The US food and beverage manufacturing sector is one of the largest and most economically significant industries in the country — generating close to $1.5 trillion annually and employing over 1.7 million people across thousands of facilities nationwide. It is also one of the most underserved industries in professional recruitment.
While healthcare, technology, and financial services attract dozens of specialist recruitment agencies competing aggressively for clients and candidates, food and beverage manufacturing sits largely ignored by the specialist recruiting world. Most mid-size food processors, beverage producers, meat and poultry operations, bakeries, snack manufacturers, and contract food companies have no dedicated recruitment partner — and they feel that gap acutely every time a critical leadership role opens up.
The talent challenges in food and beverage manufacturing are real and structural. The combination of demanding physical environments, shift-based operations, food safety compliance requirements, and compensation that has historically lagged other manufacturing sectors makes attracting and retaining experienced leaders genuinely difficult. Plant Managers burn out or get poached. QA Managers with FSMA and SQF expertise are in short supply. Maintenance Managers who understand both the equipment and the sanitary design requirements of a food environment are rare.
And when these roles sit open, the consequences are immediate and tangible — food safety risk, production downtime, compliance exposure, and teams stretched beyond capacity trying to cover the gap.
We exist to solve exactly this problem. For food and beverage manufacturers who need experienced operational and quality leadership, and who have historically had nowhere specialist to turn, Corvi Technologies offers a dedicated recruitment service built specifically for this sector — on a contingency basis, with no upfront cost and no risk.
ROLES WE RECRUIT FOR
Food & Beverage Manufacturing Roles We Place — Permanently and Directly
We recruit experienced food and beverage manufacturing professionals across the following roles. Every search is tailored to your specific production environment, food safety requirements, and operational needs.
Plant Manager
- Salary range:$105,000 – $145,000
- Experience:10–20 years food or beverage manufacturing, 3–5+ years in plant leadership
- Key skills:P&L ownership, production planning, food safety culture, team leadership, GMP compliance, OEE improvement
- Facility types:Food processing, beverage production, bakery, meat and poultry, dairy, snack manufacturing
Director of Operations / VP of Operations
- Salary range:$130,000 – $175,000
- Experience:12–20+ years, multi-site or large single-site food and beverage operations
- Key skills:Multi-plant management, CAPEX planning, capacity expansion, strategic operations leadership, continuous improvement
- Facility types:Multi-plant food companies, large contract manufacturers, national brands
QA Manager / Quality Assurance Manager
- Salary range:$85,000 – $115,000
- Experience:6–12 years food quality and safety
- Key skills:FSMA compliance, HACCP, SQF, BRC, ISO 22000, internal auditing, customer complaint management, CAPA
- Facility types:All food and beverage production environments
Food Safety Manager / FSQA Manager
- Salary range:$80,000 – $110,000
- Experience:5–10 years
- Key skills:FSMA Preventive Controls, HACCP plan development and maintenance, sanitation program management, regulatory agency interaction, recall procedures
- Facility types:RTE facilities, raw processing, produce, dairy, meat and poultry
Maintenance Manager / Reliability Manager
- Salary range:$85,000 – $120,000
- Experience:7–15 years industrial maintenance in food or beverage environment
- Key skills:Preventive and predictive maintenance, CMMS, sanitary equipment design knowledge, electrical and mechanical systems, TPM, spare parts management
- Facility types:High-speed packaging, processing, beverage, dairy, bakery
Production Manager / Operations Manager
- Salary range:$80,000 – $110,000
- Experience:6–12 years food production management
- Key skills:Production scheduling, line efficiency, labor management, GMP compliance, KPI ownership, shift management
- Facility types:All food and beverage production environments
Continuous Improvement Manager / Lean Manager
- Salary range:$90,000 – $120,000
- Experience:6–12 years
- Key skills:Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen, OEE improvement, waste reduction, VSM, CI program development
- Facility types:High-volume food and beverage, contract manufacturing, consumer goods
R&D Manager / Product Development Manager
- Salary range:$90,000 – $125,000
- Experience:7–14 years food science or product development
- Key skills:New product development, reformulation, ingredient sourcing, sensory evaluation, scale-up, regulatory compliance for food labeling
- Facility types:Branded food companies, contract manufacturers, ingredient suppliers
Sanitation Manager
- Salary range:$75,000 – $100,000
- Experience:5–10 years food plant sanitation
- Key skills:Master sanitation schedule, chemical management, allergen control, environmental monitoring, SSOP development, CIP systems
- Facility types:RTE facilities, dairy, meat and poultry, beverage, produce
Regulatory Affairs Manager / Compliance Manager
- Salary range:$90,000 – $120,000
- Experience:6–12 years
- Key skills:FDA regulatory compliance, FSMA implementation, label review, GRAS determinations, third-party audit management, SQF/BRC practitioner
- Facility types:Branded food companies, supplement manufacturers, beverage producers
Don't see your specific role?
We recruit across the full breadth of food and beverage manufacturing operations, quality, safety, and leadership positions.
If the role you need is not listed above, get in touch.
OUR CLIENTS
We Work With Food & Beverage Manufacturers of All Sizes — From Single-Facility Regional Producers to Multi-Plant National Brands
Our food and beverage manufacturing recruitment clients include regional bakeries and food processors with a single facility, mid-size branded food companies with multiple plants, large contract manufacturers serving national retail customers, and beverage producers at every scale from craft to national distribution.
What they share is a genuine need for experienced operational and quality leadership — and historically, very few specialist recruitment options to turn to.
We are the right recruitment partner for you if:
- You have one or more open food and beverage manufacturing leadership or quality roles right now
- Your HR team understands HR but does not have deep food manufacturing recruiting expertise
- You have tried job boards and received applications from manufacturing candidates with no food industry background
- You need candidates who understand GMP environments, food safety compliance, and the specific operational demands of a food or beverage facility
- Your facility has had recent food safety audit findings and needs to strengthen your quality or food safety leadership immediately
- You want a recruiter accountable for results on a no-placement no-fee basis
Geographic coverage:
We recruit food and beverage manufacturing professionals across all major US food production corridors including the Midwest, Southeast, Texas, California, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Mountain West — with particular depth in states with the highest concentration of food processing facilities including Iowa, Illinois, Texas, California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.
