About the role

SDC is hiring a Head – Quality to build the quality and food safety system of a fast-scaling ingredient manufacturer, not to maintain one that already exists.

Spray Drying and Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. (SDC) manufactures food and nutraceutical ingredients at Saykha Industrial Estate, Bharuch, Gujarat. We are FSSC 22000, Halal and Kosher certified, US FDA registered, and export to the US and EU. The plant runs 24x7, and current production lines are being added.

Growth has outrun our systems. Documentation, batch records, specifications and audit readiness exist, but they are not yet lived on the shop floor every shift. The gap is cultural as much as technical. This role exists to close it.

You will report directly to the Directors, own the Quality Assurance and Quality Control functions end to end, and have the mandate to change how the plant works. This is a leadership seat with a board-level voice, not a documentation role. Building systems and building culture are the two things that matter most in this role; everything else follows from them.

Role at a glance

- Reports to: Directors
- Direct reports: QA and QC teams (team leads, executives, analysts)
- Base: Surat Head Office, with presence at the Saykha (Bharuch) plant at least 3 days a week and whenever the plant needs it
- Key interfaces: Production, Engineering, Projects, Warehouse, R&D;, Purchase, Sales, customers, auditors, certification bodies, FSSAI
- Scope: Full accountability for food safety, quality systems, QC laboratory, compliance, customer quality and quality culture across the site

What you will own

You are accountable for outcomes, delivered through your team. Culture and systems are the priority; they are where the role will be judged first.

1. Quality culture and leadership

- Make food safety and quality a shop-floor habit on every shift, not a QA-department activity.
- Build a culture where operators stop a line, raise a deviation and record it honestly without fear.
- Lead, structure and grow the QA and QC teams: roles, KRAs, training plans, succession and performance.
- Act as the senior voice for quality with Production and Engineering; resolve quality-versus-output conflicts at the leadership level.
- Run a visible quality rhythm: daily shop-floor rounds, weekly quality reviews, monthly management review with the Directors.

2. Quality and food safety management systems

- Own the FSMS and QMS end to end: FSSC 22000, ISO 22000, HACCP, GMP, GHP, PRPs and allergen management.
- Build and maintain the full documentation architecture: manuals, SOPs, work instructions, formats, records and document control.
- Design and govern Batch Manufacturing Records: issue, in-process checks, label verification, post-production review and release.
- Run the CAPA, deviation, change-control and non-conformance systems so that root causes are found and closed, not just logged.
- Own validation, verification, calibration and the internal audit programme.

3. Quality control and laboratory

- Set specifications and test plans for raw materials, packaging, in-process material and finished goods.




- Run the QC laboratory: methods, instruments, calibration, reference standards, analyst competence and data integrity.
- Manage external laboratory testing and the testing schedule required by certifications and customers.
- Own the release decision for every batch.

4. Compliance, certifications and audits

- Keep SDC audit-ready at all times for FSSC 22000, Halal, Kosher, organic, US FDA and FSSAI.
- Lead all certification, regulatory and customer audits; own the response and closure of findings.
- Track Indian and international regulatory change (FSSAI, US FDA, EU) and translate it into plant practice.
- Own supplier quality: approval, specifications, audits and performance for imported raw materials and packaging.

5. Customer quality

- Own customer complaints: investigation, root cause, response and prevention.
- Deliver customer quality documentation: questionnaires, specifications, certificates, statements and technical files, working with Sales.
- Support customer audits and technical visits as the quality face of SDC.

6. Systems for scale

- Design the quality system for the new production lines so new capacity starts compliant on day one.
- Digitise quality records and dashboards in SDC's internal ERP; replace paper where it slows the plant.
- Define and report quality KPIs to the Directors: right-first-time, deviations, CAPA closure, complaints, audit findings, training coverage.

7. New product development and regulatory

- Own the quality and regulatory workstream for every new product: specifications, test methods, shelf-life and stability studies, allergen and contaminant assessment.
- Prepare and maintain process validation, cleaning validation and method validation documentation for new products and new lines.
- Build the regulatory file for each new product: FSSAI compliance, export market requirements (US FDA, EU), labelling and claims, certification scope extensions (Halal, Kosher, organic).
- Work with R&D; from concept stage so that products reach the plant with specifications, controls and documentation already in place.

What success looks like in the first 12 months

By 90 days: a gap assessment of the plant against FSSC 22000, GMP and customer requirements with a prioritised closure plan agreed with the Directors; the QA/QC team mapped with capability gaps and a hiring or training plan; daily quality rounds and a weekly quality review running and attended by Production.

By 6 months: BMR, deviation and CAPA systems redesigned and in use on every shift; SOP and document-control architecture rebuilt; shop-floor training programme live with coverage tracked by shift and role; quality KPIs reported monthly to the Directors.

By 12 months:



a surveillance or recertification audit passed with no major non-conformance; customer complaints closed with documented root cause within an agreed turnaround; quality system ready for the new production lines before commissioning; quality decisions made at floor and team-lead level without escalation to the Directors.

Who we are looking for A quality leader who has already built or rebuilt a system in a growing food plant and wants to do it again with full ownership.

Experience

- 10–15 years in quality assurance and quality control in food, nutraceutical, dairy, flavour or food-ingredient manufacturing; at least 4 years heading or deputy-heading a plant quality function.
- Has personally led a site through FSSC 22000 or ISO 22000 certification, or through a major system rebuild; has faced customer and regulatory audits as the accountable person.
- Experience in an export-oriented B2B ingredient business supplying US or EU customers is a strong advantage.
- Experience with powder, drying, blending or encapsulation processes is an advantage; a strong learner from an adjacent food sector will also be considered.
- Has built or led a team of 8 or more across QA and QC.

Education and certifications

- B.Tech, B.Sc or M.Sc in Food Technology, Dairy Technology, Microbiology, Chemistry or a related discipline.
- FSSC 22000 or ISO 22000 lead auditor; HACCP certification. PCQI (US FDA FSMA) is an advantage.

Competencies that matter here

- Changes behaviour on a shop floor, not just documents in an office; comfortable spending most of the day in the plant.
- Holds the line on quality with Production under output pressure, and does it without creating enemies.
- Builds systems that survive without them: clear ownership, simple formats, trained people.
- Finds root causes; is not satisfied by a CAPA that only reassigns blame.
- Communicates clearly in English and Gujarati or Hindi with operators, Directors, auditors and overseas customers.
- Thrives in a company where structure is still being built and ambiguity is normal.

Why join SDC

- Build, not maintain.You will design the quality system of a plant that is adding new production lines, and it will carry your name.
- Direct access to the Directors.No layers. Decisions on budget, hiring and plant changes happen in the same week they are raised.
- Global customers. Our products go into food and nutraceutical brands in the US, EU and Asia; your work is tested against international audit standards, not local ones alone.
- A growing platform. SDC is moving from a single-ingredient specialist to a multi-product ingredient and contract-manufacturing platform, with an in-house R&D; and pilot facility. The quality function grows with it.
- Compensation that reflects a head-of-function role. Competitive fixed salary benchmarked to established food companies, performance-linked variable pay, and relocation support for the Bharuch–Surat region. Specific terms discussed at interview.

How to apply

Apply through LinkedIn, or email your CV to [email protected]

📌 Head – Quality (Food & Nutraceutical Ingredients) (Surat)
🏢 Spray Drying and Chemicals
📍 Surat