The Vice President, Food Safety & Quality is the go-to scientific contact for industry members and other stakeholders seeking technical support, education, and insight related to all aspects of produce safety, quality, and related aspects of production, including organic production, indoor production, and pre- and post-harvest quality. The individual serves as the association’s subject matter expert on microbiological aspects of the full produce supply chain, contributing their expertise and perspective in a cross-functional fashion (e.g., as related to technology, sustainability, supply chain, etc.). While this is a highly technical and scientific position, the role requires one to exercise an expansive skill set grounded in communication, knowledge transfer, and customer service, serving the needs of individual members as well as the industry overall. The Vice President is a trusted source of information in this highly visible role where short-term requests and crises need to be balanced with long term strategies and objectives. The position contributes to the bottom line of the association through member recruitment and retention, and by monetizing technical knowledge and respect through education, training, and other initiatives. This role is also responsible for cultivating and maintaining relationships with researchers and academicians working closely to address challenges and scientific knowledge gaps for the industry.

Position Responsibilities

• Education and training – 30%
  • Responsible for oversight of global food safety training and educational content curation to ensure course offerings are relevant to industry needs and remain up to date with the most recent science and/or regulatory information.
  • Develop and execute against a global food safety training and education strategy based on input from member insights data, industry trends as well as global regulatory programs and standards to ensure the produce and floral industries have the educational tools needed to be successful.
  • Serve as a subject matter expert, providing technical content and review for educational initiatives, with the support of the Manager, Food Safety Programs.
  • Deliver training on a variety of technical topics including but not limited to produce safety and quality, recall readiness and Listeria as well as customized training for members when needed.
  • Coordinate the development of technical resources, and work with the education, marketing, and analytics teams to evaluate the impact of such programs and resources, leading to the identification and development of derivatives.
  • Identify grant opportunities in food safety and education to supplement and enhance association programs, assist in writing grant proposals, and manage grant reporting requirements.
  • Identify and pursue grants, sponsorships, partnerships, or other avenues of funding as needed to support global training and educational development efforts, in alignment with global food safety training strategy.

• Leadership- 30%
  • Actively cultivate an extensive and diverse network of technical experts and influential stakeholders across the industry, using these relationships for the benefit of members, the industry, and the association.
  • Serve as an internal resource across the association, providing prompt and clear responses to inform the associations educational, marketing, technology, and other initiatives.
  • Inspire and mentor budding produce industry professionals, including oversite of the Produce Immersion program with support from the Manager, Food Safety Programs.
  • Serve as an ambassador of the industry and association to academia, government, and the media, including serving as the primary liaison to related coalitions, appointee to technical committees and presenting at technical speaking engagements.
  • Provide support to the Food Safety Council by leading assigned subcommittees, technical work groups and taskforces on a variety of activities including the development of practical, science-based “best practice” guidance documents. Identify and execute strategies to raise awareness of such resources within the industry as well as other stakeholder communities.
  • Provide support to the Director, Food Safety Standards and Regulatory Compliance to evaluate and comment on the scientific and technical aspects of regulatory policies on behalf of the membership and the industry.
  • Develop and propose to the Chief Food Safety and Regulatory Officer long term strategies for the association’s global food safety and quality priorities based on horizon scanning of trends and industry knowledge gaps.

• Membership Consultation - 20%
  • Provide direct responses to individual member inquiries on all technical aspects of produce production, processing, and handling throughout the supply chain.
  • Analyze trends in technical requests to inform the development of strategies to meet members’ food safety, quality, and other technical needs in a way that is efficient and scalable.
  • Establish and implement a mechanism to connect industry members with practical, science-based services and solutions, either at the commercial or developmental phase.
  • Lead the review of members food safety plans (e.g., hazard evaluations, environmental monitoring programs, etc.) and provide technical input.

• Support Research and Innovation- 20%
  • Advocate for the research needs of the produce industry by influencing the development of public and private requests for research proposals (RFPs).
  • Champion research projects that will improve members produce safety, quality, and overall production/processing/distribution systems, by reviewing and prioritizing requests for research funding (e.g., CPS, SCRI etc.).
  • Serve as a liaison between the academic research community and the produce industry (e.g., by serving on grant advisory panels).
  • Provide technical consultation and insight to service providers.
  • Other duties as assigned.

Miscellaneous Position Information

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Master of Science (or comparable) degree or higher in microbiology, public health, food science, agriculture, or related scientific field with specific course work in food microbiology is required. Bioinformatics/ biostatistics, genomics, molecular biology, post-harvest physiology, organic, are a plus.
• At least 8 years relevant experience in produce safety/quality in industry, regulatory or academia (preference for at least 3 years working specifically for a produce company in a technical role):
  • Well versed in the hazards and risks associated with various production systems (pre-harvest, post-harvest, organic, controlled environment, etc.)
  • Comprehensive understanding of the elements of produce production, handling, and distribution that impact product quality and safety, such as the role of transportation, organic production, etc.
• Recognized by PSA as able to train, and/or recognized as an FSPCA lead trainer for PCQI and/or FSVP, with experience conducting innovative and effective training related to food safety, quality, and related issues.
• Able to translate complex and technical topics into relevant, actionable information in both written and oral form.
• Direct experience handling recalls, outbreaks, and related crises.
• Experience establishing common ground and achieving consensus within diverse groups of stakeholders.
• Media trained is a plus.
• Bi or multi-lingual, especially Spanish fluency, is strongly preferred.

Measures for Success

• Provides accurate, thorough, useful, referenced technical responses to members in a timely manner.
• Technical acumen and collaborative approach boost the visibility of and respect for technical resources developed by the association.
• Recognized by members and produce safety stakeholders as a trusted voice on produce safety and quality, as evidenced by requests to speak, train, publish, and contribute to visible initiatives.

Travel

Business related travel required on average 18 times per year.