Finding the right place to grow your career isn't (over) easy, so we're here to help by sharing a few reasons why the grass is greener at Vital Farms. We think you'll appreciate our focus on Conscious Capitalism, which drives business decisions that benefit all our stakeholders (leading to even better business results). You might be drawn to our innovative approach and refusal to settle for the "way things have always been done." Or you could find it exciting to grow your skills while working for an industry-leading brand. Whether you're into our values, our brand, or our egg-cellent puns, we hope you'll join our Crew and help us change the world 108 square feet at a time!

Your Role:

The Director of Food Safety and Quality Assurance is the Vital Farms leader and internal expert in all aspects of food safety and compliance. This individual is a trusted expert, flexible problem solver, and strong relationship-builder capable of influencing and implementing a food-safety culture and proper procedures to suppliers, team members and customers. The Director will provide leadership and technical, science-based expertise in food safety, quality assurance and regulatory compliance programs. The Director will ensure quality and food safety standards are met by analyzing and trending the results of internal QA, product, plant process documentation and regulatory compliance and third-party audits, as well as any associated documentation. The Director must collaborate with other members of production, QA, and management teams to study and improve compliance, processes, and areas, including but not limited to, SQF, internal auditing, document control, product specifications, food safety and HACCP Plans, prerequisite programs, regulatory requirements, customer/consumer complaints, sanitation, commercialization, supplier verification and management, recall and traceability, environmental monitoring. The Director will ensure a thorough and robust supplier program that is inclusive of all partners and co-manufacturers and that the program meets all relevant standards. The Director effectively collaborates across all functional lines internally, with external suppliers/co-manufacturers and with various government entities, while behaving as a brand ambassador of Vital Farms' core values. The Director of Food Safety & Quality Assurance is responsible for the overall maintenance of all programs related to food safety & quality assurance and reports directly to the Vice President of FSQA.

What You'll Do:

• Build and provide leadership to a crew of industry leading quality and food safety experts which scales with our growing business.
• Oversee the development and implementation of sustainable and scalable food safety and quality processes to meet Vital Farms' fast-growing needs.
• Evaluate operations, both internal and external, from a strategic level to ensure that products and processes meet all quality specifications and requirements.
• Identify high-level operational risks and drive mitigation strategies and continuous improvement.
• Ensure regular sampling and testing of products to ensure compliance to Food Safety requirements and Vital Farms standards.
• Collaborate with Supply Chain team to audit current and potential new contract manufacturing, warehousing and logistics relationships and ensure that they meet Vital Farms food safety and quality standards (e.g. HACCP, GMP, recall procedures, facility GFSI certifications).
• Ensure continuous improvement through audit of contract manufacturing and warehousing partners and assess compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Develop strong working relationships with key material suppliers, manufacturers and warehousing partners, and schedule period visits to ensure quality and food safety.
• Conduct highly disciplined, proactive research of federal, state, and local regulations applicable to ensure ongoing compliance with all company standards, policies, and procedures as well as applicable laws.
• Serve as point of contact and "quality person responsible" for packaging and labeling compliance, and all matters related to the FDA and other regulatory/compliance entities.
• Lead Vital Farms' response to matters such as product recalls, withdrawals, audit requirements, product quality evaluation and consumer complaint response, resolution, and tracking.
• Investigate and report food safety, food defense and food security issues to key stakeholders, internal business partners, and suppliers and make appropriate recommendations.
• Work effectively with co-mans, stakeholders, suppliers, customers, and regulatory agencies.
• Work collaboratively with cross functional partners to evaluate internal and external requirements in the spirit of continuous improvement.
• Build and model a food safety culture throughout the organization utilizing different methods and strategies to enhance food safety knowledge of all crew members.
• Work closely with ECS QA Manager and Leadership and partners to ensure compliance and enhance regulatory and SQF preparedness, stay current and up to date on any changes, and lead continuous improvement efforts.
• Effectively communicate with key stakeholders at all levels of the organization, as well as regulatory agencies when required.
• Oversee and manage implementation of food safety and quality training programs for all production and other relevant employees.
• Oversee all internal and external auditing.
• Ensure integrity of company food safety and quality data.
• Provide leadership to quality team crew while collaborating with functional areas throughout the business.
• Be on call outside of normal business hours during manufacturing runs to troubleshoot issues.
• Fully understand, exhibit, and embody Vital Farms core values.
• Serve as a brand ambassador, both internally and externally.

