Food Safety Coordinator / SQF Practitioner Recruiters
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The food safety coordinator is the person who keeps the plan alive between audits. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
- No upfront fee
- Pay only if you hire
- Manufacturing only
- We reach people who aren't on job boards
- Replacement guarantee on standard searches
The hiring decision
What makes this hire work on your plant floor?
The food safety coordinator is the person who keeps the plan alive between audits. They update the hazard analysis when a supplier changes, pull records, chase corrective actions and know where the evidence sits when an auditor asks for it. When this seat is weak, audit prep becomes a scramble. We search for coordinators who are organized, practical and respected on the floor.
We ask what they maintained, not what they read. Did they update the hazard analysis, verify critical limits, review monitoring records and run reanalysis after a change? A coordinator with real ownership can describe a change that forced them to revise the plan and who signed off.
Where your scheme calls for a practitioner, we confirm the credential and ask how they used it. We ask about the last audit, which clauses they handled, and how they managed document control.
Before an introduction
What do we check before you interview?
Our recruiter conversations establish what the candidate says they personally handled, how they made decisions and why they would consider this opening. The brief identifies candidate-reported information, available supporting evidence and unresolved questions. Your team still assesses technical performance, site-specific safety requirements and the authority the person will need.
Audit preparation habits
Good answers describe a standing internal audit schedule, mock audits and a record review habit. Weak answers describe a month of panic. We also ask how they handled a finding they disagreed with and how they closed it.
Supplier approval discipline
We ask how they collected certificates, reviewed audit reports, handled a supplier that went out of date and managed a raw material change. Coordinators who followed up on expiring documents are valuable because that work is repetitive and rarely praised.
Floor credibility and training skill
A coordinator without respect on the floor cannot enforce a program. We ask how they trained operators on allergen controls, glass and brittle plastic rules and sanitation verification. We also look for candidates who moved from technician roles, because they know what the line actually does.
Need a Food Safety Coordinator / SQF Practitioner? Tell us the plant and the seat.
Direct search
Where are qualified people working now?
Our current sources for this seat are food plants with active audit programs, quality technicians who have earned HACCP and practitioner training and want a documented role, and food safety specialists at co-manufacturers where multiple customers inspect the same site. Many are ready to step up from technician work into a role with their name on the program.
We reach them through direct calls, not postings. We describe the scheme, the product and the shift pattern, and ask what they want to own next.
Another pool is the plant that has just passed a hard audit and is quietly losing its documentation person to burnout, or a plant whose coordinator was promoted and left the system half documented. People in those positions often want a cleaner program under a manager who values the work. We also talk to technicians who run swabbing, ATP checks and pre-operational inspections every day and have started asking why the records look the way they do. That curiosity is the best predictor we have found.
Which hiring mistakes should you avoid?
- SQF Practitioner status in practice. A practitioner who has only attended training is not the same as one who ran the program.
- Audit preparation habits. We ask how they prepared for the last audit.
- Supplier approval discipline. Supplier approval programs fail quietly.
Executive-search discipline, on every assignment
What do you get from the Six-Step Search?
Plant leaders, engineers and skilled technicians receive the same care in defining the work, researching relevant backgrounds and understanding the individual. Pulling a list and sending messages is not the hard part. The value is doing the research and qualification well enough to support a sound hiring decision.
Calibrate the work and the decision
We start with the operating problem, what the hire must improve and the decisions they will own. We agree what experience matters, who supports the role and what you can realistically offer. A maintenance leader inheriting reactive breakdowns needs a different brief from one building a reliability program.
Research relevant plants and people
We research manufacturing environments where people have handled comparable work. Process, equipment and decision authority matter more than a matching title. We look for relevant professionals, including people who are not applying, rather than treating an exported list as a completed search.
Make respectful, targeted contact
We explain why the work may be relevant and invite a conversation without pressure. We agree what information may be shared on a confidential search. Contact is the start of qualification, not evidence that someone wants the job or fits it.
Discuss the work they personally performed
Our conversations separate an individual's decisions and responsibilities from the team's results. We explore judgment under pressure, reasons for considering a move and practical expectations. For technicians, that includes equipment background, shift, commute and the support available. Candidate accounts are identified as such; a conversation is not a technical certification.
Write down fit, gaps and open questions
You receive a written candidate brief connecting the person's background to your operating problem. It explains motivation and practical fit, the gaps we have identified and what remains to assess. We distinguish candidate-reported information from supporting evidence rather than presenting every statement as independently verified.
Stay involved through interviews and offers
We use your interview feedback to clarify gaps and keep both sides informed about the work and expectations. We help address offer questions, counteroffers and practical concerns without promising an acceptance. Your team makes the hiring decision and assesses technical capability and site-specific requirements. A shortlist is an output of this work, not the whole service.
Need a Food Safety Coordinator / SQF Practitioner? Tell us the plant and the seat.
Which manufacturing settings need this role?
Questions about Food Safety Coordinator / SQF Practitioner searches
Need a Food Safety Coordinator / SQF Practitioner? Tell us the plant and the seat.
Start your Food Safety Coordinator / SQF Practitioner search
Need a Food Safety Coordinator / SQF Practitioner? Tell us the plant and the seat.
Pay snapshot
$126,060 annual national median for SOC 11-3051 Industrial Production Managers.
BLS measures this broader occupation across industries. It does not publish a separate wage for this manufacturing title.
May 2025 OEWS, released 2026-05-15. BLS release · Official occupation data
Open the full salary guideNeed a Food Safety Coordinator / SQF Practitioner? Tell us the plant and the seat.
What else affects this Food Safety Coordinator / SQF Practitioner hire?
When do we pay for a coordinator search?
You pay when a coordinator we presented accepts your offer and starts work. If you decide not to hire, no fee is owed for the screening and record review work.
Will our audit findings stay confidential?
Yes: We share the plant as a type of facility and product category until a candidate qualifies. Findings, customer names and plan details stay private until you approve release.
Do passive candidates exist at the coordinator level?
Yes: Many strong coordinators are employed and doing well but have no clear path upward. We approach them directly, explain the scope and the scheme, and let them decide if the program is worth owning.
Will coordinators relocate?
Some will, though many prefer to stay near their families and commute. We ask about location and shift flexibility before the first interview so you do not spend time on a mismatch.
Which alternate titles do you search?
Food Safety Specialist, FSQA Supervisor and HACCP Coordinator all fit. We judge the work performed and the credentials, because plants label the same job in different ways.
Need a Food Safety Coordinator / SQF Practitioner? Tell us the plant and the seat.
What should we discuss first?
How is the fee calculated for a food safety coordinator?
The fee is a percentage of the coordinator's first-year base salary, put in writing before the person starts. It is not a flat rate and it is not tied to bonus.
Questions before starting a search
When do you pay a recruiting fee?
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. The signed recruiting agreement sets the fee basis and payment terms. Sending an opening does not itself commit you to a fee or an exclusive arrangement.
How long does it take to see a short list?
We discuss the search conditions before describing a realistic next step. Shift, location, equipment match and the candidate's reasons for moving all matter. We do not promise a shortlist date before understanding the opening.
How do you handle counteroffers?
We ask what is driving the move before introducing a candidate. We discuss what might change if the current employer offers more money or a different job. Your team still decides whether that person's motivation fits the opening.
What replacement terms apply?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What do you not do?
We do not bill hourly for a standard permanent search, repost a job-board ad as a search, or supply high-volume general labor. Retainers are not the default. Any different arrangement must be agreed in writing.
Read the contingency fee terms · Review Food Safety Coordinator / SQF Practitioner