Food Safety & Quality Assurance (FSQA) Coordinator

Job Summary

About Forager Project

Forager Project is a family-owned, organic, plant-based creamery dedicated to reinventing dairy using plants, not cows. We produce dairy-free yogurts, milks, creamers, sour cream, kefir-style beverages, and protein shakes made with simple, organic, plant-based ingredients.

Built around our own creamery and a commitment to USDA Organic certification, sustainability, and thoughtful sourcing, we are focused on making food that is better for people, the planet, and the future.

Position Summary

The Food Safety & Quality Assurance (FSQA) Coordinator supports, maintains, and continuously improves Forager Project?s food safety and quality management system in alignment with regulatory requirements, SQF standards, customer expectations, and industry best practices.

This position serves as the designated site SQF Practitioner and acts as an on-the-floor FSQA leader, helping ensure daily compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), food safety procedures, quality standards, documentation requirements, and audit-readiness expectations.

Working closely with the Senior Manager of FSQA, the FSQA Coordinator drives the execution of key food safety and quality programs, including the Food Safety Team, HACCP Team, Recall Team, FSQA training program, monthly internal facility audits, and third-party audit preparation.

This is an individual contributor position with no direct reports. However, the role provides functional leadership, coordination, training, coaching, and technical guidance across departments.

Education and Experience Requirements

• Bachelor?s degree in science, engineering, or a related technical discipline required. Food Science, Microbiology, Biology, Chemistry, or a related field is preferred.
• Three to five years of food safety and quality assurance experience in food manufacturing required. Experience in non-dairy, dairy, cultured products, pasteurized beverages, UHT processing, or aseptic filling is strongly preferred.
• Working knowledge of Good Laboratory Practices (GLPs) required.
• Current HACCP certification required.
• Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI) certification required.
• SQF Practitioner training required.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Serve as the designated site SQF Practitioner and support the implementation, maintenance, verification, and continuous improvement of the food safety and quality management system.
• Lead or facilitate key food safety and quality programs, including the Food Safety Team, HACCP Team, Recall Team, FSQA training program, monthly internal facility audits, and third-party audit preparation.
• Serve as a primary site contact during SQF, USDA Organic, Kosher, customer, regulatory, and other third-party audits.
• Partner with the Senior Manager of FSQA to maintain compliance with SQF, HACCP, GMPs, FSMA, Food Defense, Food Fraud, Organic, Kosher, customer requirements, and internal FSQA programs.
• Perform routine monitoring, verification activities, and documentation reviews to confirm compliance with food safety, quality, sanitation, and regulatory requirements.
• Manage and execute the monthly internal facility audit and self-inspection program, including documenting findings, coordinating corrective actions, verifying completion, and reviewing trends.
• Support the development, implementation, review, and maintenance of FSQA programs, including the Food Safety Plan, Food Defense Plan, Food Fraud Program, Recall Plan, allergen controls, sanitation programs, shipping and receiving controls, corrective action systems, and related procedures.
• Participate in investigations and support root cause analysis and corrective and preventive action development for food safety, quality, sanitation, GMP, audit, customer complaint, and regulatory issues.
• Coordinate the FSQA training program, maintain accurate training records, and provide training on GMPs, sanitation, food safety, HACCP, allergens, food defense, food fraud, traceability, recall, and other required topics.
• Collaborate with QA, R&D, Operations, Sanitation, Maintenance, Warehouse, and Supply Chain to support plant trials, specifications, production documentation, SOPs, SSOPs, GMPs, corrective actions, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Organize, review, and maintain ingredient and finished-product specifications, production documentation, SOPs, SSOPs, GMP records, and other applicable FSQA documentation.
• Promptly identify, document, communicate, and escalate food safety, quality, sanitation, GMP, and regulatory concerns.
• Promote a strong food safety and quality culture through regular manufacturing-floor presence, employee coaching, reinforcement of expectations, and support of consistent audit-ready behaviors.
• Perform other related duties and special projects as assigned.

Competencies and Skills

• Strong knowledge of food safety and quality systems within a food manufacturing environment.
• Working knowledge of SQF or another GFSI-recognized certification program.
• Strong understanding of HACCP, GMPs, sanitation, allergen controls, traceability, recall, corrective actions, food defense, food fraud, and applicable regulatory requirements.
• Experience conducting investigations, performing root cause analysis, and developing practical corrective and preventive actions.
• Strong organizational, planning, documentation, and follow-up skills.
• High attention to detail and the ability to maintain accurate, complete, and audit-ready records.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to train and coach employees at different levels of the organization.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with Operations, QA, R&D, Sanitation, Maintenance, Warehouse, Supply Chain, and site leadership.
• Comfortable spending significant time on the manufacturing floor and working directly with employees and leadership to reinforce FSQA expectations.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced manufacturing environment with changing priorities, production schedules, and business needs.
• Demonstrated ability to identify risks, communicate concerns, and help drive issues through resolution.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Word and Excel and the ability to work effectively within electronic quality management and business systems.

Work Requirements

• This is an on-site position based in California?s Coachella Valley.
• The selected candidate must reside in, or be willing to relocate to, the Coachella Valley region.
• Ability to adjust working hours and provide coverage as needed to support production and FSQA operations, including occasional weekends, holidays, and after-hours situations.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should submit their application online using the link below.