Regional Food Safety & Quality Manager-WI/IL

About the Role

This 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 in Lake Mills, Palmyra, Whitewater/Elkhorn, WI, and Grant Park, IL. This includes shell egg grading/packing plants and liquid egg breaking facilities. The 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.

Responsibilities

• Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance
  • Provide regional oversight of food safety systems for shell egg and liquid egg operations, including raw and pasteurized products.
  • Ensure compliance with USDA FSIS, FDA (Egg Safety Rule), APHIS, state regulations, and applicable animal food regulations.
  • Lead development, implementation, and maintenance of HACCP, Preventive Controls, SSOPs, GMPs, Sanitation, and Environmental Monitoring Programs.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Travel to all assigned locations on a regular basis.
  • Assist the VP, FSQ with projects as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Quality, Food, or Biological Sciences or equivalent experience is preferred.
• SQF certification (required within 6 months of employment if not already held).
• HACCP, ASQ, PAACO, and Internal Audit/Water Operations certifications (preferred but not required).
• 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, Pharmaceuticals, or related product safety and quality programs.

Skills

• Must be a hands-on self-starter with effective communication skills (written and verbal).
• Ability to train stakeholders and motivate employees to work within company parameters.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Thorough knowledge, or ability to attain thorough knowledge, of Food Safety Systems.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word and Excel; experience with Microsoft Access, PowerPoint, and Outlook preferred.
• Informal leadership skills and fluency in Spanish preferred.
• Ability to interact with individuals from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.
• Willingness to work a flexible schedule, including on-call after normal work hours, weekends, and extended hours as needed.

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, 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 (PPE) will be required during certain working conditions.
• Employees must comply with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) due to working in a food manufacturing environment (e.g., hairnets, clean clothes).