Compliance Dairy Process Improvement Coordinator - Internal

Food Safety Compliance Specialist 5

The Washington State Department of Agriculture has been serving the state for more than 100 years. Through service, regulation, and advocacy, we keep agriculture viable and vital in Washington State, while protecting consumers, public health, and the environment. We work extensively with farmers and ranchers, but our responsibilities – from ensuring food safety to environmental protection – touch the lives of millions of people locally, nationally, and abroad.

The Food Safety & Consumer Services (FSCS) Division serves consumers and stakeholders in the state of Washington by assuring the availability, safety, and integrity of the state's human and animal food supply. The division is made up of approximately 100+ FTEs through five statewide programs, including:
Animal Feed, FSCS Laboratory, Food Safety, Organic, and Produce Safety. We also house the Rapid Response Team that manages food and feed emergency responses.

The Food Safety Program performs a variety of public health investigations in cooperation with county, state health and federal food agencies to protect public health. Our dual mission is to protect and reduce the risk to public health by assuring the safety of the State's food supply while facilitating the movement of Washington agricultural products in domestic and international markets. We do this by:

• Inspecting and analyzing food products and food processing and handling; inspecting food storage establishments and practices.
• Inspecting dairy farms and plants.
• Inspecting eggs for quality and weight standards, set and enforce sanitary standards for egg graders.
• Inspecting custom farm slaughterers, custom meat facilities.
• Licensing dairy technicians.
• Issuing Export Certificates of Sanitation and Free Sale for food products manufactured in Washington State.
• Issuing licensing for Direct Sellers.
• Issuing voluntary Hemp Extract Facility Certification.

Food businesses operating in the State of Washington that process and/or warehouse manufactured food products for distribution in commerce and resale by other food businesses must follow safe food handling and/or processing practices to protect the public from illness or injury caused by food consumed. Washington State laws, Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations adopted by WSDA, and WSDA regulations detail the specific food safety requirements.

The vast majority of manufactured food firms licensed by WSDA successfully implement the required practices and maintain substantial compliance for operating in Washington State. Food Safety Compliance Specialists conduct food safety inspections of food facilities to verify the firm is operating in substantial compliance with the required laws and regulations.

The Compliance Dairy Process Improvement Coordinator reports directly to the Food Safety Program Manager and supports the program and agency by:

• Leading the program's statewide compliance and enforcement efforts to ensure equitable and consistent application of the laws, rules and requirements for all license, permit and endorsement types. This includes but is not limited to; developing legal cases in conjunction with program legal support to protect public health, develop and provide training on enforcement procedures, enforcement alternatives and other related topics.
• Leading the agency process improvement team for the Grade 'A' Dairy program to better align with the National Conference of Interstate Milk Shipments and the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO) requirements.
• Serving as a food safety, food processing and inspection process subject matter expert for Grade 'A' and manufactured dairy products to provide high level technical assistance, policy development and education to our regulated industries, stakeholders, and Food Safety Program staff.
• Assists in the development and implementation of the inspector training program for dairy farms, milk plants, pasteurizers and equipment testing to ensure a consistent and technically competent workforce in alignment with State and Federal best practices and requirements. Will require in person trainings and presentations to stakeholders and staff.

WSDA is recruiting for an internal full-time permanent Food Safety Compliance Specialist 5 position within the Food Safety & Consumer Services (FSCS) Division. This position is approved for a home duty station in Kittitas County, WA. This is a non-represented position.

The base pay offered will take into account internal equity and may vary depending on the preferred candidate's job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The typical starting salary range for this position is:
Range 62 $ 74,748 Step A $74,748 - Step L $ 98,064 annually.