Quality Assurance Inspector; Processing

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Regular Full-Time Manual Labor Castroville, CA, US

14 days ago Requisition

Salary Range: $20.72 To $22.50 Hourly

The Quality Assurance Inspector is responsible for monitoring and evaluating product quality to ensure compliance with Ocean Mist Farms' quality standards, customer specifications, food safety requirements, and operational procedures.

This role requires collaboration with Operations, Sales, Food Safety, and Production teams to ensure consistent product quality and continuous improvement throughout the supply chain.

The position is based in Castroville, California, and requires travel to remote growing regions. Depending on the assigned area and seasonal business needs, temporary relocation may also be required.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

All Assignments

• Perform timely and accurate quality inspections on all commodities, lots, processes, and equipment, including externally sourced products from California, Arizona, and Mexico
• Evaluate product quality based on Ocean Mist Farms' standards and customer specifications, including weight, color, condition, appearance, packing, and temperature
• Identify and promptly communicate quality concerns, discrepancies, and deviations from established specifications
• Accurately complete and maintain inspection reports, logs, and electronic records
• Collaborate with Operations, Sales, Food Safety, Production, growers, and harvesting teams to investigate and resolve quality concerns
• Support corrective actions and verify that identified issues have been appropriately addressed
• Identify quality trends and opportunities for continuous improvement
• Follow all applicable food safety, sanitation, safety, and operational procedures

Field Assignment

• Conduct pre-harvest, harvest, and post-harvest product evaluations
• Monitor crop maturity, sizing, defects, appearance, environmental conditions, and harvest readiness
• Perform daily field inspections and collect quality-related samples and data
• Evaluate harvesting practices for compliance with established quality and product-handling standards
• Partner with growers and harvesting personnel to address quality concerns
• Support field food safety programs, grower evaluations, field audits, shelf-life studies, and special projects
• Recommend harvest timing, handling procedures, cooling, icing, packaging, carton selection, palletizing, and product disposition
• Participate in a rotating schedule consisting of approximately five weeks in Field operations and one week in Facility/Cooler operations, subject to business needs

Processing (Value Added & Heartichoke) Assignment

• Monitor production processes for compliance with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), food safety requirements, and product specifications
• Perform production-line verifications, including temperature, weight, packaging, labeling, and other process-control measurements
• Inspect machinery, processing lines, and work areas for cleanliness, hygiene, and operational readiness
• Monitor allergen controls to ensure allergen-containing products are properly separated from non-allergen production runs
• Use precision measuring instruments and testing equipment to perform required verifications
• Verify calibration status and perform routine care or maintenance of testing equipment, as assigned
• Reinforce Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), sanitation procedures, and food safety requirements on the production floor
• Place non-conforming products on hold or quarantine in accordance with established procedures
• Assist with root-cause investigations, product disposition, corrective actions, and follow-up verification
• Communicate findings to Production employees, supervisors, and managers so processes can be adjusted and corrective actions implemented

Facility Assignment

• Inspect incoming commodities and specific product lots intended for fresh-market or value-added operations, including externally sourced products from California, Arizona, and Mexico
• Evaluate incoming and stored products for quality, condition, temperature, packing, and compliance with established specifications
• Prepare and maintain receiving, raw-product, daily, and aging inspection reports
• Provide recommendations regarding cooling, packaging, carton selection, palletizing, storage, and product disposition
• Partner with Facility/Cooler Operations, Production, Shipping, and…