Food Safety Quality Assurance Manager

GENERAL DESCRIPTION / PRIMARY PURPOSE

The position is responsible for managing the FSQA program for assigned area of responsibility (field, cooler, supplier approvals, and Diversified Food safety). The FSQA Manager works as a liaison between growers, customers, co-packers, coolers, packing houses, and internal business teams to ensure all Dole quality & food safety standards are met or exceeded.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS/DUTIES OF THE POSITION

• Ensure all Dole suppliers are approved.
• Ensure compliance to Federal (FSMA), State and local regulations internally and externally.
• Responsible for handling customer food safety and quality complaints. Ensure all Dole sites and associated external &/or 3rd party entities follow Dole quality and food safety requirements.
• Identify areas of microbial risk and ensure corrective actions are implemented.
• Provide internal and external quality & food safety training.
• Manage, implement, maintain quality & food safety related policies.
• Supervise and train salaried and hourly employees within the FSQA departments.
• Act as liaison with federal and state agencies to ensure compliance with regulatory issues.
• Must be willing to travel to various regions, as needed.
• Ensure customer requests related to quality & food safety are completed appropriately and timely.
• Prepare and manage department budgets
• Follow all food safety requirements and GMP’s as applicable for this position
• Evaluate and recommend new processes that will increase efficiencies for the business
• Facilitate compliance with third party auditing schemes
• Responsible for performing/assigning processing floor centric audits, maintaining records of results and analysis of results for report out to the business.
• Responsible for analysis and verification of Food Safety and Quality Plans including assessment of results
• Increase awareness, evaluation, and compliance of FSQA programs. This includes making recommendations for follow-up completion, providing training content for FSQA training and communication of FSQA expectations.
• Leverage internal and external data to drive continuous improvement
• Serve as a resource for equipment commissioning & decommissioning activities
• Ensure the integrity and continued operations of the food safety system in the event of organizational or personnel changes within the company or associated facilities
• Other duties as assigned.

JOB SPECIFIC COMPETENCIES (Knowledge, Skill And Experience Requirements)

• Minimum of three to five years in a FSQA related field.
• Three to five years of supervision experience required.
• Produce or high-risk FSQA related experience preferred.
• Field and Manufacturing FSQA related experience, strongly preferred.
• Technical knowledge of regulatory requirements, inclusive of FSMA, microbial hazards, third party audit bodies, sanitation procedures and field and plant operations.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English are required.
• Must have the ability to make decisions, appear for work on time, follow directions,
  interact well with co-workers, understand and follow posted work rules/procedures.
• Must be self-motivated and able to keep projects moving forward under stressful conditions. Changing priorities will be a persistent factor.
• Ability to work and adapt to a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or on the basis of disability

INTERNAL & EXTERNAL RELATIONS

The FSQA Manager works closely with both internal and external business teams, inclusive of Agricultural Operations, Logistics, Operations, customers and external suppliers and co-packers.

EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATION

BA/BS degree in Microbiology, Food Sciences, Agriculture or related field is required.

EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT

• Responsible for managing the FSQA specialists/supervisors and respective administrative staff.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

Ability to lift up to 10-25 pounds, identify and distinguish colors, and works in extreme cold some of the time. (Notification required due to the Americans With Disabilities Act).

WORK HOUR REQUIREMENT

• Flexibility to work various hours/days as needed as well as more than 40 hours per week.
• Ability to travel – up to 30% required.