Associate Director Food Safety and Quality Assurance - CHI - CookUnity
Chicago, IL
About the Job
CookUnity is a chef-to-you marketplace connecting talented chefs with consumers, revolutionizing meal delivery. We bring small-batch, restaurant-quality meals to eaters nationwide, crafted by a diverse collective of all-star chefs. With over 100 inspired chefs from cities like NYC, LA, Austin, and more, our weekly subscription offers a wide range of hand-crafted meals to cater to various palates and dietary preferences.
By delivering over 1 million meals per month, we're also empowering working chefs, tripling their income, and supporting their growth. CookUnity believes in fueling stronger communities, partnering with Food Bank For New York City to combat food insecurity across all five boroughs.
The Role
We're looking for a Director of Food Safety & QA who will ensure that CookUnity (CU) food is fit for consumption. As the director, you will define the strategic FSQA standards that impact our business and lead the implementation of the FSQA program across all CU manufacturing locations across the US. This position will develop FSQA strategies into effective organizational plans for seamless execution at operational level with continuous monitoring to constantly identify and mitigate any risks. You will have an opportunity to develop a holistic and technology driven FSQA system on solid foundations with a regional and national scope. This role will engage and support key partnerships, internal and external, including, but not limited to: Culinary Specialists, Kitchen Operations, Supply Chain, Sanitation, Tech, People and Consumer Experience Teams.
Responsibilities
- You will ensure that the operations in every CU facility meet or exceed the applicable local/regional/federal regulatory FS regulations, codes and requirements besides the company's internal FS Program.
- Oversee and manage internal food safety audit program and health department inspection outcomes to ensure it delivers business continuity and provides insights for consistent coaching and feedback to our operations teams for executing deficiency corrective actions completion within acceptable timeframe.
- Develop and oversee kitchen food safety KPIs and risk mitigation strategies by capturing, managing, utilizing, and presenting data in a meaningful way to drive improvements in process, procedures, and execution.
- Oversee corporate pest function while designing and implementing a strategic and effective pest control program, consistent with industry best practices. Aggregate, track, and monitor pest related data to provide insights to the business and adjust business processes to mitigate potential risk to CU.
- Ensures all the people working in CU facilities receive the correct FS training to avoid any risk of contamination during their work and make sure each employee accomplishes the FS requirements to work in a food production facility.
- Develop daily/weekly/monthly FS checklists and generate reports to share performance or improvement insights with the leadership.
- Coordinate the supplier's approval to guarantee the achievement of the Food Safety & QA regulations & standards for all the ingredients & supplies.
- Make sure Food Safety potential risks are under control; and when necessary, take instant and accurate decisions against any deviations, working together and in constant communication with the FS leaders and business stakeholders.
- Respond against any Food Safety & Quality complaint, and make sure to follow it up with the corresponding Food Safety Leader, until the deviation is eliminated to avoid its recurrence.
- Responsible for the development and execution of the crisis management plan, escalation protocols, and regulatory correspondence for potential foodborne outbreaks. Coordinate with the designated team for any product recall and/or market withdrawal.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in food science or technology or related discipline.
- Experience with and/or proficiency in FSMA (GMP and HACCP) and how they apply to food processing. HACCP certified, PCQI certified, hands-on in writing and execution of SOPs, SSOPs, cGMPs and related food safety standards.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels
- Strong problem solving and analytical skills to gather and analyze data, draw conclusions based on the data and develop and implement an action plan based on the conclusions.
- Proven ability to influence others, be credible & act with integrity, demonstrate objective thinking, healthy skepticism, and the ability to challenge conventional methods.
- Proficiency in English, both in verbal and written communication. Bilingual proficiency in Spanish is a HUGE plus.
- Able to travel domestic and/or internationally up to 50% of the time
Benefits
- Health Insurance coverage
- PTO
- Stock Options plan
- Parental Leave: 12 weeks at full pay for primary caregiver and 4 weeks for secondary caregiver
- Compassionate, Caregiver, or Bereavement Leave: 3 – 5 days each time the need arises.
- A generous amount of CookUnity credits to enjoy our amazing meals, added to your account, monthly
- Access to a nutritional coach to help you build a healthy lifestyle
- Fitness subsidies
#ENGHP
Compensation
All final pay rates will be determined by candidates experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data.
If you're interested in this role, please submit your application and if we think you might be a fit, we'll get in touch with you. Thank you for your time!
CookUnity is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are dedicated to creating a community of inclusion and an environment free from discrimination or harassment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship status, protected veteran status, genetic information, or physical or mental disability.