Quality Assurance Lead: Food Safety & Audit Expert

Job Summary :
Responsible for leading and representing Quality on the plant floor and provide direction to maintain the Quality Assurance systems in place. Aids in managing facility internal audits, compliance to GFSI-customer-regulatory requirements, coaching-teaching-mentoring QA staff, and supporting continuous improvement activities in the plant.

Core schedule: Monday-Friday, 1:15pm-10:15pm, ability to flex to support team as needed

Job Duties :
Duties may include, but are not limited to the following:

• Lead GFSI initiatives and serve as back up the QA/Sr.QA Manager for all things Food Safety & Quality
• Ensure preparation and compliance of all Quality Systems material and information often utilized in audits
• Participate and at times lead the audits with companies, agencies and auditors for the site team
• Perform & maintain risk assessments for new materials coming into the facility
• Execute and lead RCA-CAPAs in accordance with corporate and site policies
• Investigate consumer complaints and monitor corrective action effectiveness
• Maintain and monitor the Quality Notification (QN) or similar supplier incident system to close out
• Generate-Review-Close Incident Reports as related to FSQA
• Coach-Teach-Mentor QA Staff to help build contingency plan bench strength
• May be required to maintain staffing schedules and provide feedback for QA Staff performance reviews
• Aid in management of commercialization projects from a quality perspective to assure specifications are met
• Advise commercialization and production teams on process specifications, process capabilities, and customer requirements to include recipe and sensory
• Be able to perform Mock Recall / Trace exercises as required
• Oversee Document & Record Control programs as they pertain to FSQA
• Support QA Manager and commercialization teams in integrating customer and compliance requirements into internal specifications
• Actively participate in the Maker’s Pride Production System activities (Drumbeat, Weekly KPI, Tiered Auditing, etc.)
• Participate in sensory and/or product evaluation tests as required by site
• May serve as primary Quality liaison on test, proof of concept, and initial production runs
• May serve as primary resource to track action items developed via test runs through closure
• Aid in monitoring Sanitation activities including, but not limited to verification of MSS, PEM and non-PEM swabbing, and pre-Operational inspection
• Coordinate QA and Production training related to FSQA requirements and initiatives
• Off-shift training, performance verification, and plant-based meeting participation
• Perform other duties as assigned

Required Competencies & Knowledge:
Knowledge of:

• PCQI or HACCP trained, certification is a plus
• Knowledge and experience with SAP preferred
• GFSI certification a plus
• Basic RCA and CAPA tools

Skilled in:

• Internal Auditing
• Influencing Quality Culture behaviors
• Procedure/Standard Work generation

Ability to:

• Communicate effectively both verbally and in writing
• Recognize food safety & quality gaps and provide a plan to address
• Manage multiple projects at a time
• Investigate complaints and incidents with minimal oversight
• Influence Quality Culture behaviors
• Work collaboratively with all departments
• Must be accurate and detail-oriented
• Ability to work with minimal supervision and at times independently
• Proficiency in:
• MS Office Suite, SAP a Plus
• High school level math

Work Environment:

• Frequent production environment exposure which includes noise, dust, heat, cold, moving machinery, forklifts, and slippery floors
• Ability to work in hot or cold temperatures dependent upon site (Bakery vs Fresh)
• Communicate in English both written and verbal
• Handle daily employee issues
• Travel up to 10% is possible
• Physical Requirements:
• Reaching with hands and arms throughout shift
• Ability to…