QA Manager in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota at Branding Iron Holdings

About the Company

For over 60 years, Branding Iron Holdings (“BIH”) has been producing high quality beef and pork products while delivering customized solutions to the food service and retail trade industries. With an eye to the future, BIH has put a strong focus on building internal talent and on leveraging unique product lines and national distribution to drive continued growth. Guided by a strong set of core values (Respect, Integrity and Stewardship), reflecting a culture of servant leadership at every level, BIH’s team works hard to foster a culture that embraces and builds meaningful, long-term relationships with both employees and its customer base.

Position Summary

The Quality Assurance Manager is responsible for maintaining Branding Iron’s quality standards and overseeing quality assurance and food safety operations. This role performs, monitors, and implements BIH testing programs; supports employee training; follows up with suppliers on raw materials received; and is responsible for label approval, UPC codes, and nutritional information. The position ensures products meet or exceed requirements critical to product safety, legal and regulatory compliance, and quality. This role also helps maintain a strong food safety culture and supports the development, validation, and maintenance of Food Safety and Food Quality systems consistent with the SQF Food Safety and Quality Codes.

Responsibilities

Every effort has been made to identify the essential functions of this position. However, this job description does not state or imply that these are the only duties required. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or an essential function of the position.

1. Oversee quality assurance, food safety, HACCP, SSOP, GMP, SQF, and regulatory compliance programs, ensuring required documentation is accurate, timely, and complete.

2. Develop, maintain, and update quality procedures, reports, product specifications, sanitation records, maintenance logs, and other quality system documentation.

3. Lead, support, and participate in HACCP, SSOP, Food Defense, Quality Team, and company quality meetings, including training and communication of quality topics.

4. Manage audits, inspections, certifications, verifications, lab testing, mock recalls, lot tracking, and product release communication.

5. Monitor supplier, cold storage, shipping, receiving, pest control, sanitation, and raw material programs, following up on issues and corrective actions as needed.

6. Support label approval, UPC creation, carton and bag blueprint review, nutritional documentation, net weight compliance, and product specification accuracy.

7. Respond to customer, supplier, cold storage, and USDA concerns while supporting timely investigation, resolution, and documentation of product or compliance issues.

8. Manage QA staff, department supplies, and budgets, while supporting training, accountability, and overall quality department performance.

Supervisory Responsibilities

Provides leadership and oversight for the QA Supervisor and QA Technicians.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Meat Science, Microbiology, Food Technology, Chemistry, Biological Sciences, or a related field preferred.

• Minimum 5+ years of Quality Assurance experience in food manufacturing or a related industry.

• Strong working knowledge of food safety and quality systems, USDA regulatory compliance, and regulatory and GFSI audit processes.

• Proven ability to lead and develop teams, communicate effectively at all organizational levels, manage multiple priorities and deadlines, and collaborate across departments to resolve issues and drive continuous improvement.

• SQF and USDA experience required.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as ERP systems and performance or compliance tools.

• Detail-oriented, accuracy-focused self-starter who is results-driven, embraces accountability, and consistently delivers high-quality work.

Physical Demands

Must be able to stand, walk, reach, climb or balance, communicate, and perform physical tasks required in a production environment, with reasonable accommodations provided as needed.

• Stand for prolonged periods, including an 8-hour shift.

• Walk, stoop, reach, handle materials, and maintain attention to detail.

• Lift and/or move 10–50 pounds consistently.

Work Environment

Work is performed on cement floors in a moderate-to-high noise production environment with temperatures typically ranging from 30–50°F. Reasonable accommodations may be made as needed.

Work Hours

Typically works an 8-hour shift, with overtime and some weekend work required as business needs dictate.

Benefits Overview

Competitive base salary ($80,000 to 100,000 annually). Base salary is one component of a competitive compensation package for employees. Full benefits package, including medical/vision/dental/life insurance, 401(k) with company match, and paid time off. We take into consideration a variety of factors including, but not limited to, skills, abilities, experience, education, credentials, and internal equity when determining the base salary offered. Roles are eligible for additional rewards, including an annual incentive program based on individual and company performance.

Branding Iron Holdings is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, age, gender identity or expression, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital status, disability, veteran status, religion, national origin, or any other characteristic protected by applicable equal employment opportunity laws.