Senior Manager, Produce Quality

Hungryroot

. Serve as the technical authority on produce quality, specification governance, and supplier execution.

Posted 9/21/2026full-timeRemote • United StatesSenior💰 $140,000 - $160,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates extensive expertise in USDA Grading Standards and PACA Regulations, with a strong focus on produce quality assessment and supplier relationship management. Capable of developing and governing produce specifications while leading quality initiatives and training operational teams across multiple locations.

Highest-signal resume keywords

USDA Grading StandardsPACA RegulationsProduce Quality AssessmentSupplier Relationship ManagementQuality Operations Leadership

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Produce InspectionQuality GradingDefect IdentificationSpecification DevelopmentQuality Trend AnalysisSupplier Corrective Action ProgramsQuality InvestigationsOperational Constraints DevelopmentQuality Risk MitigationFresh Produce Commodity Assessment

Soft Skills

Excellent CommunicationTraining and CoachingRelationship BuildingIndependent WorkProblem Solving

Tools & Technologies

Claude AIQuality Management SystemsInspection ToolsData Analysis SoftwareFulfillment Center Systems

Industry Keywords

Produce QualityFresh Produce Supply ChainSeasonal TransitionsStorage CropsQuality Standards Compliance

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Serve as the technical authority on produce quality, specification governance, and supplier execution.
Build and maintain relationships with growers and shippers to ensure quality standards, shelf-life requirements, and corrective actions are met.
Act as the primary escalation point for quality disputes and drive continuous supplier performance improvement.
Develop, maintain, and improve specifications across bulk and co-manufactured produce.
Create temporary specifications during changing market conditions and govern specification interpretation and compliance.
Provide technical guidance on assortment decisions, supplier capabilities, inbound delivery cadence, truck temperatures, fulfillment center turn days, and seasonal transitions.
Develop produce quality guardrails and operational constraints while identifying and mitigating quality and supply risks.
Lead produce inspection, grading, and defect identification in accordance with USDA standards and PACA regulations.
Serve as the primary USDA liaison and ensure inspection readiness and regulatory compliance.
Train and coach inbound quality teams across fulfillment centers on standardized inspection, grading, defect identification, and communication practices.
Analyze quality trends, identify systemic improvements, reduce defect rates, and report performance, risks, and recommendations to stakeholders and senior leadership.
Oversee in-house retain testing and other quality initiatives.

Requirements

What you’ll need

5–10 years of produce inspection or produce quality experience, with deep expertise in USDA grading standards, PACA regulations, and fresh commodity quality assessment.
Hands-on experience inspecting, grading, and evaluating quality across a broad range of fresh produce commodities.
Strong knowledge of growing regions, seasonal transitions, weather impacts, storage crops, and produce supply chain dynamics.
Experience building and managing supplier relationships with growers, shippers, or produce vendors.
Experience utilizing Claude or other AI tools for job related activities such as metric evaluation.
Demonstrated experience developing, maintaining, and governing produce specifications in a retail, foodservice, or direct-to-consumer environment.
Experience supporting quality operations across multiple distribution centers, fulfillment centers, or field locations.
Demonstrated success leading supplier corrective action programs, quality investigations, and supplier performance management.
Experience training, developing, and standardizing quality practices across distributed operational teams.
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to clearly communicate produce quality, operational risks, and recommendations to both field teams and executive leadership.
Ability to work independently in a remote environment and travel approximately 30–40% for supplier visits, fulfillment center training, and field assessments.
Must not require employer-sponsored work visa.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Remote-first: work from home, work from our NYC office, work from anywhere in the U.S. - you decide!
Equity
Unlimited vacation policy
Universal paid parental leave
Monthly Hungryroot credit for delicious, healthy groceries
Comprehensive health, vision, dental, and life insurance
401k with Company Match
A work from home stipend to support your initial home-office setup
Annual company retreat
Regular virtual team events