What are the responsibilities and job description for the Head of Quality Assurance position at Farmer Focus?
Who We Are and What We Do
Farmer Focus's mission is to promote and protect generational family farms by shifting farm-level decision-making and chicken ownership back to farmers and empowering them to farm the way they know is best. We are committed to consistently producing 100% organic and humanely raised chicken that is better for people, the planet, and animals. Our culture is rooted in servant leadership, and we live by our Farmer Focus CARES values : Community, Accountability, Respect, Excellence, and Stewardship.
The Head of Quality Assurance is responsible for leading the Quality Assurance teams to ensure that all Farmer Focus products meet the highest standards of food safety, quality, and regulatory compliance. Reporting to the Head of Operations, this role provides oversight of plant-level QA Managers fostering a collaborative approach to achieving excellence in food safety, quality, and operational standards.
This role is critical in aligning company-wide QA strategies with regulatory requirements and customer expectations while driving continuous improvement initiatives and fostering a culture of accountability and excellence.
Key Responsibilities
- Oversee the development, implementation, and maintenance of Quality Assurance programs, ensuring adherence to USDA, and customer requirements.
- Partner with Live Operations and Compliance departments to ensure quality standards and regulatory compliance in all areas.
- Act as the subject matter expert on food safety, regulatory compliance, and quality systems, providing guidance across cross-functional teams.
- Provide leadership and direction to Plant QA Managers and the Compliance team, ensuring consistent application of food safety and quality standards across all facilities.
- Develop and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the effectiveness of quality and compliance programs, identifying and driving opportunities for improvement.
- Lead the response to customer, regulatory, and third-party audits, ensuring timely and effective resolution of findings and implementation of corrective actions.
- Manage compliance with organic, humane, and other certification standards, ensuring alignment with company values and regulatory requirements.
- Collaborate with Operations, Engineering, R&D, and other departments to enhance product quality and ensure the hygienic design of facilities and equipment.
- Plan and organize training activities to promote a deep understanding of food safety and quality standards across the organization.
- Investigate and resolve quality and compliance issues, including non-conformance incidents, customer complaints, and product recalls.
- Drive the implementation of continuous improvement initiatives related to HACCP, GMPs, and other preventive controls.
- Provide mentorship, coaching, and professional development opportunities for team members, fostering a culture of growth and accountability.
Qualifications :
Work Environment :
Farmer Focus is committed to the principles of equal employment and to complying with all federal, state, and local laws providing equal employment opportunities, and all other employment laws and regulations. It is our intent to maintain a work environment that is inclusive and equitable, free of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation based upon an individual's age, race (including traits historically associated with race, which includes hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists), color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, sexual orientation (including transgender status, gender identity, or expression), pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation, and related medical conditions), physical or mental disability, genetic information (including testing and characteristics), military status (including status as a uniformed servicemember, a veteran, or dependent of a servicemember), or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws. Farmer Focus is dedicated to the fulfillment of this policy regarding all aspects of employment, including but not limited to recruiting, hiring, placement, transfer, training, promotion, rates of pay and other compensation, termination, and all other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.
