Manager, Maintenance - 1st shift

This position reports to the Plant Manager and is based in Seabrook, New Jersey. The Quality Assurance Manager oversees product quality, safety, and production-related issues, including team supervision and cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Manage daily department operations, including production scheduling, work assignments, employee supervision, and policy administration.
• Prepare performance evaluations, counsel employees, and document disciplinary actions or recognition.
• Resolve employee issues and ensure compliance with company policies, GMP, HACCP, food safety, and security standards.
• Oversee the sanitation department, ensuring cleanliness across production and warehouse areas, and improve processes as needed.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Maintenance, Production, Supply Chain, Warehouse, and Finance teams.
• Review Food Safety & Quality reports and manage audits (customer, 3rd party, FDA, USDA, Organic, SQF), acting as the plant contact for corrective actions.
• Address consumer complaints, perform trend analysis, determine root causes, and manage product holds or recalls.
• Monitor financial performance, including labor and materials budgets.
• Ensure product quality from start to finish and oversee employee training, including SQF-related programs.
• Supervise sanitation procedures and employees, and taste-test products as required.
• Mentor and manage direct and indirect reports, including recruiting, training, and developing personal growth opportunities.
• Set strategic goals, evaluate trends, define objectives, and assess outcomes.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree (B.A./B.S.) or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 5–8 years of QA/Food experience in a manufacturing environment, with direct report management.
• Technical understanding of food safety, including HACCP, GMP, and manufacturing operations.
• SQF, HACCP, and PCQI certifications required.
• Knowledge of microbiology and product formulation preferred.
• Ability to apply statistical concepts to problem-solving and manipulate data in spreadsheets.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with analytical ability to use laboratory equipment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in the food/beverage industry.
• Professional quality certifications (e.g., ASQ).
• Experience managing customer, USDA, FDA, Organic, and SQF audits.
• Report-writing experience.
• Excellent organization, time management, and multitasking skills.
• Proven ability to direct, coach, and train others.
• Consultative, influential, strategic thinking, and problem-solving skills.

Physical Requirements & Working Conditions

• Frequent: Talking, hearing, standing, walking, climbing stairs, stooping, bending, crouching, pushing/pulling, lifting up to 50 lbs, and operating machinery/equipment. Exposure to wet/humid conditions and temperature fluctuations.
• Occasional: Squatting, kneeling, reaching above/at shoulder height, wearing a dust mask, confined entry using LOTO, and exposure to toxic/corrosive chemicals.
• Vision: Close, distance, color, and peripheral vision (with or without correction) to detect obstacles in a fast-paced production environment.
• Hearing: Normal audio range (with or without correction) with exposure to machinery, forklift traffic, and other industrial noise.

Pay

$114,000 – $171,000 plus annual bonus, depending on experience and location.