Overview:
Shearer’s Foods, founded in 1974 and headquartered in Massillon, OH, is a leading manufacturer of salty snacks, cookies, and crackers. Specializing in private label and co-manufacturing, Shearer’s is the largest supplier of private brand salty snacks and second-largest supplier of private brand cookies and crackers.
With a strong focus on innovation, service, quality, and sustainability, Shearer’s has been awarded the food industry’s highest award for environmental sustainability, as well as multiple Supplier of the Year awards.
Operating 16 locations across North America and employing more than 5000 team members, Shearer’s is driven by its core values of People, Grow, Impact and Win. The company mission is to deliver exceptional products and services that make snacking a time to celebrate for our customers, colleagues, and community.
Responsibilities:
Senior Manager of Quality
Remote - Up to 50% Travel
The Senior Manager of Quality provides strategic and operational leadership for Quality and Food Safety across Shearer’s Foods’ North American manufacturing network. This role is responsible for ensuring consistent, best-in-class quality systems that protect the consumer, the brand, and the business while supporting growth across a diverse portfolio of salty snacks, including chips, crackers, cookies, and protein bars.
This leader partners closely with Operations, R&D, Supply Chain, FSQA site leaders, and Commercial teams to drive continuous improvement, regulatory compliance, customer satisfaction, and a strong food safety culture across regional locations in the U.S. and Canada.
Quality & Food Safety Leadership
- Provide enterprise-level leadership for Quality and Food Safety programs across all manufacturing sites.
- Establish, deploy, and continuously improve standardized Quality Management Systems (QMS) aligned with GFSI (SQF/BRC/IFS), FDA, USDA, CFIA, and customer requirements.
- Champion a strong food safety and quality culture, ensuring accountability at all levels of the organization.
- Serve as a subject matter expert and escalation point for critical quality, food safety, and regulatory issues.
Multi-Site Oversight & Governance
- Lead, coach, and develop site Quality Managers and Quality teams across the network.
- Ensure consistent execution of quality standards, policies, and procedures across all plants while allowing flexibility for site-specific risks.
- Conduct regular site visits, audits, and leadership reviews to assess compliance, capability, and performance.
- Drive alignment and standardization across diverse product categories and manufacturing technologies.
Regulatory, Audit & Customer Compliance
- Ensure readiness and successful outcomes for third-party audits, regulatory inspections, and customer audits.
- Lead responses to regulatory inquiries, inspections, and corrective action plans.
- Own enterprise-level management of non-conformances, deviations, recalls, withdrawals, and root cause analysis.
- Act as a key quality representative in customer-facing discussions and issue resolution.
Risk Management & Continuous Improvement
- Identify and proactively mitigate food safety and quality risks using data, trend analysis, and preventive controls.
- Lead cross-functional continuous improvement initiatives focused on defect reduction, waste elimination, and process capability.
- Utilize Lean, Six Sigma, or similar methodologies to improve quality performance and operational efficiency.
- Leverage data and KPIs to drive decisions, accountability, and transparency across the network.
Cross-Functional Partnership
- Partner with Operations, Engineering, R&D, Procurement, Supply Chain, and Commercial teams to ensure quality is embedded from design through execution.
- Support new product introductions, plant expansions, and process changes through robust risk assessments and validation.
- Collaborate with suppliers to ensure raw material and packaging quality meets Shearer’s standards.
Talent Development & Leadership
- Build a strong pipeline of quality talent through coaching, succession planning, and performance management.
- Develop training programs to strengthen food safety, GMP, and quality capability across manufacturing and support teams.
- Model Shearer’s values and leadership behaviors, fostering engagement, accountability, and continuous learning.
Qualifications:
Required
- Bachelor’s degree in food science, Microbiology, Chemistry, Engineering, or related field.
- 10+ years of progressive Quality/Food Safety leadership experience in food manufacturing, preferably in snacks or high-volume CPG.
- Multi-site leadership experience with demonstrated success influencing without direct authority.
- Deep working knowledge of GFSI standards (SQF, BRC, IFS), HACCP, FSMA, Preventive Controls, and regulatory requirements.
- Proven experience leading audits, managing regulatory inspections, and resolving complex quality issues.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
- Willingness and ability to travel extensively across the U.S. and Canada.
Preferred
- Master’s degree in food science, Quality, or Business.
- Experience in salty snacks, baked goods, bars, or extrusion/frying operations.
- Six Sigma, Lean, or Quality certifications (CQE, PCQI, SQF Practitioner).
- Experience supporting private labels and branded customers.
We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.