Director of Food Safety and Quality Systems

Phoenix, AZ, USA|

Job Overview

Benefits

Health Insurance

401(k) savings plan

Profit sharing

Paid Time Off

wellness programs

Continued education

Job Description

Shamrock Foods Company is a renowned and longstanding food industry leader with a rich history dating back to its founding in Arizona in 1922. This privately-held, family-owned and -operated Forbes 500 company has built its reputation on innovation, quality, and putting people first — including associates, customers, and families across the nation. Shamrock Foods is committed to upholding its founding family’s values, summarized by the motto to 'treat associates like family and customers like friends.' This dedication to a people-centered culture creates a supportive environment where employees can thrive and grow, supported by highly competitive benefits, educational opportunities, and robust wellness programs.

The company is actively seeking a Director of Food Safety and Quality Systems to lead, develop, and continuously enhance its enterprise-wide food safety and quality programs. This pivotal leadership role is responsible for ensuring compliance with an extensive range of regulatory frameworks such as FSMA, HACCP, SQF, and GMP. The Director will work closely with division quality leaders to design and implement policies and procedures tailored to meet regulatory demands and customer expectations while fostering a culture of quality excellence and operational efficiency.

The role involves overseeing the development and maintenance of food safety plans through extensive hazard evaluation, preventive controls, and verification of their effectiveness in alignment with FSMA requirements. Candidates will be expected to remain up-to-date with FDA, USDA, PMO, CFR, and FSMA regulations, acting as the subject matter expert for Shamrock divisions. The Director will act as a co-host for regulatory inspections and audits, coordinate multi-facility SQF certification processes, and spearhead audit standardization across the enterprise to ensure transparency and compliance.

In addition to regulatory compliance, this position is integral to supplier quality management by conducting vendor reviews and ensuring alignment with food safety protocols. It interfaces with product development teams to support new product formulation and label compliance, reflecting its holistic approach to quality management.

Strategic initiatives include partnering with IT/IS functions to integrate scalable Quality Management Systems (QMS) and delivering comprehensive training programs to enhance food safety and quality assurance knowledge across the company. The Director also plays a crucial role in quality management review meetings, using data-driven insights to foster continuous improvement.

This role requires a forward-thinking leader with considerable expertise in dairy, meat, seafood, and edible oils manufacturing, preferably with direct management experience. A proactive mindset and willingness to work flexible hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays, are essential to meet the dynamic demands of the department. Travel requirements are approximately 20%, adding a dynamic dimension to the leadership scope.

In summary, Shamrock Foods invites qualified professionals to join a company that values tradition, innovation, and its people. The Director of Food Safety and Quality Systems is more than just a compliance overseer — it is a strategic leader shaping the future of food safety and quality at a celebrated enterprise. Candidates will find a rewarding opportunity to work with a company that not only prioritizes regulatory excellence but also empowers its workforce with premier benefits like health insurance, paid time off, 401(k) savings plans, profit sharing, and significant career development opportunities. Join Shamrock Foods for a career that blends legacy with growth and impact in the food industry.

Job Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in food science, microbiology, chemistry, or related field
Minimum 10 years of experience in food safety and quality assurance
At least 3 years of direct management experience
Knowledge of regulatory compliance with USDA, FDA, CFR, PMO
Experience implementing and managing third-party auditing schemes including GFSI, SQF
Expertise in dairy, meat, seafood and edible oils manufacturing including UHT processing
Ability to evaluate regulatory requirements and ensure compliance
Willingness to travel 20% or more
Flexibility to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed

Job Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Chemistry, or related field required
Master’s degree preferred
10+ years of experience in food safety & quality assurance
3+ years of direct management experience
Working knowledge of regulatory compliance with USDA, FDA, CFR, PMO and implementing and managing third-party auditing schemes (GFSI, SQF)
Demonstrated expertise in Dairy, meat, seafood and edible oils manufacturing and processing including UHT manufacturing
Ability to review regulatory requirements and evaluate compliance, and experience with regulatory inspections
20% plus travel required
Must be flexible and willing to work the demands of the department which may be subject to evenings, weekends and holidays

Job Duties

Develop Food Safety Plan by conducting and documenting facility hazard evaluation/analysis, developing and implementing preventive controls, and verifying plan effectiveness against FSMA requirements
Maintain GMP requirements to current good manufacturing practices (cGMPs)
Remain current and serve as division SME on all mandated food safety regulations, laws, policies and procedures of the FDA & USDA as mandated by the PMO, CFR & FSMA
Ensure that all Shamrock divisions are audit ready and serve as the co-host of regulatory inspections
Serve as multi-facility SQF Practitioner developing and validating SQF program procedures and policies
Drives simplification and standardization of audit process and execution across Shamrock Enterprise to ensure compliance with new and emerging regulatory standards and requirements
Coordinate all regulatory, customer, and third-party audits
Visit and confer with representatives of ingredient and packaging suppliers to obtain information related to vendor quality standards
Ensure vendor management program includes quality and food safety review for all materials
Work with R&D in the development of new product formulations and label compliance review
Establish and maintain enterprise quality management systems, policies and procedures that enable Shamrock to comply with regulatory requirements and current regulatory expectations
Develop and maintain FSQA training for Shamrock Foods Company (Set annual training requirements and training frequencies)
Develop and maintain Shamrock vendor management program and policies, including auditing, performance monitoring and inspection readiness programs
Interface directly with division QA leaders to assure cross functional alignment of goals and objectives ensuring compliance and realization systems related best practices
Partner with IT/IS to develop and integrate a QMS roadmap that allows for scaling of systems to ensure continued compliance and growth of our business
Act as an expert resource and provide expertise, support, and guidance to internal and external partners in resolving complex food safety and product quality challenges and solutions for potential compliance risks
Participate in a monthly Quality Management Review meeting (QMR) to review specific set of quality and compliance metrics to state of control and drive targeted actions for continuous improvement
Other duties as assigned