Manager, Food Safety & Quality

Lead the Food Safety & Quality Assurance agenda for KFC Latin America & Caribbean, protecting our consumers and the KFC brand while enabling sustainable business growth. 

The FSQA Manager is responsible for building and strengthening the systems, capabilities, governance, and partnerships required to consistently deliver safe, high-quality food across KFC LAC restaurants, suppliers, distributors, and franchise partners. 

The role will translate global Yum! and KFC FSQA standards into effective regional and market execution, proactively identify and mitigate food safety and quality risks, and drive continuous improvement across the system. 

This position serves as a key FSQA partner to Operations, Supply Chain, Innovation, franchisees, suppliers, and other functions, balancing strong technical standards with practical solutions that can be successfully implemented and scaled across diverse LAC markets.

Regional FSQA Strategy & Leadership 

• Lead the development and execution of the KFC LAC Food Safety & Quality strategy in alignment with Yum! and KFC global standards. 
• Establish regional FSQA priorities based on consumer risk, business needs, market performance, and emerging risks. 
• Translate global FSQA requirements into practical and scalable solutions for LAC markets. 
• Establish clear priorities, KPIs, governance, and accountability for the regional FSQA agenda. 
• Provide leadership visibility on major risks, trends, progress, and areas requiring intervention. 
• Champion a strong food safety culture across KFC LAC. 

Restaurant Food Safety & Operational Excellence 

• Partner with Operations and franchisees to ensure food safety standards are consistently executed across restaurants. 
• Identify systemic restaurant-level food safety risks and develop scalable solutions to address root causes. 
• Use audit, operational, and food safety data to identify performance gaps and prioritize interventions. 
• Partner with Operations and Training to simplify procedures and strengthen restaurant execution. 
• Ensure new operational processes, equipment, ingredients, and restaurant initiatives appropriately address food safety risks. 
• Drive continuous improvement of restaurant food safety systems, standards, and routines. 

Supplier & Supply Chain Food Safety 

• Provide regional leadership for supplier food safety and quality performance. 
• Ensure suppliers comply with Yum! FSQA programs, approved specifications, audit requirements, and corrective action expectations. 
• Establish a risk-based approach to supplier oversight, focusing resources on the highest-risk products, suppliers, and markets. 
• Partner with Supply Chain and franchisees to address underperforming suppliers and ensure timely corrective actions. 
• Escalate significant supplier risks and recommend appropriate business actions when standards are not met. 
• Drive supplier capability improvement and promote preventive rather than reactive quality management. 
• Support qualification and approval of new suppliers and strategic sourcing initiatives. 

Risk Management & Crisis Leadership 

• Maintain a proactive view of food safety and quality risks across LAC. 
• Establish mechanisms to identify emerging risks before they become significant consumer or brand issues. 
• Lead or coordinate FSQA response during food safety incidents and crises. 
• Ensure appropriate investigation, root-cause analysis, corrective action, documentation, and followup. 
• Partner with Operations, Supply Chain, Communications, Legal, franchisees, and leadership during significant incidents. 
• Ensure markets and franchise partners maintain appropriate crisis preparedness and response capability. Identify learnings from incidents and translate them into improvements across the broader system. 

Product Innovation & Specifications 

• Provide FSQA leadership for new products, ingredients, suppliers, equipment, and menu innovation. 
• Ensure food safety risks are evaluated early in the innovation process rather than after implementation. 
• Partner with FIT/Innovation, Operations, Supply Chain, and franchisees to develop safe and operationally executable solutions. 
• Ensure product specifications, Quality Assurance Programs (QAPs), and supplier documentation are accurate and maintained. 
• Oversee effective use of TrueView and other FSQA systems. 
• Establish appropriate validation and approval processes before regional or market implementation. 

Performance Management, Data & Continuous Improvement 

• Establish and monitor regional FSQA KPIs and performance expectations. 
• Create visibility of food safety and quality performance across markets, suppliers, and franchise partners. 
• Analyze trends to identify systemic risks and opportunities rather than treating issues individually. 
• Develop action plans for markets or suppliers with recurring performance gaps. 
• Use data to prioritize resources and measure the effectiveness of FSQA interventions. 
• Benchmark performance and identify opportunities to strengthen KFC LAC's FSQA capabilities. 
• Promote simplification, digitalization, and automation of FSQA processes where they can improve effectiveness or reduce unnecessary work. 

Franchisee & Stakeholder Partnership 

• Serve as a trusted FSQA advisor to franchisees and market leadership. 
• Influence partners to take appropriate action while building understanding of the consumer, brand, operational, and commercial importance of food safety. 
• Build strong working relationships with Operations, Supply Chain, FIT/Innovation, Training, Technology, Legal, Communications, and Global FSQA teams. 
• Represent KFC LAC in relevant regional and global FSQA forums. 
• Engage external auditors, technical experts, regulatory agencies, and industry organizations when appropriate. 
• Balance global standards with local market realities without compromising consumer safety. 

People Leadership & Capability Building 

• Lead, coach, and develop the FSQA Analyst, establishing clear priorities, accountability, and development plans. 
• Build FSQA capability across franchise partners and market QA teams. 
• Develop training, tools, and routines that enable markets to independently manage food safety and quality. 
• Create a network of FSQA leaders and partners across LAC to share best practices and accelerate problem solving. 
• Build succession and technical capability for the future needs of the region. 
• Foster a culture of transparency where risks are raised early and teams focus on solving root causes rather than only closing findings.

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Microbiology, Food Engineering or related discipline. 
• Typically 7–10 years of progressive experience in food safety, quality assurance, food manufacturing, restaurant systems, supply chain, or related areas. 
• Strong understanding of food manufacturing, supplier quality management, restaurant food safety, auditing, risk management, and quality improvement systems. 
• Experience working across multiple markets, business units, franchise organizations, or complex stakeholder environments preferred. 
• Poultry science or poultry processing experience strongly preferred. 
• HACCP certification required; food safety auditing or recognized food safety management system certification strongly preferred. 
• Strong ability to assess risk, identify root causes, make sound decisions, and determine appropriate escalation. 
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders and business partners without relying on direct authority. 
• Strong business judgment and ability to balance technical requirements with operational and commercial realities. 
• Strong analytical skills with ability to translate data into priorities and action. 
• Excellent project and program management capabilities. 
• Strong communication and presentation skills, including the ability to simplify complex technical topics for non-technical audiences. 
• Ability to lead through ambiguity, manage multiple priorities, and operate effectively in a geographically dispersed organization. 
• Demonstrated people leadership, coaching, and capability-building skills. 
• Strong proficiency with Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and relevant FSQA/data management systems. 
• Spanish and English proficiency required; Portuguese is a plus. 

Salary Range: $110,500 to $152,010 annually + bonus eligibility. This is the expected salary range for this position. Ultimately, in determining pay, we'll consider the successful candidate’s location, experience, and other job-related factors.