Quality Specialist

About the role

Force of Nature (FON) is a category-disrupting brand that has quickly become the fastest-growing brand in meat. Founded to accelerate the creation of a global regenerative supply network, we are revolutionizing the industry to create positive returns for land, animal welfare, communities, and consumers. As the Quality Specialist, you will play a pivotal role in commercialization activities by applying your highly detail-oriented skillset to ensure products meet FON quality and regulatory standards.

You will develop and maintain product quality and food safety technical specifications for new and existing products, collaborating with co-processor Quality Assurance teams and supplier partners to strengthen new product development, drive regulatory and quality compliance, and ensure product consistency. This role involves providing guidance throughout product and process development, conducting regular product quality reviews, end-of-shelf-life evaluations, and on-shelf label audits to ensure label accuracy and compliance with FON standards and regulatory requirements. You will also support the incorporation of consumer feedback into continuous improvement initiatives, monitor quality incidents, lead CAPA (Corrective and Preventative Actions), and enhance supplier oversight.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development, organization, and maintenance of product technical specifications with meticulous attention to detail for new and existing products.
• Collaborate closely with product innovation, marketing, sales, food safety, and suppliers to accurately capture and document product requirements into clear technical specifications.
• Review and validate product claims, ensuring all specifications meet or exceed regulatory requirements.
• Develop and manage an organized, company-specific ingredient database for inputting formulations and generating accurate Nutrition Facts Panels on demand.
• Collaborate on the creation of internal guidance documents and processes to ensure consistent compliance with state, federal, and international regulations.
• Serve as the regulatory nutrition labeling specialist, providing nutritional guidance.
• Spearhead FSIS Label submissions and approvals, including during product development stages.
• Develop and maintain an organized system of Generic and Official USDA Label approvals along with relevant supporting documentation.
• Support ongoing product testing programs (chemical, physical, microbiological, and nutritional) and manage third-party laboratory results.
• Collaborate on incident investigations, documentation, scorecards, and CAPAs with internal and external FSQA and suppliers.
• Track, trend, and report product quality deviations, test result anomalies, vendor non-conformances, and maintain the Product Quality scorecard.
• Partner with Food Safety, Product Development, and Marketing to evaluate product acceptability and develop CAPA plans for out-of-specification results.
• Co-lead product quality evaluations and end-of-shelf-life testing sessions.
• Collaborate on systems for receiving, organizing, and distributing Certificates of Analysis (COAs) with co-processors.
• Prioritize and manage projects according to Product Marketing timelines to support timely delivery of quality compliance and specifications responsibilities.
• Conduct gap analyses, identify process improvements, and implement efficiency initiatives across quality systems.
• Assist with the identification, writing, and implementation of internal quality system SOPs and best practices.
• Monitor industry and regulatory trends related to food safety and quality.
• Build scientific and technical expertise to solve a wide range of food quality and safety issues.

Requirements

• Proven ability to review complex technical and regulatory inputs and organize them into efficient, practical, and user-friendly systems.
• Comprehensive meat and poultry product knowledge, including development and commercialization concepts and methodologies.
• Demonstrated ability to excel in a hands-on, fast-paced entrepreneurial/startup environment.
• In-depth knowledge of:
  • Product Quality/Food Safety for high-risk products and processing environments.
  • Testing methodologies for claims validation.
  • Quality Assurance and control processes and workflows.
  • Meat and poultry product-specific quality and regulatory knowledge (dietary supplement ingredients and regulations preferred).
• Strong understanding of:
  • HACCP/FSMA principles.
  • Program leadership skills.
  • Cross-functional team leadership skills.
  • Retail product life-cycle management.
  • FDA/USDA Food labeling regulations.
  • Meat and Poultry facility engineering/technologies/process design.
• Demonstrated self-starter with an active passion for positive change, including processes, skills, and technology.
• Desire to constantly expand and improve skills and knowledge base.
• BA/BS degree in a related field (Food, Nutrition, Meat, or Animal Science) plus 4-6 years of relevant experience. Extensive and directly applicable professional experience within the meat industry may be considered in lieu of the formal education requirement.

Skills

• Exceptional attention to detail with a proven track record in listening, interpreting, and accurately documenting technical requirements, specifications, and stakeholder input.
• Highly effective communicator, conveying structured information, projects, or investigation details in a clear, concise, and organized fashion.
• Regularly interacts with colleagues or customers up to the technical leadership level.
• Collaborates with others to achieve objectives and ensure information flow.
• Effectively presents information and responds to questions in both one-on-one and group settings.
• Operates with the highest level of integrity and is widely trusted.
• Participates in and provides support to team and cross-functional projects, impacting overall team effectiveness.
• Networks with key contacts outside own area of expertise and builds relationships with senior-level stakeholders.
• Dedicated to exceeding the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers.
• Advanced understanding of standard project management methodologies and requirements.
• Ability to plan, estimate, organize, and monitor projects, keeping multiple projects on track financially, creatively, and in accordance with deadlines.
• Understands trends and emerging challenges of the customer, market, and industry.
• Applies business and project understanding to focus efforts.
• Demonstrates excellent knowledge of the FON product mix, supply base, and retail operations.
• Ability to maintain an entrepreneurial/scrappy mindset to efficiently achieve business goals.
• Enthusiastic about the company and has unquestioned credibility with the entire team.
• Adheres to FON values and beliefs in every interaction with employees, partners, and customers.

Physical Requirements / Working Conditions

• Must be able to read and interpret recipes, numbers on scales, perform basic math, and judge color, consistency, and placement of materials for quality control.
• Travel, including overnight trips, may be required.
• Tasks in operating manufacturing facilities and product inspection in warehouse operations, all under adverse conditions (hot, cold, wet, elevated situations, etc.).
• Must be able to occasionally lift and carry up to 60 lbs.
• Ability to physically perform general office requirements.
• Passion for an active health and wellness lifestyle.

Proficiencies

• Expert understanding of Google and Microsoft Office applications (Gmail, Drive and Docs, Excel, Word).
• Experience working with Process Planning, Project Management, ERP, and/or QA-related software.
• Advanced proficiency with web-based specification systems.