Food Safety and Quality Wages – Food and Beverage Salaries Series #2
Wages are increasing. To stay competitive for quality talent in this dynamic market it is very important for food and beverage employers to understand compensation specific to the industry and among your competitors for key roles.
That is why Kinsa Group’s food and beverage executive recruiters have collected salary data from more than 8,000 candidate interviews across several food and beverage categories and skillsets during the past two years. We share that data with employers and job candidates alike in our 2022 Food and Beverage Salary Guide so that you can stay competitive.
We’re taking some time this week to expand on the details shared in the Food Safety, Quality Assurance, and Regulatory pages so that you can hire and keep talented professionals in these disciplines.
Leadership at the VP and Director level – Food Safety and Quality
Food Safety and Quality Assurance for your food products are critical. So, you need to attract and retain the educated and experienced professionals that have the knowledge and skills to ensure a safe, quality product leaves your facility and is enjoyed by your customer.
- Kinsa’s 2022 Salary Guide cites that Vice Presidents of Quality reported a low base salary end of $125,000 to a high end of $300,000. The median base pay is $195,000. This is an 11% increase over the 2020 median reported at $175,000.
- Directors of Quality and Food Safety had a 17% median base pay increase from $120,000 in 2020 to $140,000 in 2022. Though still a wide range of pay reported at $80,000 on the low end of the pay range to $240,000 on the high end.
Managers
The median base salary for Food Safety and Quality Assurance Managers has held quite steady at $100,000 for the past 4 years. Dipping to $95,000 in 2020 but rebounding back to $100,000 in both 2021 and 2022. The range goes up to $180,000 on the high end though, so don’t expect to be able to recruit a top-notch FSQA Manager for the median that they’ve already been making for the last 4 years! Kinsa’s recruiters expect to see this median jump in 2022, especially for the top markets where food production is plentiful.
- One median pay range that took a bit of a downturn in the last 4 years was the Regulatory Manager title. Dropping from $110,000 median in 2019 to $100,000 in 2021 and maintaining at $100,000 in 2022 as well. Could that 9% drop-off be due to flexibility by employers and employees to allow a role like this to work on regulatory documentation remotely and thus has candidates giving up a little on the base salary ask? That is one hypothesis. Of note, the range still goes up to $155,000 so keep that in mind as you’re budgeting for top talent with key skills or knowledge of USDA, FDA, FSMA, and other state and marketplace regulatory bodies.
- Sanitation Manager roles are really difficult to recruit for. They are often off-shift leadership while production has paused for the night. The median for Sanitation Managers in 2022 was reported at $90,000, down from $100,000 in 2021. Although, the high-end report held at $130,000. Kinsa recruiters speculate this is because Sanitation Managers move onward and upward in their careers into new titles and roles. Specifically in Quality or Production and Operations leadership rather than remaining long-term as Sanitation Managers on 3rd shift or otherwise.
Supervisors and Specialists
The roles that saw the highest median salary increase from 2020 to 2022 were the more entry-level Quality roles. For example, Quality Specialists, QA supervisors, Quality Coordinators, and Lab Technicians.
- You could pay a median $70,000 in 2020 for a Quality Specialist. However, that role jumped to a median of $85,000 in 2021 and now pays a median of $95,000.
- Likewise, a QA Supervisor made a median of $60,000 in 2020. Growing to $70,000 in 2021, and now reported at $80,000 in 2022. Both of these more than 30% increases.
- Larger still is the 65% increase for an educated or skilled Lab Technician and Quality Coordinator. The median pay increasing from $42,500 in 2020 to $55,000 in 2021, and now $70,000 in 2022.
- The ranges for Quality Technicians and Supervisors are much smaller than the quality leadership positions reported earlier. Likely because a professional only stays in a Technician or Supervisor role for so long before climbing the career ladder.
Did you find this information helpful?
Do you have additional questions that you’d like to discuss with a Kinsa Recruiter?
Feel free to reach out to our team or contact us to assist you with launching a new search to hire a Quality and Food Safety leadership professional for your company today.
Looking for the complete food and beverage salary insight guide? Download now for free and get access to the range and median of food and beverage salaries from C-Suite to Sales and Innovation to Operations.
DOWNLOAD NOWIf you are a professional seeking a new Food Safety and Quality position, review the specific job titles Kinsa Group typically recruits for and consider applying to one of Kinsa Group’s current job openings today!
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