Supplier Quality Manager

Who We Are

The Farmers Dog was born from a mission to change the landscape of pet health, providing dogs and their humans with honest, smart, and simple care. Were starting by radically improving the $90 billion pet food industry, replacing bags of highly-processed pellets with a personalized subscription service that sends complete and balanced, freshly-made dog food directly to customers doors. Our ultimate goal is to create innovative, delightful and personalized experiences across all aspects of pet care, and we believe our direct-to-consumer business model, holistic approach to growth, and dynamic culture uniquely position us to shepherd this backwards industry into the future.

To date, The Farmers Dog has delivered over 1 billion meals nationwide and raised over $150M in funding to help us build a company as healthy as the dogs who are eating those meals. Join us as we continue to develop ways of bringing peace of mind to customers, health to their companions, and much-needed change to the way people feed and care for their pets.

#LongLiveDogs

What We Stand For and Where Youll Come In

Were looking for a Supplier Quality Manager  who will play a critical role in upholding the trust our customers place in our brand by ensuring the highest quality raw materials are used in our products. 

The Supplier Quality Manager will investigate, analyze and resolve supplier, manufacturing, and customer quality problems from raw materials by conducting audits, analyzing defect trends, leading continuous improvement projects or other methods as deemed appropriate.

As the Supplier Quality Manager, you will be the liaison between our plants and suppliers within the food safety and quality group. You will review documentation, 3rd party audits, perform hazard analysis/risk rankings for suppliers and ingredients, perform supplier audits, and participate in spec configuration. The Supplier Quality Manager will report directly to the Senior Quality Engineering Manager.

One Team: We dont think of ourselves as Acquisition Marketers, Engineers, Data Analysts, or Product Managers. Beyond denoting skill sets and areas of expertise, we dont think departments matter. Wed rather align ourselves to the goals were working to achieve and make sure we have necessary subject matter expertise to drive meaningful impact. We strive to orient ourselves around customer problems TOGETHER getting the right people, with the right context, in the right rooms/Zooms to solve problems holistically.

We are skeptical about everything and precious about nothing:  Ideas can and should come from anywhere, and we arent tied to our own. We proactively source input. We talk to our customers and leads regularly and are quick to change course if we know theres a better or more impactful way to solve problems.

We consider the customer journey in all of our decisions:  We know that no interaction exists in a silo and therefore understand how important every single one is.  We ensure our strategy sets prospective and new customers up for success and drives long-term retention.  We answer questions and address problems early and proactively.  We understand the value of different channels, initiatives, and messages and know how to articulate impact and advocate for prioritization holistically.

We Execute For Impact: We dont subscribe to best practices or industry KPIs. Were uninterested in how we compare to benchmarks; instead we orient ourselves around being the best we can possibly be. Similarly, we dont subscribe to rigid or classical expectations of roles i.e. acquisition is hyper-focused on improving customer retention and experience.

We Are Focused and Work Without Assumption: We are not beholden to ideas. We have goals and believe everything beyond that is a series of hypotheses to validate. To that end, we seek to work in sequence and not in parallel. We constantly ask ourselves, whats the most important hypothesis I should be working on right now? How do I confirm or reject that hypothesis as fast as possible?. We rarely have timelines/deadlines and are constantly taking in new information and adjusting our priorities accordingly. We dont expect to be perfect the first time.

