Director of Quality

Role Snapshot

Location: Santa Barbara, CA

Reports to: VP Manufacturing & Technical Services

Scope: Lead all Quality Assurance, Food Safety, Food Defense, Regulatory Compliance, Audit Management, and Continuous Improvement initiatives for a growing seafood manufacturing operation.

Environment: Seafood Processing / Food Manufacturing / BRCGS & GFSI-Certified Facility

This Role is For You If:

• You enjoy building and strengthening food safety cultures while leading high-performing quality organizations.

• You have experience managing HACCP, FSMA, GFSI/BRCGS programs, regulatory compliance, and third-party audits in a food manufacturing environment.

• You thrive in cross-functional leadership roles where you partner closely with Operations, Corporate Quality, Sales, and Technical teams to drive product quality and customer satisfaction.

• You enjoy utilizing data, KPIs, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement methodologies to enhance quality performance and operational excellence.

What You'll Do:

• Lead all plant Quality Assurance, Food Safety, and Food Defense programs.

• Drive BRCGS implementation, audit readiness, compliance activities, and third-party audit management.

• Establish quality strategy, continuous improvement initiatives, and annual quality goals that support operational and customer objectives.

• Develop and monitor KPIs, analyze trends, and implement sustainable process and quality improvements.

• Partner with plant leadership to resolve quality issues, manage product dispositions, and support daily operations.

• Oversee internal audits, external audits, laboratory testing programs, product evaluations, and regulatory compliance activities.

• Lead customer complaint investigations, corrective actions, training programs, and continuous improvement efforts.

• Support new product introductions, line extensions, validation activities, and documentation requirements.

• Manage key external service providers including pest control, sanitation chemical programs, and related quality vendors.

• Serve as the senior quality leader responsible for identifying risks and implementing preventive actions that protect consumers, customers, and the business.

Ideal Background (Partial List):

• Bachelor's Degree in Food Science, Biology, Chemistry, or a related scientific discipline.

• HACCP Certification required; seafood experience highly preferred.

• 5+ years leading Quality Assurance and Food Safety teams within food manufacturing.

• Demonstrated success managing GFSI-certified facilities and third-party audit programs.

• FSMA/PCQI certification or strong FSMA implementation experience.

• Proven experience with root cause analysis, process controls, statistical analysis, and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Strong leadership, communication, and team development skills.

• Experience working cross-functionally with operations, customers, suppliers, and corporate leadership teams.

• Bilingual English/Spanish is a plus.

About the Opportunity:

Our client is a recognized leader in premium seafood manufacturing and is seeking a strategic quality leader to elevate food safety, regulatory compliance, and quality performance across the facility. This role provides significant visibility within the organization and the opportunity to influence both plant-level execution and long-term quality strategy.

The Director of Quality will play a critical role in strengthening food safety culture, driving continuous improvement, ensuring audit excellence, and supporting business growth through world-class quality systems and customer-focused execution.

This position offers the opportunity to make a measurable impact on product quality, operational performance, regulatory compliance, and customer satisfaction while serving as a key member of the facility leadership team.