Director, Food Safety and Quality Assurance

Pittsburgh, PA

Company Overview

Chicken of the Sea is an iconic American brand that was founded in 1930. Today, Chicken of the Sea enjoys broad distribution across all major retail channels, with growth opportunities in foodservice and outside the U.S. Besides its eponymous brand, Chicken of the Sea also sells Genova and King Oscar premium seafood products.

Chicken of the Sea International (COSI) has been wholly owned since 2000 by Thai Union (TU), the largest global producer of ambient seafood. Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods is a sister U.S. company that focuses on frozen and chilled seafood sales. Other iconic seafood brands in the TU Global portfolio include John West, Mareblu, and King Oscar. Under the leadership of CEO Thiraphong Chansiri, Thai Union has more than tripled its revenue to over $4 billion annually and has an aggressive growth agenda.

Chicken of the Sea International operates under the common corporate vision, mission and values of Thai Union, an industry leader in sustainable fishing practices and manufacturing processes that capture the freshness, nutritional value, and sensorial experience of seafood. The global organization lives by the 6 deeply held values: Passionate, Humble, Respectful, Responsible, Collaborative, and Innovative.

COSI is an organization that is very proud of its heritage. First established as VanCamp seafood company more than 100 years ago (1914), the company celebrates its story as one of the oldest food companies in the country that is still in operation. The company is currently undergoing a significant business transformation aimed at accelerating business growth.

Overview of the Role

Join the Chicken of the Sea brand as our Director, Food Safety and Quality Assurance. In this pivotal role, you will lead the refinement and execution of protocols aimed at ensuring that all COSI processes and products align with our company's stringent safety and quality benchmarks, as well as relevant regulatory mandates. Your responsibilities will include leading a team in vetting and granting pre-approval to co-packer facilities for COSI production, overseeing adherence to established standards and specifications across Company operations, co-packer facilities, and warehouses, and devising and implementing corrective measures when necessary. Additionally, you will play a crucial role in partnering with our Senior Manager of Regulatory Affairs and Nutrition. This individual ensures compliance with nutritional and packaging label regulations, and also manages consumer correspondence pertaining to COSI products to ensure timely and effective resolution of inquiries and concerns.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of Food Safety and Quality Assurance (FSQA) programs, ensuring alignment with company objectives, customer requirements, and regulatory requirements.
• Serve as the organization's FSQA leader and subject matter expert, championing a culture of food safety, quality assurance, compliance, and continuous improvement across all business functions and supply chain partners.
• Oversee the Quality Assurance team at our domestic factory to ensure consistent compliance with food safety, regulatory, customer, and product quality requirements while supporting manufacturing performance and continuous improvement.
• Foster strong partnerships with quality teams across international operations to promote consistency in food safety and quality programs, exchange best practices, and leverage organizational expertise.
• Lead the design, governance, and ongoing enhancement of quality management systems, food safety programs, policies, specifications, SOPs, and work instructions to ensure compliance with FDA, FSMA, HACCP, customer, and all regulatory requirements. Ensure current standards and specifications are effectively implemented and maintained. Lead the evaluation and potential implementation of strategic regulatory and trade programs, including VQIP.
• Direct company-wide food safety and quality initiatives, including product traceability, supplier quality management, audit readiness, corrective and preventive action (CAPA) programs, sanitation verification, product disposition processes, and continuous improvement efforts.
• Provide strategic oversight of non-conforming product management, including products holds, investigations, risk assessments, disposition recommendations, and escalation of significant food safety or quality concerns. Effectively manage product holds at the Georgia Canning factory to provide timely resolution and mitigate business impact where possible. Provide regular updates to key stakeholders and leadership teams through Monthly QC/Prod Reports, Consolidated Audit Reports, Plant Audit Reports, and Monthly QA Hold Reports.
• Serve as the primary liaison with regulatory agencies, industry associations, process authorities, certification bodies, and external auditors regarding food safety, thermal process validation, compliance matters, and quality system requirements.
• Partner with Senior Manager of Regulatory Affairs and Nutrition who manages the Consumer Affairs staff, to review new or revised letters, and track and recommend action on consumer claims as necessary.
• Provide oversight of production inspections, warehouse audits, and product compliance verification programs to ensure adherence to product specifications.
• Develop and lead a high-performing Quality Assurance organization by establishing clear objectives, developing talent, driving accountability, and fostering professional growth.
• Effectively manage the Quality Assurance budget, ensuring effective allocation of resources.
• Lead food safety incident response and product recall preparedness activities.
• Develop and update procedures for product tracing; audit product tracing program and ensure compliance with FDA regulations.

Requirements

Education

• A 4-year Bachelor of Science degree in Food Science, or closely related discipline, from an accredited program is required. A Master of Science degree in Food Science, or closely related discipline, is highly desirable. Other valuable educational qualifications are:
• Seafood HACCP Training
• Seafood Sensory Training
• Canned Salmon School, sensory examination
• Labeling of FDA Regulated Food Products (AIB International)
• Thermal Processing Course (Technical)

Experience

• 10+ years of experience in shelf stable and ready-to-eat seafood manufacturing industries in a quality or food safety focused role.
• Excellent working knowledge of seafood products regulation, including HACCP, GMPs, sanitation, standards of identity, and intentional adulteration of foods.
• Experience in sensory evaluation of foods.
• Double seam experience, food packaging and container integrity evaluation experience.
• Excellent communication, analytical, presentation and writing skills.

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, stand, communicate (typically by talking, listening, writing, and typing), move around the office to various locations for meetings and in-person gatherings, and reach or carry materials with arms and hands.

Moreover, the employee is required to operate telephones, computers and other standard office equipment. Employee may, on occasion, be required to lift up to 35 lbs.

Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties and responsibilities of the job.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer of Minorities, Females, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities.

Thai Union / Chicken of the Sea International is an equal opportunity employer. We prohibit discrimination against any applicant or employee based on any legally recognized basis, including, but not limited to: veteran status, uniformed service member status, marital status, race, color, religion, gender identity, sex (including pregnancy), age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information or any other consideration protected by federal, state or local law. Our commitment to equal opportunity employment applies to all persons involved in our operations applies to all aspects of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, discipline and termination.

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