Ciara Kane

Background

About Ciara Kane

I’m a quality and food safety professional with over 13 years’ experience leading teams, driving compliance, and implementing continuous improvement across the food industry. Currently Product Safety Manager at Lidl Ireland, I oversee supplier audits, product risk assessments, crisis management, and regulatory compliance to ensure our products meet the highest safety and quality standards. In 2024–2025, I stepped up as Acting Head of Quality, managing the Quality and Responsible Sourcing teams, overseeing ISO 9001 certification, and driving departmental strategy, operations, and budgets. This leadership experience strengthened my skills in resource planning, cross-functional collaboration, and making high-stakes business decisions to protect brand reputation and customer safety. My career spans senior leadership and technical roles, giving me a 360° view of quality management — from labelling compliance and legislative horizon scanning to process improvement and stakeholder engagement. I thrive in fast-paced, high-accountability environments where precision, clear communication, and proactive problem-solving are essential. With a strong academic foundation (MSc in Food Safety & Risk Analysis and BAgrSc in Food Science) and ongoing professional development in auditing, HACCP, and food defence, I’m passionate about raising standards, developing teams, and delivering measurable results.