Quality Assurance Technician

Job Summary:

The Quality Assurance Technician is a self-driven/self-motivated candidate capable of working proficiently, both independently and as part of a team, without direct supervision. The successful individual must have a passion for safety and be able to foster effective working relationships built upon trust and respect within all levels of the organization. The successful individual will monitor, test, record, and react to data pertaining to products/production processes/quality systems to ensure the highest standards of quality and food safety are met or exceeded and that products produced are in compliance with federal, state, and company specifications. 

Office Environment: 19% of the work is conducted in an office setting, involving time spent on computer research, project management, and communication with team members and stakeholders. Frequent participation in both in-person and virtual meetings, including project updates, strategy sessions, and presentations to management and stakeholders.

Production Environment: 80% Regular visits to the production areas will involve exposure to machinery, noise, varying temperatures, humidity, and wet conditions.

Travel: <1% Occasional travel for training, meetings, conferences, etc.

Schedule: Flexible schedule, including evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed based on operational requirements.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Assist in improving, developing, implementing, and maintaining an effective QA program, to include comprehensive GMP program: Chemical Control Program, Allergen Control, Operational Methods and Personnel Practices, Cleaning and sanitation practices, preventive Maintenance and Repair, etc.
2. Setting up and participating in sensory testing.
3. QA analysis: bulk density, particle size, and water activity (raw materials and blends)
4. Internal document control includes developing, improving, and maintaining QA SOPs, production SOPs, raw material/finished good Specifications and all quality QA and recall-ready documents.
5. Inventory management including short-dated and expired products, re-work requests, returns, and donations.
6. Investigate and help resolve blending and packaging problems (process improvements).
7. Assists in audits/inspections.
8. Perform Sanitation checks daily/ weekly/ monthly/ quarterly, report any issues and follow up until resolved.
9. Assess the quality of raw and ready-to-eat products and record accurate outcomes at specific times of the production operations.
10. Sampling incoming raw materials and finished products.
11. Checking to ensure dates are correct to customer specifications on packing lines, as well as box labels, and report any errors immediately.
12. Ensuring correct mix, spice, and additives are being used per SQF requirements.
13. Communicating any deviations to the foreman and/or a supervisor and following up on the deviation until the problem has been resolved.
14. Perform incoming and outgoing material checks, including trailer inspection (cleanliness, temperature, overall conditions), box inspection (intact, undamaged), product appearance & temperature, adherence to product purchasing specifications, and weight.
15. Perform work-in-progress QC tasks, including equipment calibration (thermometers, scales, antimicrobial application) and monitoring of metal detector operation, monitoring of aged inventory, order filler checks, CCP verification, daily monitoring of antimicrobial application.
16. Conduct employee training when necessary.
17. Complete and submit regular reports for statistical or operational analysis.
18. Maintain quality and ensure food safety.  Work with monitoring employees to improve accuracy and reliability. 
19. Monitors employee hygiene and sanitary practices. Daily work with employees and supervisors’ online sanitation performances and employee personal habits on the floor.
20. Work in the lab on sample collections and assist when needed in shipment preparations.
21. Tag product or equipment to be retained or to cease operation when necessary.
22. Stop any operation within the facility that presents quality, food safety, or personnel safety issue.
23. Monitor proper specifications for products being produced and run label checks for specified materials, packaging, and label approvals.
24. Monitor facility inspection and operations.
25. Monitors traffic flow of equipment and employees.  Look for incidences of possible cross-contamination and sanitation record keeping.
26. Monitor USDA testing and QA Retain all products that are tested from the day of production.

Qualifications:

1. High school diploma or GED required.
2. Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, Microbiology, or related field preferred.
3. 3 years of quality assurance experience preferable.
4. HACCP Certified preferred.
5. Knowledge in Microsoft Word and Excel.
6. Experience with USDA/FDA and SQF preferred.
7. Ability to work in a high-speed manufacturing environment.
8. Strong, logical decision-making skills; Problem Solving- Think ahead when information is not always available- use all your senses and resources as tools. Understand the relationship between issues and processes and use logical reasoning.

Working Conditions/ Physical Requirements:

1. Regular visits to production areas will involve exposure to machinery, high noise levels, varying temperatures, humidity, and wet conditions.
2. Must be able to sit, stand, walk, reach, stretch, stoop, and bend for extended periods.
3. Must be able to push, pull, and lift up to 75 lbs.
4. Ability to work around ingredients and/or finished products containing food allergens.
5. Must be able to communicate through various channels, including phone, email, face-to-face, and videoconferencing.

The physical demands described in this job description are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform this job. Other duties or tasks may be assigned as required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

At Cloverdale Foods, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range.  The base hiring pay range for this role is between $19.00 - $25.00 per hour, and your actual base pay within that range will depend upon a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, job-related knowledge, skill set, level of experience, and geographic market location.

Other components of Cloverdale Foods’ total compensation package include life insurance, medical, dental and vision coverage, pay-for-performance merit increases, and 401(k) with employer match, paid vacation, weekly massage reimbursement, and more.

Cloverdale Foods Company offers a competitive compensation package and an excellent benefits program. For confidential consideration, please send your resume to HRDept@cloverdalefoods.com or Fax: 701-663-0690. To comply with government recordkeeping requirements, please go to http://www.cloverdalefoods.com/employment/apply.asp and send us a completed Online Application along with your resume/cover letter.

Cloverdale Foods Company is an Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.

Salary : $19 - $25