HEAD OF FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

About the role

The Head of Quality Assurance & Food Safety at JBS Prepared Foods leads all aspects of quality, food safety, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement across the Prepared Foods business unit. This leader develops and executes enterprise-wide quality and food safety strategies to ensure regulatory compliance, protect the company's brands, and drive operational excellence.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership: Develop and execute the strategic vision, goals, and roadmap for Quality Assurance and Food Safety. Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of quality and food safety professionals while fostering a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and operational excellence. Partner with executive leadership to align quality and food safety initiatives with overall business objectives. Provide leadership and direction for cross-functional initiatives involving Operations, Engineering, R&D, Procurement, and Supply Chain. Serve as the company's senior subject matter expert on quality and food safety matters.

• Quality Assurance Management: Establish, maintain, and continuously improve quality systems, product specifications, standards, and procedures for products, ingredients, and packaging. Oversee inspection, sampling, analytical testing, and verification programs to ensure compliance with company, regulatory, and customer requirements. Monitor and report Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and quality metrics to drive performance improvements and informed decision-making. Ensure effective corrective and preventive action (CAPA) processes are implemented throughout the organization.

• Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance: Lead the development, implementation, and ongoing enhancement of food safety programs, including HACCP, sanitation programs (SSOPs), good manufacturing practices (GMPs), environmental monitoring programs (EMPs), and GFSI-recognized certification schemes. Ensure compliance with USDA, customer, and other applicable regulatory requirements. Maintain readiness for regulatory, customer, and third-party audits across all facilities. Lead responses to food safety incidents, product quality concerns, recalls, and crisis management activities when necessary.

• Continuous Improvement & Innovation: Utilize data analytics and trend analysis to identify opportunities for quality, food safety, and operational improvements. Drive enterprise-wide continuous improvement initiatives focused on reducing defects, improving process control, and strengthening food safety culture. Stay current on emerging regulations, technologies, industry trends, and best practices to continuously evolve quality systems and programs. Support innovation and commercialization efforts by ensuring quality and food safety requirements are incorporated into new product development processes.

• External Relations & Stakeholder Management: Serve as the primary liaison with USDA, state regulatory agencies, industry associations, and other external stakeholders. Maintain productive relationships with key customers, suppliers, auditors, and regulatory officials. Represent JBS Prepared Foods at industry events, professional organizations, and customer engagements as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Food Safety, Quality Assurance, or a related field strongly preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in Quality Assurance and Food Safety within the food manufacturing industry required.
• Minimum of 5 years of senior leadership experience managing multi-site quality and food safety programs strongly preferred.
• Deep knowledge of USDA, HACCP, GMPs, SSOPs, environmental monitoring programs, and GFSI standards.
• Demonstrated success leading regulatory inspections, customer audits, and third-party certification programs.
• Experience leading quality and food safety programs within a multi-plant prepared foods or protein manufacturing environment.
• Strong leadership, organizational, and change management capabilities.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation communication skills.
• Able to travel up to 75% of the time to plants and HQ.