Job Details

Senior Director, Food Safety & Quality Assurance

Join to apply for the Senior Director, Food Safety & Quality Assurance role at Thistle

This range is provided by Thistle. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

Base pay range

$164,435.00/yr - $178,978.00/yr

About The Role

The Senior Director of Food Safety & Quality Assurance will lead Thistle's enterprise-wide food safety and quality strategy, ensuring the highest standards of safety, compliance, and quality across our rapidly scaling direct-to-consumer ready-to-eat food operations. As we expand our geographic footprint and production capacity, this role is critical to maintaining our reputation for delivering safe, high-quality plant-based meals.

How You'll Make a Difference

Strategic Food Safety Leadership

• Develop and execute a comprehensive enterprise-wide food safety and quality strategy aligned with business objectives
• Establish a food safety culture framework across all organizational levels
• Lead crisis management and food safety incident response
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance food safety performance while supporting operational efficiency

Regulatory Compliance & Risk Management

• Ensure compliance with FDA, USDA, state, and local regulatory bodies
• Maintain current knowledge of evolving regulations and proactively adapt programs
• Lead interactions with regulatory agencies, third-party auditors, and industry organizations
• Develop comprehensive risk assessment and management programs for food safety hazards

Quality Management Systems

• Design and implement quality management systems across all facilities
• Oversee industry-related certification programs and customer-required standards
• Establish quality metrics, KPIs, and performance monitoring systems
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective action programs for QA issues

Fresh Food Manufacturing Excellence

• Develop specialized programs for ready-to-eat food safety, including cold chain management, pathogen control, and shelf-life optimization
• Implement allergen management programs for plant-based foods with cross-contact considerations
• Oversee environmental monitoring programs and facility design standards
• Drive sanitation and hygiene programs for DTC food delivery

Supplier & Co-Packer Management

• Establish strategic supplier qualification, verification, and monitoring programs
• Lead co-packer approval and oversight processes aligned with Thistle's standards
• Develop supplier partnerships supporting sustainable sourcing and organic certification
• Implement supply chain transparency and traceability systems

Organizational Leadership & Development

• Build, lead, and develop high-performing FSQA teams across multiple facilities
• Collaborate with cross-functional leaders in Operations, Supply Chain, Product Development, and Engineering
• Provide food safety expertise for new product development and market expansion