Technical Assistant, Quality Assurance - QA​/QC

Responsibilities:
General

• Develop and manage internal technical and due diligence systems as defined by the IFS Quality Management Systems.
• Creating and maintaining a database for technical standards and applicable legislation.

• Liaise with customers with regards to their food safety, product quality, labelling, MRL, ethical, sustainability requirements.
• Implementation of these customer requirements per fruit team and communication back to supply base.

• Liaise with DAFF, PPECB, FruitSA, auditing bodies and key role players in order to keep up to date with quality, food safety, ethical legislation and requirements applicable to the industry.
• MRL requirements
• Minimum export standards
• Special market protocols and registrations
• FBO requirements and registrations
• Dispensations
• SIZA ethical program
• Food Safety standards
• Implementation of these standards and legislation and communication back to supply base.
• Represent the company at industry technical meetings.

• Set supplier approval criteria as per customer and market requirements. Communicate to commercial teams and supply base.
• Assists producers at farm level with interpretation and implementation of customer requirements and Good Agricultural Practices (Global Gap, Tesco Nurture, Field to Fork).
• Assists packhouses with interpretation and implementation of customer requirements and food safety systems.

• Liaise with analytical laboratories with regards to accreditation status, scope of analyses and test results.
• Address customer concerns in terms of the use of plant protection products.
• Ensure that MRL sampling procedure is followed by monitoring that samples are drawn and results conform to market and customer requirements. Distribute MRL results to supply base and customers.
• Assist with managing of incidences where residue analysis exceeds MRL at farm level or on arrival municate to commercial/technical teams for re-testing, re-routing or possible re-call.
• Assemble spray-records per farm and variety as required.
• Assist with performing of trend analysis for MRL results to determine active ingredients/growers/variety that requires attention in reducing residue levels as requested by customers

• Receive, interpret, capture and communicate QC feedback on arrival of fruit.

• Management of the company QMS as per IFS Broker standards.
• Implementation and maintenance
• Internal auditing (including traceability)
• External auditing
• HACCP team member with the responsibility for food safety as required by the company's IFS system

• Address customer concerns in terms of ethical pratices within the company's supply chain.
• Ensure ethical compliance over the entire supply base by communicating market requirements to producers and growers status to customers.
• Follow-up on Sedex and SIZA memberships
• Follow-up on SIZA and GRASP ethical audit compliance

• Address customer concerns and requirements in terms of sustainability practices within the company's supply chain.
• Assist in implementation of projects identified by the sustainability strategy (including biodiversity, social, water quality, carbon footprint).

• Updating Packing Guide that will be sent to Packhouses.
• Updating the Export System if there are new varieties / pack types etc.

• Import intake files, received via email and on the Paltrack server
• Ensuring the correctness of the pallets fruit spec, and doing corrections where applicable
• Follow up on receiving all the applicable Consignment notes for record purposes.
• Scan and save inspection documents on…