Lead, FQSA;

Lead, Quality Assurance

Burlington Production Facility - Burlington, NJ

Salary Range $29.00 - $29.00 Hourly Travel Percentage None Category Manufacturing

Thistle makes it easy to eat well – without overthinking it. Thistle was founded in 2013 with a mission to help people get and stay healthy while improving the sustainability of our food system. Thistle delivers fully prepared, healthy-by-default meals, snacks, desserts, and organic cold-pressed juices. We believe the health of people starts with eating real, whole foods, in the right balance, without the friction.

We're building a future where nutritious, sustainable food is accessible, craveable, and part of everyday life.

Reporting to the quality manager, the QA lead is responsible for overseeing some aspects of Quality Management Systems, Regulatory Compliance, 3rd Party Food Safety certifications, and Customer Safety & Satisfaction. QA leads are responsible for overseeing standardized quality control checks to ensure they meet the required legal and company standards for safety and quality. This role is required to maintain calibrations, monitor equipment, check product integrity, and identify areas for quality control improvement.

This position is 100% onsite at our Burlington, NJ/ Vacaville, CA facility.

This is a unique opportunity to be part of the food safety team at Thistle's brand new East Coast facility, located in Burlington, NJ, responsible for growing Thistle East operations to bring delicious, plant-forward, and planet-friendly meals to customers on the East Coast.

• Support QA team in overseeing the operation. manufacturing and sanitation processes.
• Ensure employees are following GMPs, products are consistently produced and controlled according to policy.
• Maintain working knowledge of current standards and processes with the assistance of implementation of new and existing SOPs and policies across production teams; ensure processes and policies are adhered to at all times.
• Assist on training, instruction, and support on all manufacturing equipment.
• Maintain a positive work environment with encouraging and supportive leadership.
• Communicate with supervisors and managers any concerns regarding staff members' concerns or frustrations.
• Collaborate with QA staff to troubleshoot and analyze sanitation-related issues
• Understand the culinary, plating & packing processes and equipment/parts design to ensure proper equipment sanitation and efficient startups
• Regularly audit and update sanitation processes, documentation, and programs to ensure compliance with SSOPs;
  Identify and implement measures to continuously improve sanitation methods
• Collaborate with other supervisors, including, but not limited to, production and culinary departments, to identify, solve and prevent problems affecting sanitation processes
• Update and improve Sanitation practices and procedures as automation is put in place
• Set up the Master Sanitation Program in collaboration with the quality assurance team
• Ensure daily chemical titration tests are completed within required standards and recorded appropriately
• Conduct department supply inventory and ordering to include sanitation chemicals and supplies
• Report daily to sanitation team the results of the previous day's Pre-op inspections and areas of concern for the current day
• Verify adherence to Preventive Controls, Processing Parameters, CCPs, Allergen, and Sanitation programs
• Ensure Quality Management Systems and Food Safety programs comply with the regulatory requirements and 3rd party food safety standards (local, state, federal, GMP, SQF)
• Ensure allergen program, allergen declaration per recipe, and labeling requirements are met
• Monitor and verify day-to-day QA and Food Safety records.
• Help build out an internal auditing process & certification program.
• Conduct pre-operational line inspections and residual swabs.
• Calibrate critical equipment- thermometers, pH meters, scales etc.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential values  know we do our best and most impactful work when we feel we are represented and belong. We're proud to actively recruit and hire talented people from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. We do not discriminate against employees or applicants for employment on any legally recognized basis ("protected class"), including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, citizenship, national origin, color, hairstyles, hair texture, religion or religious creed, age, sex (including pregnancy), gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, veteran or active military status, marital status, criminal record, genetics, retaliation, sexual harassment or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.