Plant Food Safety & QA Manager

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A great job-and a great future-awaits you at Smithfield Foods. We are an American food company with a leading position in packaged meats and fresh pork products. We’re looking for motivated people who want to join our team and grow lasting and meaningful careers with us.
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As part of our FS/QA team, you would conduct routine sanitation checks, ensuring that HAACP and USDA regulations are strictly enforced. Providing technical expertise to track product from start to finish, and develop corrective actions when needed. You will be responsible for ensuring that we are able to safely deliver the best Smithfield, Eckrich, Nathan’s Famous, or any of our product brands to customers and consumers.

Responsible for managing the Plant Food Safety and Quality Assurance Department to provide safe, high quality products that meet customer expectations. This role has the overall accountability of ensuring the food safety system is properly written, validated, documented and implemented as directed to ensure USDA and FDA regulatory compliance and the production of safe and wholesome products. Is accountable for the plant’s Quality System and must provide solid leadership to achieve company, plant, and department goals through various management, evaluation and improvement skills and strategies that improve overall quality and profitability.

The Plant Food Safety and Quality Assurance Manager reports to the Plant Manager, the Corporate Food Safety Manager and the Corporate Quality Assurance Manager.

• Verifies that all Food Safety, Quality Assurance and Regulatory programs are functioning as designed, being followed and correctly documented - thus ensuring the facility has the "regulatory evidence" required to prove they have produced safe and wholesome products.
• Ensures USDA regulatory compliance by making scientifically defendable decisions that do not result in unjustified decreases in operational productivity or efficiency.
• Able to quickly and thoroughly investigate a product/process failure, determine the root cause and take prompt corrective actions; while minimizing product exposure and production down time.
• Revise and update food safety and quality programs and procedures as directed.
• Accountable for the preparation and the execution of USDA daily verification tasks, as well as numerous 3rd party audits and USDA food safety system assessments. Takes appropriate corrective action as a result of any findings generated.
• Develops and fosters a strong working relationship with the USDA.

• Prevents HACCP, SSOP and process or product failures by working with Food Safety and Quality Assurance staff members and Operations to drive continuous improvement of product quality through developing food safety and quality plans, process controls, attention to process and specifications, food safety and quality training.

• Accountable for the overall design of the facility’s sanitation program. Including authoring a written USDA regulatory program, sanitation performance tracking, training of applicable facility production and meeting regularly with the USDA to discuss sanitation findings.
• Ensures that operational and pre-operational sanitation is acceptable. Implements and develops necessary verification activities including micro sampling to verify the effectiveness of sanitation activities. Takes action in response to negative micro and Shelf Life data to drive improvement.
• Manages daily activities, in-depth training and development of the Food Safety and Quality staff members.
• Document corrective actions and follow‑up as necessary and conduct GMP and Sanitation audits.
• Executes response to negative micro and Shelf Life data to drive continuous improvement, by auditing and scrutinizing the level of equipment cleanliness prior to the start of operations.

• Creates and maintain SQF Quality Plan.
• Completes reassessments of SQF Quality Plan if:
  • Addition or removal…