Quality Technician

The Quality Technician supports Zweigle’s quality assurance program on the production floor of our ready-to-eat meat processing plant. This role helps ensure red hots, white hots, sausage, co-pack, and other products meet food-safety and quality standards under USDA/FSIS inspection, the plant HACCP plan, SSOPs, GMPs, and SQF requirements.

The Technician works in raw, in-process, and finished-product areas performing inspections, measurements, sample collection, documentation review, audits, and hold/release support. Success depends on careful observation, accurate records, and polite, professional communication with production, sanitation, maintenance, sales, and quality teammates.

This role is built for someone with a solid food-safety or quality foundation who can work independently on the floor, protect product integrity, and grow with Zweigle’s quality and sanitation team.

• Perform quality inspections on raw materials, in-process product, and finished meat products against specifications and plant standards.
• Use lab and measuring equipment to check product attributes such as weight, temperature, pH, appearance, package integrity, and other assigned checks.
• Monitor critical control points and quality checkpoints on the floor. Use statistical process control (SPC) to identify shifts and trends in data points heading out of specification limits and elevate out-of-specification results immediately.
• Support incoming-material and finished-product checks as assigned, including visual and documentation review before use or shipment.

• Tag, hold, and reject product that does not meet food-safety or quality standards; document holds clearly and notify the appropriate supervisor.
• Assist with product-release activities only after required inspections, tests, and records are complete and acceptable.
• Verify label accuracy, lot coding, pack date, and related marking against approved artwork and production records.
• Help prevent mislabeled, underweight, or nonconforming product from leaving the facility.

• Review quality and food-safety documentation for completeness and compliance with HACCP, SSOP, GMP, SQF, USDA/FSIS, and applicable labeling rules.
• Conduct assigned internal audits, pre-op or operational checks, and floor walkthroughs; report nonconformances promptly and follow them to closure as directed.
• Maintain accurate, timely records in the plant’s quality, hold, and ERP systems as used by the facility.
• Support USDA/FSIS inspection activity by having records available, answering factual questions within scope, and escalating issues to Quality leadership.
• Help enforce plant food-safety protocols, including HACCP, SQF, USDA, GMP, and any certified-program requirements that apply to assigned products.

• Collect, identify, and handle samples for in-plant checks and outside laboratory testing according to sampling plans and chain-of-custody practice.
• Support data collection on new-product trials, process changes, and co-pack runs as assigned by the Quality Assurance & Sanitation Manager.
• Help investigate customer complaints related to product safety or quality; gather product, records, and facts and report findings to Quality leadership.
• Participate in mock recalls, traceability exercises, and related food-defense or crisis drills as required.

• Maintain open, polite, and professional communication with production, sanitation, maintenance, warehouse, sales, and QA teammates.
• Participate in pre-shift, quality, and food-safety meetings and share floor observations that affect…