Quality Engineer
Company: UPSIDE Foods
Role summary
Quality Engineer is a role at UPSIDE Foods in Emeryville, California, United States (on-site). Posted 2026-10-13. Salary: USD 95,000–110,000 per year. Experience level: 5-10.
- Job title
- Quality Engineer
- Company
- UPSIDE Foods
- Location
- Emeryville, California, United States
- Work arrangement
- on-site
- Category
- Software Engineering
- Salary
- USD 95,000–110,000 per year
- Experience level
- 5-10
- Date posted
- 2026-10-13
This role is perfect for someone passionate about food safety and quality, offering a competitive salary and the chance to build foundational systems for an innovative company. You'll have a significant impact on how cultivated meat is produced, from development to packaging, with opportunities to shape future processes.
Job description
About the role:
The Quality Engineer plays a key role in defining, establishing, and enforcing the food safety and quality systems that will shape how cultivated meat is produced, processed, and packaged as we scale.
You will make sure the right quality and food safety methods are built into plant goals across the FSQA lab, plant testing, and HACCP and Preventive Controls monitoring, taking both a long- and short-term view as products, processes, and company priorities develop. You will drive continuous improvement in food safety, quality, regulatory, sanitation, and corporate standards, and take part in the innovation process so that quality and food safety risk analysis is complete and compliance documentation is validated.
Much of what you build will set precedent for scaled cultivated meat. We want someone eager to take on new challenges, not afraid to fail, and willing to name mistakes and learn from them.
What you'll do:
Food Safety and Quality Systems
Help implement and execute the Food Safety & Quality Management System that underpins cultivated meat manufacturing, spanning both FDA and USDA operations.
Act as the subject matter expert for food safety and quality, including day-to-day issues at the plant, for both FDA operations and daily USDA inspections.
Own EMP testing, pre-op startup, in-process sample and testing, internal audits, GMP compliance and final release process.
Lab, Testing, and Compliance Programs
Partner with R&D and Regulatory on the programs FSQA owns: analytical 3rd party day-to-day oversight of testing in the plant Food Safety and HACCP plans
Support third-party certifications such as kosher, organic, and halal, label applications, and compliance with customer quality and food safety programs
Guide FSQA team members toward results that serve internal and external customers and meet corporate goals
Supplier and Regulatory Support
Support the supplier quality program, including document review, auditing, and trials
Support FDA and USDA relationships, including inspections, post-market compliance plans, adverse event reporting, and label approval
Help develop and carry out regulatory strategy for the plant's food safety and quality programs
Qualifications :
Required
5+ years of experience in food manufacturing
Experience managing food safety, quality systems, and technical services functions, with strong people skills
Ability to set clear, challenging performance expectations for analytical testing, microbiological performance, and FSMA, HACCP, and HARPC programs
Experience developing or implementing GFSI programs, including lab validation, supplier management, sanitation and pre-op, internal and external auditing, CAPA and root cause analysis, document control, crisis management, customer complaints, environmental monitoring, food defense, food fraud, and allergen management
Working knowledge of continuous improvement, and the ability to collaborate effectively with leadership at suppliers and customers
A deeply technical background, and the ability to translate evidence into action
A collaborative nature: you work well independently and with others, and help build a healthy team environment
Preferred
PCQI certification
Compensation Range: $95,000 - 110,000
*Pay may vary depending on factors including job-related knowledge and skills.
UPSIDE Foods is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Our company-wide mission is to create a product for everyone, so we are deeply committed to having teams and leaders that reflect this mission.