ROLE PROFILE: HEAD OF QUALITY

 

Role Overview

  • Role Title: Head of Quality
  • Function/Department: Agricultural Operations – Banana Plantation
  • Reporting Manager: Director – Banana Plantation
  • Location: East Africa
  • Recruitment Agency: Reed Specialist Recruitment

 

Role Purpose

The Head of Quality is accountable for establishing and maintaining the plantation’s end-to-end quality system from field production through harvesting, packing, and export. This pivotal role ensures bananas consistently meet customer, export, food-safety, traceability, and commercial specifications while minimizing rejections, defects, post-harvest losses, and avoidable quality costs.

The position establishes strict standards, inspection systems, training programs, and audit readiness. The successful candidate will work closely with Agronomy, Plant Health, Farm Operations, and Engineering to prevent quality problems at the source and drive overall productivity, cost efficiency, and profitability.

 

Key Responsibilities

1. Quality Management System (Export Standard & Consistency)

  • Develop and implement plantation-wide quality standards, SOPs, specifications, inspection plans, and acceptance criteria.
  • Translate customer and international export requirements into measurable field, harvest, packing, and dispatch standards.
  • Maintain document control, robust traceability, and all compliance records required for internal and external audits.

2. Field & Harvest Quality (Prevention at Source)

  • Establish strict quality controls for crop development, bunch management, maturity, fruit size, defects, handling, and harvesting.
  • Conduct regular field and harvest audits to identify trends in under-length fruit, physical defects, maturity issues, and other causes of commercial loss.
  • Collaborate directly with Agronomy, Plant Health, and Farm Managers to implement preventive actions before fruit reaches the packing house.

3. Packing House & Post-Harvest Quality (Maximum Export Recovery)

  • Define and monitor receiving, dehanding, washing, grading, packing, storage, and dispatch standards.
  • Control product handling processes to minimize mechanical damage, contamination, temperature-related risks, and post-harvest losses.
  • Track exportable yield, rejection rates, grading accuracy, packing-line performance, and compliance with customer specifications.

4. Food Safety, Traceability & Compliance

  • Lead all food-safety, hygiene, traceability, and quality-control systems applicable to both the plantation and packing operations.
  • Maintain end-to-end lot/batch traceability from the specific field block through harvest, packing, and final shipment.
  • Coordinate comprehensive audit preparations, manage non-conformity closures, and ensure continuous certification readiness.

5. Quality Data, Training & Corrective Action

  • Establish and manage quality dashboards to analyze defects, rejection causes, customer feedback, and performance trends.
  • Lead root-cause analysis and execute corrective/preventive action (CAPA) programs in coordination with responsible departments.
  • Train field, harvest, and packing personnel on quality standards, verifying competency through routine audits and practical checks.