology.

Internal job description