FSQA Director Recruiters
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An FSQA director owns the question every food executive dreads: is any plant in the network one bad swab away from a recall. 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?
An FSQA director owns the question every food executive dreads: is any plant in the network one bad swab away from a recall. The role covers several plants, each with its own audit calendar, sanitation culture and local manager. We search for directors who have built a program across sites and survived a customer or regulatory crisis, and who can tell your leadership team the truth about risk before a retailer does.
We ask how many plants they have covered, what is common to all and what they deliberately left plant-specific. A director who standardized everything usually broke something. One who standardized nothing usually has an audit program that depends on local heroes. We look for a defensible middle, with documentation of why.
We ask about the recall, the withdrawal, the regulatory warning or the customer suspension they actually led. We want the timeline, who made the hold decision, how they communicated with customers, and what changed afterward. Candidates who were at the table speak with texture. Candidates who were adjacent give summaries.
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.
Customer and retailer audit use
We ask how the candidate prepared plant managers for those audits, how they responded to scorecards and what they did when a customer's requirement conflicted with a scheme standard.
Quality of their plant managers
We ask how they hired, developed and sometimes replaced plant FSQA managers, and how they kept a weak site from hiding behind averages. We also check how they work with operations leaders who control budgets.
Regulatory posture and credibility
Credentials such as PCQI, HACCP and scheme-specific training matter, but the director's reputation with regulators and customers matters more.
Influence over capital and sanitation design
A director who cannot affect capital spending only writes reports. We ask what equipment, drain, wall or flow changes they secured, how they built the case, and how they handled a plant manager who resisted. The answer shows whether they speak the language of the business.
Need a FSQA Director? Tell us the plant and the seat.
Direct search
Where are qualified people working now?
Our current source pool is FSQA managers and senior plant quality leaders at multi-plant food companies, regional quality leaders who already oversee several sites and food safety leaders at larger co-manufacturers. Most are comfortable in their current seat and will move only for scope and authority.
We approach them with a plain description of your plant network, product risk and the reporting line. Candidates who see a direct line to the president tend to engage. Those who see a reporting line buried under operations tend to decline, and we say so up front.
Which hiring mistakes should you avoid?
- Quality of their plant managers. Directors are only as good as the quality managers who report to them.
- Customer and retailer audit use. Large retailers and quick service restaurant brands run their own audit programs and can pause orders.
- Regulatory posture and credibility. We check how they dealt with USDA and FDA, whether they have managed inspection outcomes at multiple locations and how they approached FSMA preventive control updates.
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 FSQA Director? Tell us the plant and the seat.
Which manufacturing settings need this role?
Questions about FSQA Director searches
Need a FSQA Director? Tell us the plant and the seat.
Start your FSQA Director search
Need a FSQA Director? 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 FSQA Director? Tell us the plant and the seat.
What else affects this FSQA Director hire?
Do we pay if the search does not end in a hire?
No: A fee is owed only when you hire a director we presented. Plant tours, executive interviews and the reference work we do for the network of plants carry no charge otherwise.
How do you protect a company with a sensitive recall history?
We describe the company by product category and plant footprint, without naming it, until a candidate is qualified and agrees to confidential discussion. Recall details and customer names stay private until you authorize disclosure.
Can you reach directors who are not looking?
They are almost all not looking. They manage several plants and usually hold sensitive information. We call them directly, describe scope and authority, and let them decide if the conversation is worth their time.
Will an FSQA director relocate?
Often yes, if the company is the right size and the title carries real reach. Some prefer to remain near an existing hub and travel between plants. We settle location expectations early so you know the options.
What titles do you include besides FSQA director?
Director of Food Safety and Quality Assurance and VP Food Safety both qualify, as do senior corporate quality managers who already lead a multi-plant program. The scope they have run matters more than the title.
Need a FSQA Director? Tell us the plant and the seat.
What should we discuss first?
What is the fee structure for an FSQA director search?
The fee is a percentage of the director's first-year base salary, set in writing before the person starts. Bonus and equity are not part of the calculation, which keeps the budget conversation simple.
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.