Manager, Quality - Korea

About the job

Blue Bottle Coffee is looking for an experienced Quality Manager to lead Quality and Food Safety for our South Korea Roastery. This role is responsible for continuously improving the Quality Management System (QMS) for coffee roasting and food manufacturing operations, ensuring compliance with Korean regulatory requirements while upholding Blue Bottle's global quality and food safety standards.

The role will cover, but is not limited to, quality system planning and certification, supplier quality management, end-to-end production quality assurance, regulatory compliance, quality risk management, food safety programs, quality data analysis, root cause investigation and CAPA, government inspections, and leading the local Quality team to foster a strong quality culture across the organization. This role will also partner closely with Operations, Supply Chain, Coffee, R&D, and Global teams to establish scalable quality systems, ensure end-to-end product traceability, and deliver products that consistently meet Blue Bottle's global quality specifications.

You will report directly to the Global Head of Coffee Quality.

You will

• Quality Management System: Develop, implement, and continuously improve the Quality Management System (QMS) for coffee roasting and food manufacturing operations, ensuring compliance with Korean regulations, Blue Bottle global standards, and food safety management systems such as HACCP and ISO/FSSC 22000.
  
  
• Production Quality Assurance: Lead end-to-end quality assurance across raw materials, production processes, and finished products by establishing quality standards, monitoring critical control points, analyzing quality data, and driving continuous process improvement.
  
  
• Supplier Quality Management: Establish and manage supplier quality programs, including supplier qualification, audits, performance evaluation, and corrective actions to ensure a reliable and compliant supply chain.
  
  
• Quality Risk & Issue Management: Lead the investigation and resolution of quality and food safety issues through root cause analysis, CAPA implementation, risk assessment, and regulatory inspections, ensuring timely and effective issue resolution.
  
  
• Global Quality Partnership: Partner closely with global Quality teams to report quality performance, implement global quality initiatives, share best practices, and ensure alignment with company-wide quality standards.

You are

• Principles First: Demonstrates an uncompromising commitment to quality, making decisions based on quality standards and principles without compromising product integrity.
  
  
• Systems Thinking: Takes a holistic approach to quality management by identifying root causes and implementing sustainable, system-level improvements rather than focusing solely on short-term fixes.
  
  
• Results Orientation: Uses data and facts to drive decision-making and effectively executes corrective and preventive actions to deliver measurable improvements.
  
  
• Influencing Across Functions: Builds strong partnerships and effectively influences cross-functional stakeholders to drive quality improvements, even without direct reporting authority.
  
  
• Crisis Management: Remains calm under pressure and demonstrates sound judgment to make timely decisions and effectively manage urgent quality and food safety issues.

You have

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Agriculture, or a related field.

• 8+ years of experience in quality management within the food and beverage industry. 

• 3+ years in a factory Quality Manager role or an equivalent leadership position is a plus. 

• Hands-on experience in quality management for food manufacturing operations (e.g., bakery, dairy, beverages, ready-to-eat foods), with a strong understanding of food processing operations and quality control principles.

• In-depth knowledge of Korean food manufacturing regulations and compliance requirements, with the ability to independently assess and ensure regulatory compliance.

• Expertise in Food Safety Management Systems, including HACCP, ISO 22000. (FSSC 22000 experience is a plus)

• Proven experience in quality issue investigation and resolution, with proficiency in quality management tools and methodologies such as RCA, CAPA, FMEA, and SPC.

• Experience in the food processing industry, such as food manufacturing, coffee roasting, or coffee retail/franchise operations, with a strong understanding of food and coffee quality management is a plus.

• Professional certifications related to coffee quality and sensory evaluation, such as Q Grader, SCA Sensory Skills, or SCA Roasting, are highly preferred.

• Experience in quality management within a multinational corporation or international food company, with familiarity with global quality management systems and governance.

• Solid understanding of the Korean food industry supply chain, with hands-on experience in supplier quality management and local supplier development.

• Experience establishing quality management systems for a greenfield manufacturing facility is highly desirable.

• Fluent in Korean, Business-level Chinese or English is required.