How You'll Make An Impact

• Supplier Qualification & Onboarding: Develop and manage a robust process for selecting and approving new suppliers based on their technical capabilities, food safety programs, and historical performance.
• Auditing & Compliance: Conduct regular on-site or remote audits of supplier facilities to ensure adherence to GFSI-recognized standards (e.g., SQF, BRC, FSSC 22000) and regulatory requirements such as FSMA and USDA.
• Performance Monitoring: Establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and oversee supplier scorecards to ensure scores reflect incidents (food safety, quality, defects), communication, documentation, and audit scores.
• Incident Management (CAPA): Lead investigations focusing on Root Cause Analysis into supplier-related quality issues (e.g., foreign objects, microbial contamination) that come from complaints or from logged incidents, and manage the Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) process to prevent recurrence.
• Specification Management: Partner with R&D and Procurement to define and maintain detailed ingredient and packaging specifications, ensuring all Certificates of Analysis (COAs) meet internal standards.
• Risk Assessment: Perform science-based risk assessments for all raw materials, categorizing suppliers by risk level to determine the necessary frequency of audits and testing.
• Provide food safety expertise and decision-making support for supplier qualifications and any issues related to raw materials.
• Make risk-based food safety decisions for raw materials that ensure compliance with regulatory and internal standards while enabling reliable product delivery.
• Analyze supplier data to identify trends and issues, using insights to guide food safety and quality improvements and cross-functional education.
• Demonstrate a proactive approach to identifying and solving raw material related food safety and quality issues.
• Apply strong communication and influencing skills to implement effective problem resolution.
• Work with cross-functional teams such as procurement and suppliers to drive adherence to food safety initiatives, CAPA execution, and supplier quality improvements.
• Direct day-to-day food safety and quality activities within assigned areas of responsibility
• Engage and coordinate with subject matter experts to ensure ongoing regulatory compliance and high food safety and quality standards.
• Display strong communication to collaborate and implement effective problem resolution with suppliers and cross functional partners.

We're Excited About You Because

• Education: Bachelors degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Chemistry, or a related technical field.
• Experience: Typically 58+ years in quality assurance or supplier management within a human or human grade pet food manufacturing environment.
• Certifications: Include PCQI 2.0 (Preventive Controls Qualified Individual), HACCP, and GFSI/SQF Practitioner. Highly preferred certifications ASQ Certification in Supplier Quality and/or Auditing.
• Technical Skills: Proficiency in Quality Management Systems (QMS), ERP software (i.e. TraceGains), and statistical analysis tools like SPC (Statistical Process Control).
• Soft Skills: Strong negotiation, cross-functional collaboration, and the ability to influence suppliers without direct authority.
• Deep knowledge/understanding of FDA, USDA, GFSI compliance standards and corresponding documentation requirements. 
• Strong background in core food safety principles, supplier quality, and production processes.
• Experienced in conducting Supplier Audits.
• Excellent communication skills, including presenting, report writing, and training across all organizational levels.
• Willing and able to travel 3050%.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Access) and Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms).
• You love dogs.

Office Guidelines

We are an in-office culture, made of in-office people who thrive on the collaboration and magnetism of working in a shared space. We are seeking individuals who excel in this type of environment, where being present fosters deeper connections and engagement.

Our Belonging Philosophy:

At TFD, we believe Belonging is a shared commitment to creating a workplace where every person feels respected, valued, and empowered to be themselves. When people feel a true sense of belonging, they do their best work, take smart risks, and bring forward diverse perspectives leading to stronger decisions and deeper relationships.

We anchor this belief in a simple phrase: Everyones welcome at the dog park. No matter your background, identity, or role, theres space for you here. Theres no one way to show up at the dog park just shared space, mutual respect, and the freedom to be yourself. Being included is just the beginning, its about contributing your voice, growing through challenges, and building trust through shared goals. This philosophy guides how we lead, how we hire, how we communicate, and how we grow.

We continuously evaluate to ensure we are creating a consistent experience that cultivates belonging for all employees, from hiring and performance reviews to talent development. We also believe Belonging happens in everyday moments of connection; lunch with a new teammate, a shared laugh, or a quick story about your weekend. Our structure includes biannual employee surveys, manager training, TFD camps, and support from Humans to ensure were listening and learning from our Team.

Together, these efforts reflect what Belonging means at TFD: a culture where everyone can thrive.

A Few of Our Best Benefits

• Dog-friendly office in SoHo
• Market-competitive compensation and equity packages
• Comprehensive Healthcare, Dental, and Vision
• Company supported mental health benefits
• 12 week paid parental leave
• Competitive 401k plan with company match
• Flexible PTO 
• Discounted fresh food for your pup
• Your pet interrupting video calls (and in-person meetings) is now a feature, not a bug

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

The Farmer's Dog, Inc. is an equal employment opportunity employer and does not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status or any other legally protected characteristic or status. For more information, please visit Know Your Rights.

Reasonable Accommodations

TFD complies with applicable federal, state, and local disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities.  If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact humansops@thefarmersdog.com.

We're Here to Help

Were happy to answer any questions you may have about the position or our hiring process - please reach out at careers@thefarmersdog.com.