Food Safety & Quality Cooler Manager

The Food Safety & Quality Cooler Manager is responsible for providing leadership and oversight for all food safety and quality programs within Fresh Express cooling facilities, primarily in Salinas, CA and Yuma, AZ. This role leads a team of quality inspectors and a supervisor and ensures the consistent evaluation, documentation, and communication of raw product quality and food safety compliance.

This position is accountable for managing daily cooler operations related to food safety and quality, including staffing, scheduling, inspection execution, reporting, and data integrity. The manager ensures that all incoming and cooled product meets Fresh Express standards, applicable regulatory requirements, and customer expectations, while driving timely resolution of quality concerns and supporting continuous improvement efforts.

The Food Safety & Quality Cooler Manager also owns key facility food safety systems, including GFSI and customer audit readiness, environmental monitoring, compliance verification, and regulatory program execution. In addition, this role is responsible for leading food safety and quality culture initiatives and partnering cross-functionally with operations and other departments to identify opportunities, communicate risks, resolve issues, and strengthen overall food safety and quality performance.

Duties/Responsibilities

Food Safety Program Ownership:

• Lead and manage the facility food safety programs to ensure compliance with Fresh Express requirements, regulatory standards, and applicable GFSI scheme requirements.
• Maintain compliance with customer food safety expectations and support customer visits, audits, and follow-up actions as needed.
• Ensure regulatory compliance across cooler and cooling operations, including implementation and verification of required food safety programs.
• Manage and maintain organic certification for each facility, ensuring full compliance with program requirements and documentation standards.
• Ensure food safety records, investigations, corrective actions, and verification activities are complete, accurate, and audit-ready.
• Manage environmental monitoring and related verification programs, including Listeria, APC, sanitation, and other required sampling activities.
• Ensure proper collection of samples, documentation of results, timely investigation of findings, and effective corrective actions.
• Lead food safety culture initiatives that drive accountability, awareness, and consistent execution across departments.
• Lead internal, third-party, regulatory, and customer audits and visits, including preparation, participation, corrective action response, and follow-up closure

Quality & Cooler Operations Management:

• Oversee daily cooler quality operations, including inspection activities, staffing, scheduling, workload balancing, and shift coverage.
• Lead and develop quality inspectors and supervisory staff through coaching, training, performance management, and clear accountability.
• Ensure raw product and cooled product inspections are completed accurately, consistently, and in a timely manner.
• Verify timely and accurate reporting of inspection findings, product conditions, and quality concerns to appropriate teams.
• Review inspection data, identify trends, and communicate quality risks, recurring issues, and improvement opportunities.
• Assess supplier, grower, harvester, and raw material performance through routine data review and field-to-cooler feedback.
• Partner with operations, harvest, maintenance, sanitation, procurement, and other cross-functional teams to resolve quality issues and improve execution.
• Make or support product disposition decisions related to quality, food safety, and specification compliance.
• Escalate significant food safety or quality concerns in a timely manner and ensure appropriate containment and follow-up actions are taken.

Continuous Improvement and Systems Management:

• Analyze quality and food safety data to identify trends, root causes, and opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Drive corrective and preventive actions to address recurring defects, inspection gaps, audit findings, and process breakdowns.
• Maintain accurate systems, records, and databases used for inspection reporting, trending, and compliance verification.
• Develop, update, and implement cooler-related food safety and quality procedures, work instructions, and program requirements.
• Ensure employees are trained on applicable food safety, quality, organic, and inspection procedures and verify ongoing compliance.
• Monitor key performance indicators and provide regular summaries of cooler quality, food safety performance, and emerging risks.
• Additional responsibilities may be assigned based on business needs, including support of trials, R&D initiatives, product development, and operational projects. The role requires flexibility to provide on-site support at company facilities and travel as needed.

Work Environment & Requirements

• This is an on-site role based in a fresh-cut produce cooling facility environment.
• Must be able to work in refrigerated and cold storage conditions for extended periods of time.
• Position requires schedule flexibility to support a seven-day operation, including periodic early morning, evening, weekend, and holiday support as needed.
• Must be available to respond to urgent food safety, quality, and operational issues outside of regular business hours when necessary.
• Travel between facilities and growing regions is required based on business needs.

Required Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Agriculture, or a related field preferred.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in food safety, quality, food production, agriculture, or a related operational environment.
• Working knowledge of GMPs, GAPs, SOPs, SSOPs, HACCP, and GFSI requirements.
• Experience with regulatory compliance, inspections, audits, corrective actions, and food safety documentation.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, Word, and Outlook.
• PCQI certification required or attained within the first 6 months of employment.

Preferred Skills & Qualifications

• Strong leadership, organizational, and problem-solving skills with a high attention to detail.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and make sound decisions in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to work effectively across functions.
• Experience leading teams and driving accountability in food safety and quality programs.
• Bilingual in English and Spanish preferred.

Other Information:

The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees, and are not to be construed, as an exhaustive list of responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified. Furthermore, they do not establish a contract for employment and are subject to change at the discretion of the employer.