Director, food safety

The Director, Food Safety & Supplier Assurance provides strategic leadership for the Company’s food safety, food defense, supplier assurance and regulatory compliance programs across a global supplier network. In an import, sourcing, trading and distribution business model, the Director applies strong technical judgment, supplier partnership and commercially balanced, risk-based decision-making to protect consumers, maintain customer confidence, support supply continuity and enable growth.
As the senior technical authority and leader of the Food Safety team, the Director partners with Procurement, Sales, Operations, Logistics, Customer Service and Executive Leadership. The role translates technical and regulatory requirements into practical business solutions and drives accountability across geographically dispersed suppliers, customers and internal stakeholders through influence, communication and collaboration.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership & Team Development
Lead, coach and develop the Food Safety team, setting clear expectations, and development objectives while fostering accountability, collaboration, continuous learning and customer focus.
Provide strategic and technical guidance that strengthens judgment, prioritization and practical problem-solving across the organization.
Champion risk-based, commercially minded decisions that focus resources on critical issues while managing lower-risk matters through proportionate controls and collaborative solutions.
Quality Systems, Continuous Improvement & Transformation
Champion operational excellence within Quality and Food Safety by simplifying and standardizing procedures, harmonizing quality systems and SOPs with Group standards, and advancing the digitalization and automation of quality processes and administrative workflows.
Establish KPI-driven processes, reporting and data governance to improve visibility, decision quality and performance management across the Food Safety function.
Identify opportunities to reduce administrative burden, eliminate non-value-added activities and improve scalability while maintaining appropriate risk controls and regulatory compliance.
Food Safety, Food Defense & Technical Leadership
Develop and continuously improve food safety, food defense, supplier assurance and regulatory compliance programs in line with regulatory requirements, customer expectations, industry practices and corporate objectives.
Serve as the Company’s senior technical authority and lead the response to significant incidents, intentional adulteration or tampering concerns, regulatory challenges, withdrawals, recalls and supplier compliance issues.
Balance consumer protection, regulatory obligations, customer commitments, operational realities, supplier relationships and business priorities using sound technical and commercial judgment.
Build trusted relationships with customers, suppliers, regulators, certification bodies and industry stakeholders, representing the Company as a credible and pragmatic technical leader.
Lead supplier approval, qualification, monitoring and development programs to maintain a resilient, compliant and high-performing global supplier network.
Apply risk-based oversight to audits, verification, monitoring and review frequency; evaluate certifications, laboratory results, corrective actions and performance indicators to identify and address emerging risks.
Partner with Procurement on supplier selection, strategic sourcing, business continuity and supply chain risk management, providing clear technical recommendations for business decisions and customer commitments.
Drive resolution of supplier non-conformances through root cause analysis, corrective and preventive action, data-driven review and collaborative accountability.
Business Partnership & Commercial Support
Assess food safety, regulatory, supplier and supply chain risks for new products, suppliers, sourcing opportunities, customer requirements and market expansion.
Provide practical recommendations that protect consumers, customers and the Company’s reputation while supporting growth, customer satisfaction and supply continuity.
Advise Executive Leadership on material food safety, compliance, supplier and operational risks and contribute technical insight to strategic initiatives, sourcing, contracts and continuity planning.
Support customer audits, technical assessments, compliance reviews and strategic engagements as a trusted technical advisor.
Regulatory Compliance, Audits & Preparedness
Monitor and interpret applicable Canadian and U. S. regulatory requirements, particularly CFIA/SFCR import requirements and FDA/FSVP and FSMA obligations, and ensure Company policies, programs and practices remain aligned with evolving expectations.
Lead or support internal, customer, regulatory and certification audits and ensure timely resolution of findings and continuous improvement opportunitie