What are the responsibilities and job description for the Quality Assurance Technician – External Food Safety & Compliance position at Northline Seafoods?
Summary
The QA Technician is Northline’s rotating QA and food safety lead at partner co-processing facilities. This hands-on role ensures compliance with Northline’s food safety, traceability, labeling, yield, and sanitation standards. The technician enforces GMPs, executes sampling protocols, logs data in data repositories (including Inecta ERP), supports vendor training, and escalates corrective and preventative actions (CAPAs) during active processing runs. This is a temporary position; however, candidates who are interested in and willing to spend approximately six weeks in Alaska during the summer season may be considered for permanent employment after a probationary period.
Essential Duties
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
This position involves a combination of office and field-based work, with regular time spent at cold storage and processing facilities. Employees must be able to wear required PPE, work in cold, wet, and noisy environments for extended periods, and tolerate exposure to extreme temperatures and environmental conditions. They must also be able to work in a standard office environment for extended periods, including prolonged sitting, frequent computer use, and engagement in repetitive tasks. The role requires the ability to climb multiple flights of stairs, lift up to 10 pounds without assistance, and reliably transport themselves to and from various worksites. While this is primarily a standard workweek role, flexibility to align with partner facility shift schedules may be required during peak surges.
DISCLAIMER
The above is not intended to list all possible essential functions or requirements as they are subject to change. The employer reserves the right to revise or change this description. This description does not constitute a written or implied contract of employment. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to satisfactorily perform each of the above essential duties and meet the physical demands. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to meet these requirements.
Northline Seafoods is an Equal Opportunity Employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, national origin, veteran or disability status.
The QA Technician is Northline’s rotating QA and food safety lead at partner co-processing facilities. This hands-on role ensures compliance with Northline’s food safety, traceability, labeling, yield, and sanitation standards. The technician enforces GMPs, executes sampling protocols, logs data in data repositories (including Inecta ERP), supports vendor training, and escalates corrective and preventative actions (CAPAs) during active processing runs. This is a temporary position; however, candidates who are interested in and willing to spend approximately six weeks in Alaska during the summer season may be considered for permanent employment after a probationary period.
Essential Duties
- Act as QA lead during remote co-processing events (e.g., Bellingham, Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Alaska).
- Conduct on-site inspections to verify compliance with Northline’s specifications and regulatory standards (HACCP, BRC, FDA/CFIA, NOAA, WDFW, PSC).
- Capture QA data and observations in real time via ERP and digital trackers.
- Interface with plant staff; recommend corrective actions or escalate shutdowns if required.
- Perform sampling, temperature checks, sanitation validation (ATP swabs/test kits), and packaging integrity reviews.
- Track yields (whole round → H&G → fillet → portion) and document defect ratios.
- Train vendors on GMPs, traceability, and Northline-approved QA workflows.
- Document deviations and escalate open CAPAs to QA leadership.
- Provide inspection reports on compliance, improvements, and cross-border readiness.
- Other duties as assigned.
- 100% completion of QA reports for co-processing runs.
- Immediate escalation of deviations and CAPA follow-through.
- Verified traceability for every processed lot.
- Reduction in defect rates and customer complaints.
- Improved vendor compliance through training and feedback loops.
- 1–2 years in QA/QC for seafood or cold-chain food manufacturing.
- Knowledge of HACCP, GMPs, sanitation, labeling, and U.S./Canada seafood export requirements.
- Must have a valid driver’s license, reliable transportation, and a valid passport for travel to Canada.
- Comfortable working in cold, high-volume production settings.
- Proficiency with digital QA =tools, ERP systems (Inecta preferred), and portable test equipment.
- Strong communication skills; able to enforce standards with vendors across cultures.
- HACCP certification is strongly preferred.
- Bilingual is a plus (English/Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Russian).
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
This position involves a combination of office and field-based work, with regular time spent at cold storage and processing facilities. Employees must be able to wear required PPE, work in cold, wet, and noisy environments for extended periods, and tolerate exposure to extreme temperatures and environmental conditions. They must also be able to work in a standard office environment for extended periods, including prolonged sitting, frequent computer use, and engagement in repetitive tasks. The role requires the ability to climb multiple flights of stairs, lift up to 10 pounds without assistance, and reliably transport themselves to and from various worksites. While this is primarily a standard workweek role, flexibility to align with partner facility shift schedules may be required during peak surges.
DISCLAIMER
The above is not intended to list all possible essential functions or requirements as they are subject to change. The employer reserves the right to revise or change this description. This description does not constitute a written or implied contract of employment. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to satisfactorily perform each of the above essential duties and meet the physical demands. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to meet these requirements.
Northline Seafoods is an Equal Opportunity Employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, national origin, veteran or disability status.