Director, Food Safety and Quality Assurance

Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Department: Quality Assurance

Chicken of the Sea is an iconic American brand that was founded in 1930. Today, Chicken of the Sea enjoys broad distribution across all major retail channels, with growth opportunities in foodservice and outside the U.S. Besides its eponymous brand, Chicken of the Sea also sells Genova and King Oscar premium seafood products.

Chicken of the Sea International (COSI) has been wholly owned since 2000 by Thai Union (TU), the largest global producer of ambient seafood. Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods is a sister U.S. company that focuses on frozen and chilled seafood sales. Other iconic seafood brands in the TU Global portfolio include John West, Mareblu, and King Oscar. Under the leadership of CEO Thiraphong Chansiri, Thai Union has more than tripled its revenue to over $4 billion annually and has an aggressive growth agenda.

Chicken of the Sea International operates under the common corporate vision, mission and values of Thai Union, an industry leader in sustainable fishing practices and manufacturing processes that capture the freshness, nutritional value, and sensorial experience of seafood. The global organization lives by the 6 deeply held values: Passionate, Humble, Respectful, Responsible, Collaborative, and Innovative.

COSI is an organization that is very proud of its heritage. First established as VanCamp seafood company more than 100 years ago (1914), the company celebrates its story as one of the oldest food companies in the country that is still in operation. The company is currently undergoing a significant business transformation aimed at accelerating business growth.

About the Role:

Join the Chicken of the Sea brand as our Director, Food Safety and Quality Assurance. In this pivotal role, you will lead the refinement and execution of protocols aimed at ensuring that all COSI processes and products align with our company's stringent safety and quality benchmarks, as well as relevant regulatory mandates. Your responsibilities will include leading a team in vetting and granting pre-approval to co-packer facilities for COSI production, overseeing adherence to established standards and specifications across Company operations, co-packer facilities, and warehouses, and devising and implementing corrective measures when necessary. Additionally, you will play a crucial role in partnering with our Senior Manager of Regulatory Affairs and Nutrition. This individual ensures compliance with nutritional and packaging label regulations, and also manages consumer correspondence pertaining to COSI products to ensure timely and effective resolution of inquiries and concerns.

Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic leadership for the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of Food Safety and Quality Assurance (FSQA) programs, ensuring alignment with company objectives, customer requirements, and regulatory requirements.
• Serve as the organization’s FSQA leader and subject matter expert, championing a culture of food safety, quality assurance, compliance, and continuous improvement across all business functions and supply chain partners.
• Oversee the Quality Assurance team at our domestic factory to ensure consistent compliance with food safety, regulatory, customer, and product quality requirements while supporting manufacturing performance and continuous improvement.
• Foster strong partnerships with quality teams across international operations to promote consistency in food safety and quality programs, exchange best practices, and leverage organizational expertise.
• Lead the design, governance, and ongoing enhancement of quality management systems, food safety programs, policies, specifications, SOPs, and work instructions to ensure compliance with FDA, FSMA, HACCP, customer, and all regulatory requirements. Ensure current standards and specifications are effectively implemented and maintained.Lead the evaluation and potential implementation of strategic regulatory and trade programs, including VQIP.
• Direct company-wide food safety and quality initiatives, including product traceability, supplier quality management, audit readiness, corrective and preventive action (CAPA) programs, sanitation verification, product disposition processes, and continuous improvement efforts.
• Provide strategic o