New

FSQA Director

Echo Lake Foods
401(k), Dental insurance, Health insurance, Free Life insurance, Paid time off, Vision insurance, Company contributes 3% of your base pay in Company Stock - regardless of your contribution
dental insurance, life insurance, vision insurance, paid time off, 401(k)
United States, Wisconsin, Burlington
316 W Grove St (Show on map)
Mar 02, 2026
Echo Lake Foods is a leading manufacturer of ready-to-eat egg products and breakfast foods, including waffles, pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs, omelets, and egg patties, serving major retail, foodservice, and national restaurant customers across the United States. Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Burlington, Wisconsin, the company operates multiple production facilities throughout the Midwest and has built a strong reputation for quality, innovation, and customer partnerships. In 2025, Echo Lake Foods was acquired by Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., the largest producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs in the United States, marking an exciting new chapter of growth. This partnership strengthens our resources, expands our capabilities, and supports continued investment in our people, facilities, and products. Creating new opportunities for employees to grow their careers within a stable and expanding organization. We are currently seeking a Director of Food Safety & Quality Assurance (FSQA) to provide strategic leadership for all food safety, quality, and regulatory programs across the organization. This role is responsible for protecting consumers, customers, and the Echo Lake Foods brand while driving operational excellence and supporting continued growth. The Director partners cross-functionally with Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, and Commercial teams to embed food safety and quality into daily operations, while building strong systems, culture, and capabilities across multiple facilities. Responsibilities Food Safety & Regulatory Leadership Lead the enterprise food safety strategy, ensuring compliance with FSMA, FDA, USDA, and customer requirements. Serve as the Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI) and ensure HACCP and Food Safety Plans are effective and consistently executed. Act as the primary liaison with regulatory agencies, third-party auditors, and customers on food safety and quality matters. Lead responses to regulatory inspections, audits, recalls, and food safety incidents. Quality Systems & Standardization Establish and maintain standardized FSQA systems, policies, and procedures across all facilities. Drive continuous improvement in quality management systems, including document control, corrective actions, change management, and verification programs. Ensure strong supplier quality and ingredient approval programs aligned with operational risk and customer expectations. Operational Partnership & Risk Management Partner with Operations and Engineering to integrate food safety and quality into equipment design, capital projects, process changes, and daily operations. Identify and mitigate risks using data analysis, root cause problem solving, and preventive actions. Support plant leadership in building accountability for food safety and quality performance. Culture, Training & Capability Building Lead the development of a strong food safety and quality culture across the organization. Provide training, coaching, and education to strengthen FSQA knowledge at plant and leadership levels. Ensure employees understand both the importance and execution of food safety requirements. Data, Metrics & Performance Management Establish KPIs and dashboards to monitor food safety and quality performance. Utilize data to drive proactive risk prevention and continuous improvement. Provide executive-level reporting on risks, trends, and performance. Team Leadership & Development Lead, mentor, and develop the FSQA organization across multiple locations. Ensure the team is properly structured, trained, and resourced to support operations and growth. Foster accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement within the FSQA team. Supervisory Responsibilities Direct, coordinate, and evaluate team performance in accordance with company policies and applicable laws. Participate in hiring, training, performance management, disciplinary actions, and employee development. Address employee concerns and resolve operational issues as needed. Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Chemistry, Engineering, or a related field required; advanced degree preferred. Minimum of 10 years of progressive leadership experience in Food Safety and Quality within a food manufacturing environment, including demonstrated success leading multi-site FSQA programs and teams. Deep knowledge of FSMA, FDA, and USDA regulations, HACCP principles, preventive controls, and GFSI standards. PCQI certification required or ability to obtain; additional certifications such as SQF Practitioner or similar credentials preferred. Proven experience managing regulatory inspections, third-party audits, recalls, and food safety incidents. Strong leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills, with the ability to influence operations and senior leadership without direct authority. Ability to translate technical food safety requirements into practical operational processes, systems, and programs. Enterprise mindset with the ability to balance risk management, operational performance, and business growth. Experience supporting capital projects, equipment upgrades, ERP or data system implementations, and continuous improvement or lean manufacturing initiatives preferred. Ability to travel regularly to production facilities in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Kentucky. Physical Requirements Ability to use standard office equipment and computer systems for extended periods. Ability to travel frequently between facilities, including overnight travel as needed. Ability to walk production floors and stand for extended periods during plant visits, audits, and operational reviews. Ability to work in manufacturing environments, including exposure to temperature variations, noise, and food production conditions. Ability to use standard office equipment and computer systems for extended periods. *Sensory and Physical Demands* The sensory and physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to engage their sensory functions. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. Although this job is primarily sedentary and requires the ability to sit for extended periods of time, employees may be regularly required to stand, walk, use hands to finger, handle, or feel and reach with hands and arms. Occasionally employees may be required to bend, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl, lift, carry, pull, push and/or move objects weighing up to 20 pounds. Work Environment The work environment characteristics described herein are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets, and fax machines. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to work independently as well as with and around others. There are frequent verbal and face-to-face contacts. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. Intellectual Demands While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to read, write, and interpret a variety of instructions furnished in but limited to written, oral, visual, diagram, or schedule form. Employees will work under significant time constraints, apply memorization, analysis, apply perception/comprehension skills, spontaneous thought, judgment, and manage time in completing assignments. The employee is required to use decision-making skills, practically solve problems and to deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists, communicate effectively, articulate ideas, respond to inquiries, handle conflict situations, perform mathematical calculations reasonably necessary to satisfactorily perform job duties, and to make decisions based on department and organizational goals. Expected Hours of Work This is a full-time position. Days and hours of work are dependent on operational needs and may vary, Monday through Sunday. The employee is required to be available as scheduled and may be required to be available for extended hours. Occasional evening and weekend work may be required as job duties demand. Other Duties Please note that this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice. Additional duties may be described and assigned as appropriate by management; employees are expected to perform these as well regardless of job title or routine duties. Benefits 401(k) Dental insurance Health insurance Free Life insurance Paid time off Vision insurance Company contributes 3% of your base pay in company Stock - regardless of your contribution We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, military service, protected veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.