Director, Food Safety & Quality Assurance

About the Team:

Delivering more than 3M meals per month and growing 3x YoY, CookUnity is also helping improve the livelihood of working chefs, tripling their income and enabling the growth of their own teams and personal brands. We believe that healthy food fuels stronger communities—and that food safety is foundational to that mission.

The role:

CookUnity is seeking an experienced and highly strategic Director, Food Safety & Quality Assurance to lead and scale food safety excellence across our NYC operations. This role is critical to enabling CookUnity's rapid growth and marketplace expansion by building best-in-class, data-driven food safety systems that protect our customers, strengthen brand trust, and support operational innovation at scale.

CookUnity operates at the intersection of culinary innovation, direct-to-consumer distribution, and multi-site ready-to-eat production, requiring a leader who can balance speed of growth with disciplined control of core risks such as sanitation, cold chain integrity, supplier governance, and regulatory alignment across jurisdictions. This role offers the rare opportunity to build foundational programs, influence product and operational design, and embed food safety as a strategic enabler of growth as CookUnity expands its geographic footprint, SKU complexity, and marketplace ecosystem. The Director will partner cross-functionally to translate emerging risks into pragmatic controls that protect consumers, strengthen brand trust, and support the company's trajectory toward category leadership and potential public market readiness.

As the site Food Safety leader, this role owns the end-to-end food safety strategy and execution for one of CookUnity's most complex markets. Reporting into the VP, Food Safety & Quality Assurance, this leader will act as a key thought partner across Operations, Culinary, Supply Chain, and Regulatory teams—ensuring food safety is deeply embedded into how we design, build, and scale our production systems.

The ideal candidate operates at both a strategic and systems level, while remaining close enough to execution to drive impact on the ground. They bring strong leadership presence, the ability to influence at all levels, and a track record of building scalable programs in high-growth environments.

Responsibilities:

• Own and drive the end-to-end food safety strategy for NYC operations, aligning with company-wide growth, marketplace expansion, and operational excellence goals
• Serve as the executive food safety leader on-site, accountable for regulatory compliance, audit performance, and overall food safety outcomes
• Lead all regulatory interactions, including FDA/USDA/local agencies, third-party audits, and certifications; ensure best-in-class inspection readiness and execution
• Design, implement, and continuously evolve scalable food safety systems across high-volume, ready-to-eat production environments
• Establish and monitor key food safety KPIs and risk indicators, leveraging data to proactively identify trends, mitigate risks, and drive continuous improvement
• Oversee and optimize preventive controls and critical programs, including HACCP, environmental monitoring, sanitation, allergen management, cold chain, and process controls
• Partner cross-functionally with Operations, Culinary, and Supply Chain leaders to embed food safety into production design, capacity planning, and new product launches
• Lead complex food safety investigations, root cause analysis, and CAPA programs; ensure systemic fixes and organizational learning
• Build, develop, and scale a high-performing food safety organization, including hiring, coaching, and developing future leaders
• Drive a culture of food safety ownership and accountability across all levels of the operation, from frontline teams to senior leadership
• Translate evolving regulatory requirements into clear, scalable, and practical operational standards
• Act as a strategic advisor to senior leadership, influencing decisions that balance speed, quality, and compliance

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Engineering, Microbiology, Food Safety, or a related discipline; advanced degree or equivalent experience preferred
• HACCP, PCQI, and/or Certified Food Safety Manager credentials required
• 10+ years of progressive experience in food safety, quality, or regulatory leadership within ready-to-eat, fresh, or high-compliance food production environments
• Proven track record of owning and scaling food safety programs at a site or multi-site level in complex, high-growth operations
• Deep expertise in FDA, USDA, and local regulatory frameworks, preventive controls, and risk-based food safety systems
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence at a senior level, driving alignment across cross-functional stakeholders
• Strong experience building and developing high-performing teams and leaders
• Highly analytical, with experience leveraging KPIs, risk metrics and AI tools to inform decision-making
• Exceptional communication and executive presence, with the ability to translate technical concepts into business impact
• Thrives in fast-paced, high-growth environments with a strong ownership mindset and bias for action

Learn More About CookUnity

We believe great leadership starts with alignment on vision, values, and ways of working. To give you deeper insight into who we are and what we're looking for, we invite you to explore: CookUnity's Leadership Principles – The values and behaviors that guide how we operate, collaborate, and scale.

We hope this provides valuable insight into our culture and product vision. If this excites you, we'd love to connect!

Benefits

Health Insurance coverage

401k Plan

We grow, you grow: Stock Options Plan granted on Day 1

Eligible for a bi-annual performance bonus

• Unlimited PTO

️ 5-year Sabbatical: After 5 years with CookUnity, you get a 4-week paid sabbatical

Paid Family Leave

Compassionate Leave: 3–5 days each time the need arises

Monthly CookUnity credits to enjoy our meals

• ️ Wellness perks: nutritional coach access and fitness subsidies

‍ Personalized Spanish coach

Opportunity to join a company that's redefining how we eat and how chefs work

Compensation

• All final pay rates will be determined by the candidate's experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data.
• Pay Range for this position: $150,000 - $175,000 per year.

If you're interested in this role, please submit your application and if we think you might be a fit, we'll get in touch with you. Thank you for your time!

CookUnity is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are dedicated to creating a community of inclusion and an environment free from discrimination or harassment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship status, protected veteran status, genetic information, or physical or mental disability.