Necessary Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Operating knowledge of FDA, USDA, and State food safety regulations as well as HACCP, GFSI (SQF preferred), customer requirements, and various other certification agencies (such as organic).
• Operating knowledge working with co-manufactures and customers and how to perform and/or lead supplier audits.
• Creative problem-solving skills.
• Attention to detail, well organized, and able to juggle many projects at once.
• Comfortable in a fast-paced environment.
• Passionate about food safety and developing a food safety culture.
• Strong sense of servant leadership.
• Positive attitude and motivated by contributing to the overall success of the team
• Science base expertise in food safety, quality assurance and regulatory compliance
• Able to establishes strong working relationships with a variety of cross-functional teams
• Manages a team of FSQA professionals and partner with functional peers
• Excellent critical thinking and project management skills.
• In depth knowledge and understanding of working with developing requirements, and auditing co-manufacturers, suppliers, and partners to develop and execute finished goods that are rigorously reviewed for all food safety and quality aspects
• Ability to present information to the business and or public in a professional, concise manner.
• Ability to successfully lead teams to enable them to effectively perform.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment with facilities, regulatory agencies, and customers.
• Ability to understand and analyze issues involving food manufacturing, natural sciences, mathematics (including statistics), technical and legal documents.
• Ability to understand issues in relation to product manufacturing operations and their impact.
• Ability to develop or facilitate the development of and implement training programs that increase efficiency and ensured employee competency.
• Ability to help develop and/or execute strategic plans to meet departmental and organizational business KPI's while complying with regulatory and customer requirements.
• Willingness to travel: Approximately 25% - 50%. May be periods when travel peaks above.

What You Bring to the Table:

• 10+ years of experience in Food Safety and Quality Management preferred with strong regulatory and GFSI scheme understanding (specifically SQF)
• HACCP Certified, GFSI / SQF practitioner, PCQI, and other applicable certifications
• SQF internal auditing experience, audit certification preferable
• Holds a bachelor's in food science & technology or related field; Master's degree in a similar field is desirable
• In depth knowledge of shell egg applicable regulations and guidelines and experience in shell egg processing preferred
• Knowledge and experience with poultry and associated regulations and knowledge about broilers preferred
• Understanding of sampling, testing and verification processes within a manufacturing environment
• Oversee raw materials and specification retrievals from all incoming ingredients and food contact materials and verify they are sourced from suitable suppliers and specifications are completed.
• Oversee customer complaint procedure, reporting and action plans ensuring all items are addressed in a timely appropriate fashion by all relevant departments including product recall practice and procedures
• As minimum, advanced leadership role such as FSQA Manager or Director in food manufacturing in the CPG industry, overseeing all food safety, quality assurance & microbiological testing for (multiple) manufacturing facilities; director level experience preferred.
• Attention to detail: Strive for "Zero Defect" work product
• Curiosity: A drive to continuously learn and improve
• You're no hero – You know the power of teamwork and celebrate the work of others before your own.
• You give a sh*t – You believe in acting like an owner and making Vital Farms a place to be proud of.
• You raise the standards – You know growth can be hard, but you strive to improve yourself and others each day.
• You can walk in someone else's boots – You seek to understand other's viewpoints and think that you get to better answers by sitting on the same side of the table.

What's in it for You:

• Be part of a movement to bring ethically produced food to the table
• Work in a Mission-focused environment alongside passionate colleagues
• Competitive pay and benefits
• Companywide bonus program
• Generous retirement contributions
• Free eggs, butter, and ghee, along with friends and family discounts
• Fun team SWAG
• Learning and Development team dedicated to your growth