Karen Singley is a solution-oriented food safety and quality assurance leader who builds strong cross-functional partnerships across marketing, quality assurance, food safety, technical services, purchasing, operations and supply chain. She maintains relationships with franchisees and company operations and cultivates trusted suppliers across ingredients, packaging and equipment, grounded in QSR best practices.
In this interview, Singley explains how partnership, transparency, and data-driven decision-making strengthen Jack in the Box’s food safety culture. Her focus on supplier capability, clear specifications, digital monitoring, and commercialization ensure safer launches, consistent quality, and guest trust.
Learning Under Food Safety Legends
I began my career at Jack in the Box in 1993 under Dr. Dave Theno, whose expertise in food safety and quality assurance shaped my early growth as a product manager. Later, under Dr. Ann Marie McNamara’s leadership, I gained further insights from her recognized expertise in the field.
Then, I moved into supply chain technical services, focusing on quality assurance and commercialization of new products, under Dean Gordon. That broadened my business perspective and strengthened my understanding of supplier relationships. Those three experiences shaped my philosophy in quality assurance and food safety and were central to who I am today. I’m very thankful for those mentors.
Start Small, Prove Value, Scale What Works
Everything starts with partnership. We work closely with suppliers, operations teams, franchisees and cross-functional partners in R&D and marketing. That is the core value I bring to our teams. Without it, progress is limited and when hard conversations are needed, genuine partnership makes them easier.
The first lens is always food safety. We start by evaluating the supplier. And then we evaluate the product and back-of-house procedures to confirm safe handling and execution.
The same mindset applies when we introduce new technologies and digital monitoring. Implementation is a heavy lift for the teams, so we acknowledge that upfront and share a clear vision of the future state and the return on that investment. We outline when the lift will be highest and help everyone see when the work will get easier. Over time, that clarity builds buy-in, eases execution and expands our influence on improving processes and proving results.
Innovative Items that Keep Fans Coming Back
The first lens is always food safety. We start by evaluating the supplier. Then, we evaluate the product and back-of-house procedures to confirm safe handling and execution. My team does more than monitor quality. We also commercialize new items. We write the specifications, attend the first production runs and monitor performance throughout production.
That hands-on role helps us understand supplier capabilities and ensure the finished product meets what our restaurants need and guests expect. We do this in close partnership with R&D from the beginning, so safety and quality are built in.
Data that Strengthens Every Partnership
Our work has always been grounded in data. It began years ago with routine reviews of production data and more recently we implemented a specification database. That step elevated how we analyze supplier programs and production records and it improved our surveillance of spec compliance and trending. I did not lead the rollout, but I was part of the team as it went live. The tool has been instrumental in giving suppliers direct feedback, monitoring spec compliance and driving a more consistent product. There are many ways to monitor data; this is the one we use.
Partnership and process efficiency make the data actionable. We review results with suppliers on a regular cadence, weekly for some and quarterly for others. We focus on how the data in the spec platform maps to the finished product and to each supplier’s capabilities. If a process is running at the top or low end of spec rather than at target, we work together on adjustments that improve efficiency and bring the product to target. That consistent feedback benefits Jack in the Box and our suppliers. It helps them do what they want to do, which is to meet the standard faster and more reliably.
Building Leaders Who Act on Data
The foundation is a partnership enabled by data, technology and transparency. With suppliers and operators, greater transparency builds trust in the data and makes it easier to spot where processes can improve. I focus on aligning partners, sharing clear information and using technology to turn insight into action.
Looking ahead, leaders need to be agile and forward-thinking, with food safety as the first lens. They should understand business needs and how a product or specification affects the bottom line. Sometimes specifications can be so tight they drive up costs without being necessary. Connecting those dots helps you see the bigger picture and drive value for the organization.
