Food Safety & Quality Assurance Manager – Food Manufacturing

Food Safety \& Quality Assurance Manager – Food Manufacturing

Reports to:

Vice President of Operations

Location:

Williamstown, NJ (Onsite)

Join a Growing Food Company with Iconic Brands

About Violet Foods

Violet Foods is a private equity-backed food company bringing together some of America's most recognized tomato brands, including

Don Pepino®

,

Sclafani®

,

Fattoria Fresca®

, and

Muir Glen®

. With more than a century of manufacturing heritage, we are building a best-in-class food company focused on

operational excellence, food safety, continuous improvement, and long-term growth.

As we continue to invest in our brands, manufacturing capabilities, and people, we're looking for leaders who want to help shape the future of our company.

Our Williamstown, New Jersey manufacturing facility is at the heart of that vision, producing premium tomato products for retail, foodservice, natural, and private label customers throughout North America.

The Opportunity

We're looking for an experienced

Food Safety \& Quality Assurance Manager

with a proven track record of leading Food Safety \& Quality programs in a food manufacturing environment to join our leadership team

at the Williamstown manufacturing facility

.

Reporting directly to the Vice President of Operations, this role serves as the senior Food Safety \& Quality leader for the facility, responsible for building and continuously improving our Food Safety \& Quality systems while partnering across the organization to ensure products consistently meet the highest standards for safety, quality, regulatory compliance, operational performance, and customer satisfaction.

In addition to leading quality at our Williamstown manufacturing facility, this role provides

Food Safety and Quality leadership across Violet Foods' contract manufacturing (co-packer) network

, ensuring consistent quality standards across both internally manufactured and externally produced products.

Success in this role requires more than technical expertise. We're looking for a

collaborative leader

who enjoys developing people, partnering with Operations, solving problems, and continuously improving how work gets done. The ideal candidate understands that the strongest food safety and quality systems are built through

teamwork, accountability, disciplined execution, and leadership by example

throughout the organization.

This is a highly visible leadership position that works closely with Operations, Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, Procurement, Engineering, and Product Development to help drive operational excellence while protecting the integrity of our brands.

At Violet Foods, Quality is a

strategic business partner—not a compliance function.

Success in this role requires someone who can influence decisions, build strong cross-functional relationships, and drive operational excellence while maintaining the highest standards of Food Safety and Quality.

If you're energized by

building teams, improving processes, and making a lasting impact

in a growing organization, we'd love to hear from you.

What You'll Do

• Lead and continuously improve

the site's Food Safety \& Quality Management System.

• Develop, coach, and mentor

the Quality team while fostering a culture where Food Safety \& Quality are shared responsibilities across the organization.

• Build strong partnerships with Operations

to solve manufacturing challenges, improve product quality, enhance operational performance, and exceed customer expectations.

• Champion a culture

of food safety, accountability, continuous improvement, and operational excellence across the organization, including our manufacturing facility and contract manufacturing (co-packer) network.

• Ensure compliance

with HACCP, FSMA Preventive Controls, GMPs, SSOPs, regulatory requirements, customer specifications, and company quality standards.

• Oversee quality

throughout raw material receiving, production, packaging, laboratory operations, and finished goods.

• Partner with Operations and Sanitation

to verify sanitation effectiveness and maintain a hygienic manufacturing environment.

• Ensure environmental monitoring and preventive control verification programs

are effectively executed.

• Lead customer, regulatory, organic certification, and third-party audits

while maintaining year-round audit readiness.

• Provide Food Safety \& Quality leadership for Violet Foods' contract manufacturing (co-packer) network

by supporting supplier qualification, quality agreements, performance monitoring, audits, corrective actions, and ongoing compliance with customer, regulatory, and organic certification requirements.

• Serve as a trusted business partner

across Operations, Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, Procurement, Engineering, and Product Development to ensure quality objectives support broader business goals.

• Lead customer and consumer complaint investigations

, root cause analysis, corrective actions (CAPA), and preventive improvement initiatives.

• Analyze quality data and operational performance

to identify trends, eliminate recurring issues, and improve manufacturing results.

• Lead supplier quality initiatives

in partnership with Procurement to improve raw material and packaging performance.

• Provide quality leadership

during the annual fresh-pack tomato harvest and other critical manufacturing periods.

What We're Looking For

This position is intended for an experienced food manufacturing quality leader with demonstrated success leading Food Safety \& Quality within a manufacturing facility. Experience in other highly regulated industries may be valuable, but candidates should have demonstrated success leading Food Safety \& Quality within a food manufacturing operation.

• Five or more years

of progressive Quality Assurance or Food Safety leadership experience within a food manufacturing facility.

• Demonstrated success leadin

g, developing, and mentoring quality professionals.

• Demonstrated experience partnering with Operations

to support day-to-day production activities within a food manufacturing environment.

• Strong working knowledg

e of HACCP, FSMA Preventive Controls, GMPs, food safety systems, regulatory compliance, and quality management principles.

• Experience leading

customer, regulatory, and third-party food safety audits within food manufacturing operations.

• Experience in canned foods,

tomato processing, fruit and vegetable processing, acidified foods, or other thermally processed food manufacturing is strongly preferred.

• Experience managing Food Safety \& Quality programs for contract manufacturers

(co-packers), including supplier qualification, quality agreements, audit management, and ongoing performance oversight, is highly desirable.

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills

with the ability to influence cross-functional teams.

• Self-motivated

with the ability to prioritize competing demands and thrive in a fast-paced, lean manufacturing environment.

• A collaborative leader

who enjoys coaching people, building relationships, solving problems, and driving continuous improvement.

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Chemistry, Food Engineering, or a related discipline is preferred;

equivalent experience in food manufacturing quality leadership will be considered.

• Comfortable working in a growing organization where flexibility, initiative, and a

willingness to roll up your sleeves

are essential to success.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to work throughout a manufacturing facility, including production, warehouse, laboratory, and outdoor receiving areas.
• Ability to stand, walk, climb stairs, and occasionally lift up to 25 pounds.

Compensation \& Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Annual performance bonus
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid time off and company holidays
• Professional development opportunities

Why Violet Foods?

This is more than a quality leadership position—it's an opportunity to

help build one of North America's premier Food Safety \& Quality organizations.

You'll work directly with senior leadership to influence key business decisions while helping shape the systems, culture, and people that will define the next chapter of Violet Foods.

In doing so, you'll make a lasting impact on our people, our products, and the future of the company.

If you're looking for an opportunity to build, lead, and make a lasting impact at a growing food company, we'd love to hear from you.