Job Title: Plant QA Manager

Job Overview

We are seeking a results-driven Plant Quality Assurance (QA) Manager with specialized expertise in fresh meat processing and/or further processed smoked meats. This role is responsible for directing all plant quality assurance and food safety operations, ensuring strict compliance with USDA regulatory standards, and maintaining high-quality finished product specifications across slaughter, fabrication, or further processing lines.

Key Responsibilities

• Quality Systems & Safety Management: Oversee, implement, and continuously refine plant HACCP plans, SSOPs, GMPs, and comprehensive food safety management systems tailored to fresh pork/meat or smoked meat production lines.

• USDA & Regulatory Compliance: Act as the primary technical point of contact for USDA-FSIS inspectors; manage non-conformance reports (NRs), perform root-cause analysis, and submit timely corrective action responses.

• Smokehouse & Processing Oversight: Ensure exact monitoring of critical control points (CCPs) for further processed items, including cook temperatures, thermal processing schedules, smokehouse validation, curing, chilling, and packaging integrity.

• Fresh Meat Quality Standards: Monitor raw material receiving, carcass grading, trimming, and breakdown to ensure raw yield, temperature controls, freshness, and microbiological standards are consistently met.

• Audit Leadership: Lead internal and third-party food safety and quality audits (e.g., SQF, BRC, or other GFSI certification schemes) and ensure audit readiness at all times.

• Team Leadership & Training: Direct, mentor, and supervise plant QA technicians, food safety specialists, and floor inspectors. Conduct ongoing training for production staff on hygiene, cross-contamination prevention, and quality protocols.

• Sanitation & Microbiological Control: Partner with plant sanitation teams to oversee environmental monitoring programs (Listeria, Salmonella), pre-operational inspections, and equipment sanitation verification.

Qualifications & Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Meat Science, Animal Science, Biology, or a related scientific field.

• Experience: 5+ years of QA management or supervisory experience directly within a fresh pork, fresh meat slaughter/fabrication, or further processed smoked meats manufacturing facility.

• Certifications: HACCP Certification required; PCQI and SQF/BRC Practitioner certifications strongly preferred.

• Technical Knowledge: Deep working knowledge of USDA-FSIS regulations, thermal processing/smokehouse operations, microbiology, environmental monitoring, and CAPA methodologies.

• Key Competencies: Excellent leadership skills, strong analytical problem-solving abilities, and effective communication skills across both shop-floor teams and plant executive leadership.