Customer Experience Quality Manager - Food Industry

Position Summary:

The Manager of Customer Quality is responsible for focus on Customer Experience & "Moments that Matter" for Ventura Foods customers.  Responsible for proactive customer communications as it relates to quality & food safety, enhancing, training, and streamlining complaint (case) handling procedures, monitoring and providing proactive trend assessments from both internal and external sources of data, partnering with Customer Service within Service Cloud to drive resolution and satisfaction, engage in customer meetings to seek opportunities to improve customer experience, and provide proactive and periodic status updates to internal stakeholders.  

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Responsible for key customer account support from quality assurance perspective: Commercialization process, documentation fulfillment, expectations & policy review, plant audit preparation, coordination of internal resources, escalation of risks, and complaints management. 
• Initiate and maintain customer quality reviews supported by documented evidence, trend analysis, clear action ownership, and consistent follow-through.
• Escalate significant quality risks promptly and ensure customer communications are factual, appropriately reviewed, and supported by verified information.
• Monitor customer quality response times, specification accuracy, complaint trends, and customer sentiment, translating findings into appropriate corrective and improvement actions
• Partner with Customer Service department on opportunities for improvement in both process and technology. Become a subject matter resource of the Case Management (Service Cloud) system.
• Engage and represent the quality assurance department with the commercial team and customers' quality assurance counterparts on a regular basis to support Customer Experience initiatives. This includes customer meetings, customer scorecarding, sensory cuttings, plant visits & audits, business reviews, and other associated activities. 
• Partner with and at times lead & coordinate personnel from various internal departments to drive improvements, resolution, and provide key updates to leadership and key customers. 

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Quality, Business, or a related field; equivalent professional experience may be considered.
• At least 5 years of experience in food manufacturing quality, customer quality, complaint management, or a related customer-facing technical role.
• 3+ years of people management and supervisory expierence required.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate with customers professionally, coordinate investigations, interpret product specifications, analyze trends, and ensure cross-functional follow-through.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, organizational, and communication skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and metrics in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience with customer audits, quality reviews, or supplier-assurance coordination is preferred.
• Ability to communicate technical findings clearly, maintain confidentiality, and exercise sound judgment when handling sensitive quality matters.
• Self-directed and dependable, with high integrity and a collaborative approach to building relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Comfortable addressing challenging situations with patience, professionalism, and respect.
• Commitment to food safety, product quality, continuous improvement, and a strong customer-service mindset.
• Ability to support critical quality issues outside regular working hours when necessary.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Complete understanding of FSMA, FDA 21 CFR,  and USDA FSIS Directive policies.  
• HACCP, HARPC, GMP, and Sanitation programs.
• Food microbiology knowledge and technical knowledge of thermal processing and acidified foods  a plus.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills.