Leader, Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance - Imports

Kroger is seeking an experienced Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance Leader to lead food safety and regulatory compliance across our international supplier and direct import programs. This leader will oversee supplier certification and approval, import compliance, verification activities, regulatory agency relationships, and program development.

Role Responsibilities

• Supplier certification and approval: Leads supplier selection, evaluation and approval through established approval protocols.
• Import regulatory compliance: leads prior notice, food safety and quality review, pesticide monitoring, and COO labeling compliance on every shipment
• Verification oversight: reviews real-time field reporting from in-country inspections and owns decisions with providers (e.g., SGS)
• Agency relationships: serves as Kroger's primary contact with FDA, USDA, and other regulatory agencies on imports.
• Cross-functional collaboration: works with technical partners, Sourcing and Logistics to embed requirements into onboarding, contracts, and cold-chain routing
• Program design: design program that maintains the food safety framework and lot-level traceability from farm to store, using existing infrastructure

Role qualifications

Minimum qualifications:

• 10+ years in food safety or regulatory compliance with meaningful exposure to international supply chains and import programs
• Deep food safety regulation knowledge including expertise to lead Kroger’s program development in accordance with FSMA and FSVP requirements
• Global Food Safety Initiative benchmark audit program: familiarity with standards including but not limited to FSSC22000, Global Gap, Primus GFS, BRC etc.
• Ability to work cross-functionally, including with technical partners

Differentiator qualifications:

• Food safety lead at a food retailer or grocer, owning supplier approval and food safety programs across food categories
• Compliance lead at a food importer or grower-shipper, serving as importer of record with FDA and CBP