Senior Food Safety & Quality Assurance Manager - Americas

WHO WE ARE

We’re not in the wing business. We’re in the flavor business. It’s been our mission to Serve the World Flavor since we first opened in 1994, and we’re just getting started. 1997 saw the opening of our first brand partner operated Wingstop location, and by 2002 we had served the world one billion wings. It’s flavor that defines us and has made Wingstop one of the fastest growing brands in the restaurant industry.

Above all else – our success is largely due to our people and our core values, or what we call The Wingstop Way of being entrepreneurial, service-minded, fun, and authentic. We believe having a strong people foundation centered on these collective values creates a crave-worthy culture and talented team, as well as ensures our brand is poised for accelerated growth. We all win together.

WHAT WE'LL NEED

To serve as the regional technical lead for Food Safety, Quality Assurance, and Product Specification & R&D support across AMRS (Canada, Mexico, Latin America & Caribbean).

This role owns the technical integrity of Wingstop’s products across their full lifecycle: from concept and specification development, through supplier validation and commercialization, to ongoing quality performance in market. Partnering closely with Culinary, Supply Chain, Global FSQA, and Brand Partners, this leader ensures every product delivered into AMRS restaurants is safe, compliant, operationally executable, and aligned with Wingstop’s flavor and brand standards.

This is a highly cross-functional role requiring both technical depth and commercial awareness — balancing innovation enablement with risk mitigation.

Product Specification Management & R&D Technical Leadership

• Own the development, approval, and maintenance of product specifications, formulations, ingredient statements, allergen matrices, and labeling documentation for all AMRS food and packaging items.
• Partner with Culinary and cross-functional stakeholders to translate product concepts into technically sound, manufacturable, and compliant specifications.
• Lead technical validation for New Product Development (NPD) and Existing Product Development (EPD), including nutritional validation, regulatory review, shelf-life studies, organoleptic testing, and operational feasibility assessments.
• Attend and oversee production trials, first productions, and commercialization runs to ensure product integrity and specification adherence.

• Ensure product changes, reformulations, and regional adaptations are properly risk-assessed, documented, and communicated.

   

Quality Assurance & Supplier Performance

• Lead supplier approval, validation, and ongoing performance management across AMRS, ensuring compliance with Wingstop standards, GFSI benchmarks, HACCP programs, and regional regulations.
• Develop and execute supplier quality strategies using KPIs, audit results, complaint data, and risk assessments to drive continuous improvement.
• Analyze supplier production reports and third-party audit findings (GFSI, SEDEX, regulatory) and ensure timely closure of corrective and preventive actions.
• Validate and approve new supplier facilities to support growth, redundancy, and market expansion.
• Oversee TraceGains governance in partnership with Global FSQA, ensuring document accuracy and system compliance.

Food Safety & Regulatory Governance

• Serve as the regional authority on food safety compliance, monitoring evolving regulatory requirements across AMRS markets and proactively advising stakeholders.
• Lead recall readiness and execution for AMRS, partnering cross-functionally to ensure rapid, compliant, and brand-protective response.
• Investigate food safety and quality incidents, conducting structured root cause analysis and implementing corrective actions with suppliers and Brand Partners.
• Implement and monitor compliance with Wingstop’s animal welfare, sustainability, and responsible sourcing standards within the regional supply base.
• Partner with Brand Partners to strengthen food safety culture, complaint investigation processes, and operational compliance practices in market.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Food Engineering, or related scientific field (or equivalent experience).
• 6+ years of progressive experience across food safety, quality assurance, technical services, or product development within QSR, poultry, food manufacturing, or food retail.
• Demonstrated experience supporting product commercialization, specification development, and supplier-based R&D initiatives.
• Strong working knowledge of GFSI standards, HACCP systems, allergen control, labeling regulations, and recall management across multi-country environments — particularly within Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Experience translating culinary or product concepts into technically robust and commercially viable specifications.
• Proven ability to conduct root cause investigations and implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Strong analytical capability to interpret audit findings, production data, and complaint trends to proactively mitigate risk.
• Excellent cross-functional collaboration skills, with the ability to influence Culinary, Supply Chain, Operations, and external suppliers without direct authority.
• Willingness and ability to travel across AMRS markets (~30–40%).
• Spanish fluency strongly preferred; Portuguese a plus.

WHO YOU ARE

No job is too small. You recognize that the real work happens in the restaurants, and everything we do should support their success. You stay humble, roll up your sleeves, and always look for ways to help. You learn from others and contribute wherever you can.

You care deeply about doing great work and driving results. You’re curious, ask questions, and seek out opportunities to improve. You don’t just point out problems—you bring solutions, ideas, and perspectives that move the team forward.

You take full responsibility for your work and see things through to completion. You aren’t afraid to fail because you know that failure is a part of learning and growth. You take action, move fast, and keep pushing forward.

You lead with empathy, respect, and emotional intelligence. You collaborate effectively, fostering a culture of trust and constructive feedback. You understand the importance of teamwork and ensure that your actions build others up rather than break them down.

You push yourself and others to be better. You embrace healthy conflict, knowing that great ideas and strong teams emerge from honest, constructive conversations. You believe that leaders create leaders and are committed to fostering a culture of growth, challenge, and continuous improvement.

BENEFITS

Flavor Perks:

• Unlimited paid time off for exempt employees

• One paid volunteer day of your choice

• Competitive bonus structure for eligible roles

• Team member stock purchase plan

• Health savings or flexible spending account options

• 401k – (dollar for dollar on the first 3% and then 50 cents on the dollar for the next 2% for team member contributions up to 5% of eligible compensation)

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits

• Basic life and AD&D insurance provided

• Pet insurance

• Education Assistance

• Wellness reimbursement program

• Paid maternity and paternity leave

Fun is the best Flavor:

• Lunch provided every Tuesday and Thursday in office

• Discount on Wingstop gift cards

• Onsite game room

Wingstop provides equal opportunities for everyone that works for us and everyone that applies to join our team, without regard to sex or gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, any service, past, present, or future, in the uniformed services of the United States (military or veteran status), or any other consideration protected by federal, state, or local law.