Role and Responsibilities

This position is responsible for the leadership and guidance of all activities of the FSQA department including food safety programs, specification adherence, and product quality for products within their assigned division. In addition, the FSQA Manager will oversee all special projects as assigned, departmental budgets, turnover, and safety. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Validation of production practices including raw material receiving requirements; pre-operational and operational sanitation; finished product quality and Food Safety Systems;

• Validating that all Client FSQA policies and procedures are followed;

• Validating monitoring verification and the associated documentation with adherence to government regulations; developing, implementing, and maintaining the HACCP, PCQI, SOP, GMP, and SSOP-based programs; Maintaining communication with in-plant FSIS personnel with regard to plant regulatory compliance.

• Validating that the finished product conforms to customer product and label specifications;

• Follow-up on product issues and audit results with the plant, plant management, corporate sales, and/or operations.

• Coordinating with customers and their agents for product showings, plant tours, and audits; visits to customer facilities; initial product runs and investigation response to quality or food safety-related customer complaints.

• Assure that micro-intervention programs are implemented in accordance with corporate programs. Monitoring and verifying microbiological results for compliance and assure that corrective actions are implemented for any USDA, customer, or Peco results that are out of compliance.

• Verifying that facility food safety and quality programs are being executed properly and providing facility QA Management with assistance in selecting, training, and managing FSQA Supervisors;

• Supporting and participating in both the Food Safety and Foreign Material teams at facilities. Providing leadership and data for both.

• Completing required internal, regulatory, and customer audits.

• Verifying the management of Hold Release inventories at the plant level.

• Complete all customer and internal metric reporting as established.

• All other duties as assigned by supervisor.

Qualifications and Education Requirements

Education: Knowledge associated with food safety, animal science, natural science or technical field normally acquired through a bachelor’s degree or higher in academic study, or related job experience essential to the job.

Computer Skills: Standard computer skills required; generating spreadsheets and developing templates for use by plant management and corporate FSQA, sales, and operations. Able to utilize paperless Quality Systems and auditing tools.

Communication Skills: Excellent communication skills required, both written and verbal, demonstrating the proven ability to correspond with all levels - line team members to corporate management.

Preferred Skills

Experience: Minimum 5 years of prior industry experience to fully grasp regulatory, production, and manufacturing concepts preferred. Experience with FDA and USDA-regulated products. SAP and Safety Chain Systems experience is a plus.