Regional Food Safety & Quality Manager-WI/IL

This Regional Manager will be over our Lake Mills, Palmyra, and Whitewater/Elkhorn, WI locations as well as our Grant, Park, IL location.

Summary 

The Regional Food Safety & Quality (FSQ) Manager is responsible for leading, implementing, and continuously improving food safety, quality, animal welfare, and biosecurity programs across multiple egg operations, including shell egg grading/packing plants and liquid egg breaking facilities. This role ensures compliance with USDA FSIS, FDA, state regulations, SQF certification, and customer-specific requirements while driving best-in-class performance aligned with industry-leading and retailer expectations. This position serves as a key technical and leadership resource for operations, corporate teams, regulatory agencies, auditors, and customers, with a strong focus on risk management, audit readiness, continuous improvement, and a proactive food safety culture.

Key Responsibilities:

Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance
Provide regional oversight of food safety systems for shell egg and liquid egg operations including farm pack as applicable, including raw and pasteurized products.
Ensure compliance with USDA FSIS, FDA (Egg Safety Rule), APHIS, state regulations, and applicable animal food regulations where inedible streams are present.
Lead development, implementation, and maintenance of HACCP, Preventive Controls, SSOPs, GMPs, Sanitation, and Environmental Monitoring Programs as applicable by facility.
Act as primary technical liaison with USDA FSIS inspection personnel and regulatory officials.
Support regulatory interactions, enforcement actions, NR responses, and corrective action development.
SQF & Certification Management
Serve as the regional owner for SQF systems across assigned facilities.
Ensure ongoing SQF certification readiness, including document control, internal audits, corrective actions, and management reviews.
Lead or support SQF audits, surveillance audits, unannounced audits, and customer audits.
Train site teams on SQF Code requirements and best practices.
Audit & Customer Expectations
Lead preparation and execution of third-party, regulatory, animal welfare, biosecurity and customer audits.
Ensure alignment with customer-specific standards, specifications, and “best in class” expectations.
Review audit findings, drive root cause analysis, and ensure timely and effective corrective and preventive actions.
Monitor and trend audit results, complaints, and key FSQ KPIs across the region.
Animal Welfare & Biosecurity
Provide oversight and verification of animal welfare programs in accordance with regulatory requirements, industry standards, and customer commitments (e.g., cage-free, Prop 12, UEP, AHC and customer-specific standards).
Support animal welfare audits and assessments at company-owned and contract farms.
Partner with operations, live production, and veterinary teams to ensure humane handling, egg collection practices, and documentation compliance.
Lead and verify biosecurity programs across farms and facilities to prevent disease introduction and cross-contamination.
Quality Systems & Continuous Improvement
Drive regional standardization of FSQ programs, procedures, and documentation.
Support product quality programs including specifications, defect reduction, shelf-life management, and continuous improvement initiatives.
Analyze data related to microbiology, complaints, deviations, and non-conformances to identify trends and risks.
Champion a strong food safety and quality culture through coaching, training, and leadership engagement.
Leadership & Collaboration
Serve as an integral member of site and regional leadership teams, providing food safety, quality, animal welfare, and biosecurity guidance to operations.
Provide functional leadership and mentorship to site FSQ managers, FSQ technicians, and quality teams.
Partner cross-functionally with Operations, Sanitation, Maintenance, Engineering, Live Production, Veterinary Services, Feed/Mill operations, and Supply Chain. 
Assure proper communication is delivered with escalation to the VP, FSQ as needed. 
Act as the designated Biosecurity Coordinator for assigned regions, with authority to enforce biosecurity practices and protocols.
Collaborate with Animal Welfare and Veterinary teams to integrate animal welfare, egg safety, feed safety, and biosecurity programs across farms, mills, and processing facilities.
Provide temporary oversight of processing activities and stakeholders in the absence of processing management, as needed.
Support capital projects, new product/process introductions, and process changes with FSQ risk assessments.
Participate in crisis management, recall readiness, and traceability exercises.
Represent company and industry associations as needed.
Travel to all locations assigned on a regular basis. 
Assist the VP, FSQ with projects as assigned. 

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and/or Experience

Bachelor’s degree in Quality, Food, or Biological Sciences or equivalent experience is preferred.
SQF (Required within 6 months of employment if not already held.)
HACCP 
ASQ, not required but nice to have
PAACO, not required but nice to have
Internal Audit 
Water Operations Certifications 
5 years of experience in egg processing or production or similar experience
At least 5 years of management experience and leadership duties
Experience in Food Processing or Pharmaceuticals or related product safety and quality programs

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities 

             
Must be a hands-on self-starter.
Effective communication skills both written and verbal.
Ability to train stakeholders.
Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
Thorough knowledge, or ability to attain thorough knowledge, of Food Safety Systems
Experience with Microsoft Word and Excel
Ability to motivate employees to work within Company parameters.
Ability to work at any Company area sites routinely.
Willing and able to work a flexible schedule including being on call after normal work hours, weekends, some work from home or extended hours on location as deemed necessary by Management.
Professionalism in appearance and work habits, self-organization, sanitation, management, teamwork, and techniques for efficient and cost-effective food production are stressed.
Prefer experience with Microsoft Access, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
Prefer informal leadership skills and fluent in Spanish.
Ability to interact with individuals from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.

Physical Demands

Stand and walk constantly; grip, grasp, push, pull, reach, bend, stoop, lift up to 10 pounds frequently; sit, climb, lift up to 50 pounds occasionally.

Work Environment

Frequently exposed to moving mechanical parts and water, and chemicals. Temperature is regulated for operations standards. Cooler temperatures occur in specific areas. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. Proper personal protective equipment will be required during certain working conditions. Employees are required to comply with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP’s) due to working in a food manufacturing environment (hairnets, clean clothes, etc.).