Vice President, Food Safety & Quality Assurance

About the role

At Open Farm we are transforming the way people feed their pets, with a focus on producing premium, healthy food and treats, all ethically sourced from farm-to-bowl. Headquartered in Toronto and with team members across the US, Open Farm is one of the fastest growing CPG companies in North America. We believe that the best foods are made with consciously sourced, top-quality ingredients from farmers and fisheries who believe in doing good for all animals and the environment. In 2021, Open Farm raised >$80MM CAD in our latest round of funding, led by leading global growth equity firm General Atlantic, who joined Open Farm's leadership team and existing minority partner, Encore Consumer Capital, on Open Farm's long-term growth journey. With annual sales growth exceeding 60 per cent over the last three years, our products can be found in over 6,000 neighbourhood pet retailers across North America as well as online at OpenFarmPet.com. Our product line is recognized as a category-leader in product innovation, with a full suite of premium offerings ranging from kibble to fresh meals and supplements. Throughout our growth journey, we have stayed true to our values, partnering with ethical sourcing partners Certified Humane®, Global Animal Partnership, and Ocean Wise Seafood to provide better quality ingredients to pets and ensure we are sourcing ingredients in a way that respects farm animals and the planet. In our accelerated growth journey and mission to Do Some Good® for animals and the planet, we are looking for an exceptional, innovative, mission-driven finance leader to help build a globally trusted and loved brand and scale into the most successful omni-channel and sustainability focused CPG company in the world. Reporting to the Chief Supply Chain Officer, the Vice President, Food Safety & Quality Assurance will lead all aspects of food safety, quality assurance, regulatory compliance and relations, and will provide strategic input into new product innovation projects. The Vice President, Food Safety & Quality Assurance will be a key technical expert, collaborator and leader in the organization, focusing on people, process and systems to ensure we continue to meet the highest standards of food quality and safety. This role acts as a key resource to our co-manufacturer and supplier network, ensuring our safety and quality requirements are implemented across our supply chain, and will also work closely with Open Farm's Manufacturing, Procurement, Innovation and Impact teams, and play the critical role of championing Open Farm's rigorous safety and quality standards. Role Overview Serving as a key member of the Senior Leadership Team, the Vice President, Food Safety and Quality Assurance will define and lead the enterprise wide strategy for food safety, quality systems, regulatory compliance, and product integrity. This executive will architect and continuously strengthen a best-in-class FSQA function that supports rapid growth, product innovation, global expansion, and increasing operational complexity. The VP will serve as the organization's foremost authority on food safety and regulatory excellence, while acting as a strategic business partner across Manufacturing (external), Procurement, Innovation, Impact, Marketing, and Customer Experience. The role requires both visionary leadership and operational rigor-building scalable systems, strengthening supplier and co-manufacturing networks, embedding quality into innovation processes, and ensuring Open Farm remains an industry benchmark for safety, transparency, and animal welfare standards. The ideal candidate is a strategic, systems-oriented executive with deep technical expertise and demonstrated success scaling food safety and quality organizations within high-growth CPG environments.

Responsibilities

• Enterprise FSQA Strategy & Governance
• Develop and execute a multi-year, enterprise-wide food safety and quality strategy aligned with Open Farm's growth, innovation, and international expansion plans.
• Establish governance frameworks, KPIs, and reporting mechanisms to ensure proactive risk management and continuous improvement.
• Serve as the executive owner of food safety and quality risk across the supply chain.
• Regulatory Leadership & Compliance
• Ensure full compliance with all applicable regulatory bodies and export market requirements (e.g., FDA, CFIA, and international authorities).
• Oversee global certification standards including SQF, BRC, HACCP, Global Animal Partnership, Certified Humane, Ocean Wise, MSC/ASC, and related frameworks.
• Anticipate and proactively respond to evolving regulatory and industry requirements.
• Supply Chain & Partner Oversight
• Provide executive oversight of Open Farm's co-manufacturing and supplier network, ensuring rigorous implementation of food safety and quality standards from ingredient sourcing through finished goods distribution.
• Lead and oversee supplier qualification, onb

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