DESCRIPTION

Job Posting: QA Manager - Meat Manufacturing / SQF Experience

Job Title: Quality Assurance Manager

Location: Dallas/Mesquite Area

Industry: Meat Manufacturing / Food Processing

Employment Type: Full-Time

Schedule: Monday - Friday, with occasional Saturdays. Must be available to start as early as 5:30 AM.

Compensation: Based on experience

REQUIREMENTS

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Quality Assurance Manager or a strong QA Supervisor with solid food manufacturing and SQF experience who is ready to step into a QA Manager role.

This position is ideal for a hands-on quality professional who understands meat manufacturing, USDA requirements, HACCP, GMPs, SQF, and food safety compliance. The QA Manager will be responsible for supporting and leading the facility's quality and food safety programs while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, customer specifications, internal policies, and SQF standards.

This role requires a proactive leader who is comfortable working in a fast-paced meat processing environment, supporting production teams, coaching employees, managing audits, and ensuring product quality and food safety from raw materials through finished goods.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, maintain, and improve the facility's SQF Food Safety and Quality Management System.
• Ensure compliance with USDA, HACCP, GMP, SSOP, SQF, customer, and company requirements.
• Prepare for and support internal, customer, regulatory, and third-party audits.
• Manage corrective actions, preventive actions, CAPAs, non-conformance reports, and root cause investigations.
• Review and maintain QA documentation, records, logs, verification forms, and audit files.
• Oversee product inspections, quality checks, pre-operational inspections, sanitation verification, and environmental monitoring programs.
• Ensure proper handling of product holds, releases, rework, returns, complaints, and investigations.
• Work closely with Production, Maintenance, Sanitation, Shipping, Receiving, and Leadership teams to ensure food safety and quality standards are met.
• Verify labeling, packaging, lot coding, traceability, and product specifications.
• Support mock recalls, crisis management exercises, food defense, food fraud, and traceability programs.
• Train employees and supervisors on food safety, GMPs, quality procedures, and SQF requirements.
• Monitor trends related to customer complaints, product defects, foreign material, sanitation, temperatures, and audit findings.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to reduce risk, improve compliance, and strengthen the facility's food safety culture.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 3-5 years of quality assurance experience in food manufacturing, preferably in meat processing, poultry, seafood, ready-to-eat foods, or USDA-regulated environments.
• Current QA Manager experience preferred; however, a strong QA Supervisor ready to move into a QA Manager role will be considered.
• Strong working knowledge of SQF requirements; SQF Practitioner experience preferred.
• Experience with HACCP, GMPs, SSOPs, USDA regulations, internal audits, CAPAs, and food safety programs.
• Prior experience preparing for or participating in third-party, customer, USDA, or SQF audits.
• Strong documentation, organization, and follow-up skills.
• Ability to lead, train, coach, and hold teams accountable.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work cross-functionally with production and operations teams.
• Bilingual English/Spanish preferred but not required.
• Must be comfortable working in a cold, wet, fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office and quality documentation systems.

Preferred Certifications

• SQF Practitioner Certification
• HACCP Certification
• PCQI Certification
• Internal Auditor Certification
• Food Safety / GMP Training Certification

Work Environment

This role is based in a meat manufacturing and processing facility. The QA Manager must be able to walk the production floor regularly, work in refrigerated areas, interact with production employees and leadership, and respond quickly to quality or food safety concerns.

What We Are Looking For

We are looking for a strong, proactive QA leader who understands that quality and food safety are shared responsibilities. The ideal candidate may already be serving as a QA Manager, or may be a high-performing QA Supervisor ready for the next step in their career.

This person should be organized, detail-oriented, confident in audits, experienced with SQF, and able to build accountability across departments while maintaining a positive and professional approach.

How to Apply

We are working directly with the client to identify the best-qualified candidate for this opportunity in the Dallas/Mesquite area. We sincerely appreciate every candidate who takes the time to apply and express interest in this position.

Due to the volume of applications, only candidates whose experience and qualifications closely align with the client's needs will be contacted for the next step in the process.

Qualified candidates with meat processing, USDA, HACCP, and SQF experience are strongly encouraged to apply.