Head of Quality

Join a long-established, values-driven food manufacturing business with a strong heritage in quality, innovation, and sustainability. The Head of Quality is accountable for end-to-end food safety, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance across the site, ensuring products consistently meet legal, customer, and internal standards while leading the Quality Management System and embedding a strong food-safety culture.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the Quality Management System (e.g. BRCGS, FSSC 22000, ISO).
• Ensure compliance with all applicable legislation, customer standards, and internal requirements.
• Lead external audits, inspections, and customer reviews, including close-out of actions.
• Oversee investigation and resolution of non-conformances, complaints, and incidents, including root cause analysis.
• Report quality performance, KPIs, and risks to senior leadership.
• Monitor regulatory changes and assess potential business impact.
• Partner with Operations to manage production quality, hygiene, and food-safety risks.
• Provide risk-based input into operational decisions (e.g. trials, changeovers, scale-ups).
• Analyse quality data, identify trends, and drive continuous improvement.
• Lead validation of product and process changes.
• Lead, develop, and performance-manage the Quality team.
• Build capability, clarify roles, and support succession planning.
• Contribute to broader operational excellence programmes.
• Partner cross-functionally with Procurement, Operations, Innovation, and Commercial teams.
• Ensure supplier, raw material, and customer quality requirements are met.
• Manage relationships with laboratories, auditors, regulators, and third-party partners.
• Accountable for the Quality function and associated budget
• Key stakeholders: internal teams and external partners (customers, suppliers, regulators)

Qualifications & Experience

• Degree in Food Science or related discipline (essential)
• Advanced food safety qualifications (desirable)
• 8+ years’ experience in quality leadership within manufacturing
• Strong knowledge of BRCGS, FSSC 22000, and/or ISO standards
• Experience in product compliance and continuous improvement

For a confidential discussion and more information on the role, please contact Kevin Griffin

Kevin Griffin

kevin.griffin@collinsmcnicholas.ie

(021) 2427108