Sr. Director, Food Safety & Quality Assurance

Job description

### BUILT ON FLAVOR. FUELED BY PEOPLE. What’s it like to work at Kinder’s? Well, there’s a lot of snacking and geeking out over what we all cooked over the weekend. Beyond that, there’s also plenty of hard work. Because we don’t just like flavor, we’re obsessed with it. With over 100 products sold nationwide, we’re now a top-five brand in multiple flavor categories at Costco, Walmart, Whole Foods, and more. We’re not your typical CPG company. Privately held and founder-led, we like to think of ourselves as a pirate ship in a sea of cruise ships. Our crew is adventurous and fearless. We chart our own course and chase big ideas to make food unforgettable. As we expand globally and approach $1 billion in revenue, we need more smart-and-scrappy, flavor-obsessed people to come aboard. If you’re looking for a place where you can see the real impact of your work... **this is it!** Every day, you’ll be part of a journey to add flavor to millions of meals and lives. ## About the Role: The Senior Director of Food Safety and Quality Assurance is accountable for setting the enterprise-wide vision, strategy, and execution of food safety and quality for a high-growth, consumer-focused brand. This role plays a critical leadership position in defining and scaling Kinder’s quality systems, ensuring that every product delivered to market is safe, compliant, and consistently exceptional in taste and performance. Partnering closely with executive leadership and cross-functional teams, this leader will build the organizational capabilities, processes, and partnerships required to support rapid growth while maintaining best-in-class food safety, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance standards. This role is central to protecting Kinder’s brand, consumers, and long-term growth. The Senior Director of Food Safety & Quality Assurance will not only ensure compliance but will shape how quality is embedded into every decision, product, and partnership as Kinder’s continues to scale. ## Key Responsibilities Include: ### Quality Assurance Strategy & Leadership - Build, lead, and inspire a high-performing Corporate Quality Assurance organization with the structure, talent, and systems to support Kinder’s growth trajectory. - Establish a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, proactive risk management, and strong collaboration across internal teams and external manufacturing partners. - Set the long-term quality strategy aligned with business growth, innovation pipelines, and brand standards. ### Food Safety & Quality Systems - Design, evaluate, and continuously optimize scalable food safety and quality programs aligned with industry best practices and regulatory requirements. - Implement data-driven frameworks to monitor performance, identify risk, and drive corrective and preventive actions. - Partner closely with Manufacturing Quality leadership and cross-functional stakeholders to ensure consistent understanding, adoption, and execution of quality standards across contract manufacturing partners. - Drive continuous improvement initiatives that elevate product quality and enhance consumer satisfaction. ### Testing & Verification Programs - Develop and optimize balanced, risk-based testing programs to ensure compliance with internal standards and external regulations. - Maintain comprehensive testing databases, including trend analysis, deviations, and corrective actions. - Use insights from testing data to proactively mitigate risk and improve product quality. ### Consumer Quality & Feedback Management - Establish and maintain systems to capture, track, and analyze consumer feedback and quality-related inquiries. - Identify trends and systemic issues; lead corrective actions with vendors or internal partners, including reformulation strategies when necessary. - Partner with Customer Service to support responses to quality-related consumer inquiries and issue resolution. ### Crisis Management & Recall Readiness - Own and lead Kinder’s food safety and quality crisis response strategy, ensuring swift, decisive action to protect consumers and the brand. - Develop scenario-based training, tabletop exercises, and proactive risk assessments to strengthen organizational preparedness. - Refine and maintain recall procedures and response protocols. ### Supplier, Audit & Compliance Management - Refine audit programs, documentation standards, and supplier communication frameworks. - Partner with Operations and Product Development on qualification and approval of new contract manufacturing partners. - Lead investigations into quality issues, ensuring robust root cause analysis and corrective/preventive actions. - Conduct supplier and vendor quality business reviews to identify trends and improvement opportunities. ### Regulatory & Documentation Excellence - Develop and maintain best-in-class regulatory systems and methodologies to ensure compliance across formulations, packaging, and labeling. - Ensure accuracy and compliance of all labels, specifications, and regulatory documentation. - Establish and govern centralized documentation and specification management systems for raw materials, packaging, finished goods, formulations, and labels — creating a single source of truth. - Monitor regulatory developments and serve as the primary liaison for regulatory compliance activities. - Partner with Product Development to manage ingredient documentation, claims substantiation (e.g., organic, non-GMO), and testing protocols. ### Cross-Functional Partnership & Risk Management - Lead cross-functional quality forums to ensure alignment between quality standards and aggressive commercialization timelines. - Drive shared understanding of key quality risks and facilitate informed trade-offs between quality, brand, and commercial objectives. - Identify food safety and business risks (e.g., sensory variance, packaging integrity, appearance) and elevate insights to senior leadership with clear recommendations. ## Experience + Skills: ### Required Experience & Capabilities - 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in Food Safety and Quality Assurance within the CPG food industry. - Deep technical expertise in food safety and quality systems, including microbiology, allergen management, HACCP, FSMA, FDA/USDA labeling, and regulatory compliance. - Demonstrated experience leading quality organizations in high-growth, innovation-driven environments. - Strong background in food manufacturing audits, supplier management, and contract manufacturing oversight. - Proven ability to design and scale systems, standards, and processes across internal teams and external partners. - Exceptional communication skills with the ability to translate technical expertise into clear, actionable business strategies. - Highly analytical, data-driven, and results-oriented with strong problem-solving and decision-making skills. - Strong project management skills and end-to-end understanding of new product development processes. ### Preferred Qualifications - Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Chemistry, Microbiology, or a related field. - Experience supporting rapid commercialization and product launch pipelines. - Track record of leading through complexity, ambiguity, and change in fast-growing organizations. ## Pay Transparency + Location: The expected starting salary range for this role is $200,000- $250,000 per year. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range based on the location of the role. The amount a particular employee will earn within the salary range will be based on factors such as relevant education, qualifications, performance and business needs. This role will be based in our Walnut Creek, CA office. ### SEASONED FOR SUCCESS: - No two days here are the same. - We try to be good team members and good communicators, but we don’t live by hierarchy and structure – everyone is a difference maker here. - We make a lot of decisions in the face of incomplete information – our team embraces ambiguity and tries to make good decisions fast rather than great decisions slow. - We believe our job is to take smart risk, not to eliminate risk. - We believe in growing our skills and becoming a better company with more managerial expertise, but we are an entrepreneurial company at heart. - We aren’t trying to be average – we want to do exceptional things, and we are willing to work hard to achieve them. ### BENEFITS THAT BRING MORE TO THE TABLE: We offer a range of total rewards that may include paid time off, 401k, bonus / incentive eligibility, equity grants, competitive health benefits, and other family-friendly benefits, including parental leave. Kinder’s benefits vary based on eligibility and can be reviewed in more detail during the interview process. ### OUR RECIPE FOR BALANCE: We believe great culture starts with people. We’re a people-first company built on connection, collaboration, and balance. Most of our work happens in the office to spark creativity and community, but we also offer flexibility so team members have the autonomy to work outside the office when needed to support their work-life balance and personal commitments. ### WHERE EVERY INGREDIENT MATTERS: Kinder's is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, citizenship, marital status, religion, age, disability, gender identity, results of genetic testing, veteran status, as well as any other legally-protected characteristic. If you have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act or similar law, and you need any accommodation during the application process or to perform these job requirements, please reach out to us at [careers@kinders.com](mailto:careers@kinders.com)