Description

Reporting to the FSQA Manager, the FSQA Systems Superintendent leads the implementation, maintenance, and verification of food safety and quality systems at the Mundelein facility. The role translates program requirements into consistent practices, reliable records, effective training, and sustained corrective action across production shifts. It partners with Operations, Sanitation, Maintenance, Warehouse, R&D, Procurement, and Regulatory to identify risks and strengthen process controls.

The FSQA Manager retains overall departmental management and resource allocation. This position owns assigned systems and provides technical oversight across shifts; routine inspections, sampling, and production checks are performed by designated shift personnel. Direct-report assignments and backup coverage are established by the FSQA Manager.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Maintain assigned HACCP, sanitation verification, GMP, allergen, environmental monitoring, food defense, food fraud, pest-control verification, and foreign-material programs. Assess implementation and coordinate updates with program owners and the FSQA Manager.

• Develop and maintain controlled SOPs, forms, work instructions, and supporting specifications. Coordinate change review, approval, implementation, obsolete-document removal, and associated training.

• Coordinate validation studies and maintain scientific and in-plant support with qualified personnel. Verify ongoing implementation separately from validation and escalate changes requiring reassessment or additional support.

• Administer assigned SafetyChain/QMS workflows, forms, permissions, notifications, and reports. Verify record completeness, data integrity, review status, and follow-up of overdue or unacceptable results.

• Verify timely review of HACCP, SSOP, GMP, and other designated food safety records. Ensure discrepancies receive documented evaluation, correction, and escalation under applicable procedures.

• Maintain the environmental monitoring and sanitation verification schedules. Review ATP, aerobic plate count, allergen, and environmental results as applicable; trend findings and coordinate investigation, corrective action, and follow-up verification.

• Verify execution of pre-operational inspection and post-maintenance release programs, including equipment condition, required cleaning/testing, affected-product assessment, and documented authorization before restart.

• Verify implementation of foreign-material, label, and incoming-material controls through record review and floor observation. Work with responsible departments to resolve recurring failures.

• Coordinate product-hold tracking and reconciliation of physical and electronic status. Verify lot identification, disposition documentation, authorized release, and escalation of aging holds. Hold duration shall not compromise disposition decisions.

• Coordinate traceability exercises and mock recalls, including source-to-finished-lot relationships, quantity reconciliation, distribution records, and closure of identified gaps.

• Lead assigned complaint and nonconformance investigations. Collect evidence, establish affected scope, facilitate root-cause analysis, track corrective and preventive actions, and verify effectiveness before closure.

• Manage the internal audit schedule and coordinate SQF, customer, and regulatory audit readiness. Maintain evidence and corrective-action responses; represent FSQA within delegated authority. Coordinate other certification requirements when applicable.

• Develop role-specific training and knowledge assessments. Verify competency through observation, practical demonstrations, and follow-up; support food safety culture initiatives and identify reinforcement needs.

• Prepare and present FSQA performance reports. Translate trends into prioritized actions and escalate unresolved risks, resource needs, and recurring failures to the FSQA Manager.

People Leadership and Operational Coordination:

• Supervise and develop assigned FSQA personnel through coaching, clear expectations, performance feedback, training, and issue escalation. Clarify responsibilities with shift leadership to maintain consistent execution.

• Coordinate schedules, PTO, overtime, and backup coverage for assigned direct reports within approved staffing and budget limits. Support broader shift coverage when delegated by the FSQA Manager.

• Provide technical support across production shifts and communicate unresolved issues through documented handoffs. Participate in investigations or urgent response outside the normal schedule when required.

• Coordinate QA supply inventory and purchasing for assigned programs within approved authority. Review needs against program requirements and departmental priorities.

• Partner with Warehouse on product identity, hold status, storage-condition records, and discrepancies in cooler/freezer inventory. Warehouse retains responsibility for inventory execution and location accuracy.

Decision Authority and Escalation:

The superintendent may stop an affected activity, place or request an immediate product hold under site procedures, require corrective action, and escalate food safety or quality concerns. Product release, disposition, and production restart shall follow documented authorization limits; matters outside those limits require approval from the FSQA Manager or Director. The role shall not override holds, approve unsupported exceptions, or commit the organization to external responses beyond delegated authority.

Performance Expectations:

Performance is evaluated against targets established with the FSQA Manager, including timely and complete record review; overdue CAPA and verified effectiveness; audit-finding closure and recurrence; sampling-plan completion and follow-up; training competency; hold-record completeness; traceability reconciliation; and complaint trends. Measures shall evaluate control effectiveness and shall not discourage reporting of concerns or pressure premature product release.

Requirements

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in food science, microbiology, biology, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.

• At least five years of quality assurance or food safety experience in food manufacturing, including demonstrated responsibility for food safety systems, investigations, audits, or program verification.

• At least two years of supervisory or team-lead experience, including coaching and coordinating work across functions or shifts.

• Demonstrated knowledge of HACCP, GMPs, sanitation verification, traceability, allergen controls, root-cause analysis, and corrective-action effectiveness.

• HACCP training appropriate to assigned responsibilities, or completion before independently performing duties that require that training.

• Ability to analyze data, write clear procedures and investigation summaries, maintain accurate records, and use electronic QMS and reporting tools.

Preferred Qualifications:

• USDA-regulated meat or poultry experience, particularly RTE/RTC operations, with familiarity with lethality, stabilization, and raw/cooked segregation controls.

• SQF practitioner or internal-auditor training and experience supporting GFSI/customer audits; applicable training must be completed before assuming any formally designated role.

• Experience administering SafetyChain or a comparable QMS, coordinating validation studies, evaluating environmental trends, and applying SPC or continuous-improvement methods.

Core Competencies:

Sound judgment and timely escalation; clear written and verbal communication; respectful coaching and cross-functional collaboration; evidence-based problem solving; organization and follow-through; and the ability to prioritize competing demands while maintaining food safety and record integrity.

Work Environment and Physical Requirements:

Work includes office-based systems activities and regular production-floor verification in refrigerated areas, including temperatures around 38°F, wet conditions, concrete floors, and moving equipment. Duties require walking and standing during inspections, reviewing electronic and written records, visually evaluating product and equipment, and occasionally handling cold, wet, or frozen products. Required PPE and site safety practices apply.

The schedule must support verification across production shifts, with occasional off-shift or weekend work based on operational needs. The balance of office and floor work shall reflect the systems responsibilities of this role. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions.

Food Safety Responsibility:

Maintain and promote Kilcoy’s food safety and quality expectations. Promptly report and escalate concerns, support employee reporting, follow applicable USDA, customer, and SQF requirements, and complete assigned training. Additional FDA or certification requirements apply where relevant to the assigned activity.