Quality Technician

Quality Technician

The Quality Technician plays a key role in ensuring that all products meet strict quality, food safety, and regulatory standards within a fast-paced food manufacturing environment. This position focuses on raw material and packaging inspections, monitoring production processes, and verifying in-process quality checks throughout the facility. Working both on the production floor and in the laboratory, the technician performs chemical, analytical, physical, and sensory testing, responds to quality-related questions, investigates food safety concerns, documents findings, and drives corrective actions to maintain high standards of product quality and safety.

Responsibilities

• Follow and uphold all company quality policies, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), quality standards, and food safety requirements.
• Ensure high standards of product quality, housekeeping, hygiene, and food safety are consistently maintained across the facility.
• Escalate quality concerns, food safety incidents, and nonconforming conditions to management in a timely and clear manner.
• Communicate effectively with production teams, peers, supervisors, and cross-functional departments to support quality and food safety initiatives.
• Support compliance with FSSC and other food safety and quality management systems.
• Participate in continuous improvement initiatives focused on reducing defects and improving overall product quality.
• Provide frontline quality support on the production floor and respond to quality-related questions from manufacturing employees.
• Conduct investigations involving product defects, consumer complaints, and foreign material findings, and assist with root cause analysis.
• Identify potential food safety risks and support development and implementation of corrective and preventive actions.
• Collect aseptic samples of incoming ingredients and verify specifications and Certificates of Analysis (COAs).
• Perform visual inspections of packaging, labeling, and finished products to ensure compliance with specifications and regulatory requirements.
• Complete equipment inspections and pre-operational sanitation inspections to verify readiness for production.
• Place nonconforming materials or products on quality hold and communicate findings and required actions to leadership.
• Calibrate and operate laboratory equipment including pH meters, moisture analyzers, scales, and water activity testing instruments.
• Perform analytical testing such as salt analysis, pH testing, water activity testing, and other quality control evaluations.
• Conduct product sensory evaluations and accurately document all results.
• Support environmental monitoring programs, including micro swab activities, to verify sanitation effectiveness and food safety controls.
• Perform filter checks and verify that critical quality control measures are being followed and documented.
• Assist with blending and product evaluation activities as needed to support product quality and consistency.
• Follow established procedures and work instructions while ensuring compliance with all quality standards and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain accurate and complete quality records, including corrective action logs, hold logs, sanitation logs, and related documentation.
• Perform other duties as assigned to support the quality assurance and manufacturing teams.

Essential Skills

• High School Diploma or GED is required.
• 3 to 5 years of experience in Quality Assurance, Quality Control, Quality Specialist, Quality Technician, or laboratory roles is preferred.
• Experience in food manufacturing is strongly preferred.
• Experience working within a GMP-regulated environment is required.
• Strong understanding of food safety principles, GMPs, HACCP, and quality systems.
• Demonstrated experience investigating quality issues and implementing corrective actions is highly desired.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to confidently communicate with production teams and leadership.
• Excellent attention to detail and organizational skills to manage documentation and multiple tasks accurately.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to independently…