Food Safety and Quality Assurance Manager

Food Safety and Quality Assurance Manager 

Mori is a fast-paced anti-food waste Series C startup on a mission to create “More Food, Less Waste”, by transforming the food, agriculture, and packaging industries. Leveraging the unique properties of a naturally derived silk protein, Mori creates an all-natural food ingredient and coating which slows down the spoiling process of perishable foods. With Mori Silk, we can fundamentally change the food system by reducing our reliance on plastic packaging, reducing food and packaging waste, and increasing efficiency across the supply chain. 

Our Values

• Operate with Care: We respect where food comes from and where it is meant to go.
• Practice Humility: We communicate simply and specifically.
• Do Good Work: We show the data and prioritize practicality.
• Anything, Anytime, Anywhere: We do whatever it takes to get the job done.

About the Role

You will advance Mori’s mission by ensuring readiness for new processes, suppliers, and co-manufacturers, while running and improving existing programs and systems. As a manager of programs and processes, you will not have any direct reports and will need to have a “roll up the sleeves” attitude to get the job done. You will partner with other Mori teams, such as Supply Chain, Procurement, Engineering, and Manufacturing to build Food Safety and Quality expectations into all programs and processes. This role reports into the Director of Food Safety and Quality. This is a hybrid position requiring an average of 4 days on site weekly, depending on specific tasks, with a primary focus on supporting our Boston, MA-based Pilot Plant. 

Location & Schedule

• Based in Hood Park, Charlestown, MA
• Hybrid Schedule: approximately 4 days in plant, 1 day remote and requires flexible hours to support plant activities (such as mid-shift, night or weekend coverage)
• Travel: up to 10%

What You Will Do:

• Ensure effective execution of Mori Food Safety and Quality Standards (“FSQ”) across operations including: process development and scale-up, contract manufacturing, suppliers, and distributors
• Manage FSQ activities at the Boston Pilot Plant, including: Reviewing CIP and CAPA records, EMP monitoring and microbiological swabbing/testing, Training GMPs and conducting internal audits
• Oversee the HACCP and Food Safety Program and preparing for SQF certification readiness
• Collaborate with cross functional team members to ensure clear protocols are in place and executed to support: Qualifying and on-boarding of new supplier partners, co-manufacturers, and distributors, Conducting production trials, First production approvals, Monitoring of on-going production
• Support in-house microbiological testing of finished goods and R&D samples
• Support routine quality activities such as supplier complaints; lot and code tracing; monitor holds; review plant problems
• Coordinate risk analysis and manage Corrective and Preventative Action Plans (CAPA)
• Enforce 3rd party and GFSI certification requirements within internal and external networks, maintaining all relevant certifications (Kosher, Halal, Organic)
• Ensure compliance with regulatory policies, SOPS, GMPS, and safety/health requirements
• Create and maintain reports, including but not limited to: quality data trending, information spreadsheets, and log spreadsheets
• Review certificates of analysis (CoA) from suppliers and contract manufacturers, QA/QC reports, and other quality documents
• Work with high-level technical and scientific personnel to learn about analytic issues, testing requirements, new product specifications which may include new processes/materials/suppliers
• Collaborate closely with the microbiology team on testing and food safety projects
• Represent FSQA on cross functional teams, providing project guidance and support
• Establish well-organized priorities and ensure team members understand expectations of the priorities and tasks
• As a startup, job duties at Mori are based on business needs and this role may be required to support additional tasks not listed here as needed

Who You Are:

Service and Solutions-Oriented - You bring a can-do attitude to all your activities and are dedicated to delivering excellence to customers and internal teams by focusing on finding a path forward together.

Effective Collaborator - You speak simply and specifically to ensure mutual understanding with coworkers from diverse scientific disciplines and non-technical backgrounds.

Team Player - You collaborate effectively with others, willing to take on any task and demonstrate flexibility in service aligned with Mori’s value to do whatever it takes to get the job done “Anything, Anytime, Anywhere” 

Detail-Oriented - You seek excellence in your activities, notice and report discrepancies, and maintain accurate records, reflecting your respect for quality and thoroughness.

Self-Motivated - You take initiative and can perform activities independently. You constantly seek ideas to improve services.

Flexible Contributor - You “Operate with Care” by rigorously applying food safety rules while thinking innovatively to overcome unique challenges, embodying the necessary adaptability required to meet customer and business needs. 

What You’ll Bring: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Chemistry, Microbiology or related scientific field
• Certifications: GFSI (can substitute work experience), PCQI and SQF
• 6 years industry experience in food, beverage or related field including HACCP/HARPC implementation/management experience
• 5 years experience with: Quality System Implementation, Working with external & internal auditors
• Knowledge and understanding of: Quality Systems, Auditing Protocols, FDA (FSMA) and USDA requirements, Sanitation programs, regulatory compliance, specification adherence, and other operational food safety and quality programs, Microbiological testing
• Direct experience with: Incident investigation, auditing, and monitoring procedures, Microbiological testing (desirable, but not required), Sanitary review and sanitary design (desirable, but not required)