Associate, Food Safety & Quality. (Overnight)

TITLE: Food Safety & Quality Associate (FSQA Associate)

DEPARTMENT: Quality Assurance

REPORTS TO: Supervisor,Food Safety & Quality Assurance

Who We Are

Thistle makes it easy to eat well – without overthinking it. Thistle was founded in 2013 with a mission to help people get and stay healthy while improving the sustainability of our food system. Thistle delivers fully prepared, healthy-by-default meals, snacks, desserts, and organic cold-pressed juices. We believe the health of people starts with eating real, whole foods, in the right balance, without the friction. We’re building a future where nutritious, sustainable food is accessible, craveable, and part of everyday life.

About the Role

The Food Safety & Quality Associate is responsible for performing standardized food safety and quality control checks to ensure that the products meet the required legal and company standards for safety and quality. This role is required to maintain calibrations, monitor equipment, check product integrity, and identify areas for quality control improvement.

How You’ll Make a Difference

• Follow and implement Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs).
• Train receiving teams on food safety and quality control procedures.
• Support Culinary QCs/leads in day-to-day food safety quality checks in adherence to preventive controls.
• Work closely with production line QCs/leads to ensure complete and accurate record keeping.
• Support production QCs/leads in day-to-day food safety quality checks and in adherence to preventive controls.
• Train production teams on food safety and quality control procedures.
• Assist with training, instruction, and support on all manufacturing equipment.
• Work closely with the sanitation team to implement the Master Sanitation Program
• Verify adherence to Preventive Controls, Processing Parameters, CCPs, Allergen, and Sanitation programs
• Ensure Quality Management Systems and Food Safety programs comply with the regulatory requirements and 3rd party food safety standards (local, state, federal, GMP, SQF)
• Ensure allergen program, allergen declaration per recipe, and labeling requirements are met
• Conduct internal audits to monitor food safety quality, processes, facilities, and quality systems.
• Submit complete and accurate audit reports within established timelines.
• Monitor and verify day-to-day QA and Food Safety records.
• Help build out an internal auditing process & certification program.
• Conduct pre-operational line inspections and residual swabs.
• Calibrate critical equipment- thermometers, pH meters, scales, etc.
• Oversee Sanitation and environmental testing program.
• Additional duties that may be assigned

Who You Are

• AA degree (Bachelor's preferred) in food Safety & quality management or a related field
• 2-3 years of experience as a Food Safety Specialist or Quality Technician in a food manufacturing environment is required;
• Valid Food Handlers Certification for state working in
• Desire to grow into leadership positions and develop leadership skills
• Strong communication skills that put people first and ability to balance empathy and direct feedback in order to both support and advocate for the team and also maintain consistent standards of performance
• Ability to form effective working relationships with cross-functional teams
• Ability to adhere to company SOPs and implement new initiatives as needed
• Strong analytical and mathematical skills
• Solid understanding of HACCP requirements and food safety standards
• Experience with writing and enforcing standard operating procedures (SOPs)
• Advanced organizational skills and excellent attention to detail
• Experience drafting reports and collating data
• Willingness to work in noisy and/or cold environments
• Comfortable standing or walking for long periods of time
• Up-to-date knowledge of federal and industry standards and best practices
• Advanced computer and math skills to calibrate and measure specifications

Our Culture

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential values at Thistle. We know we do our best and most impactful work when we feel we are represented and belong. We're proud to actively recruit and hire talented people from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. We do not discriminate against employees or applicants for employment on any legally recognized basis (“protected class”), including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, citizenship, national origin, color, hairstyles, hair texture, religion or religious creed, age, sex (including pregnancy), gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, veteran or active military status, marital status, criminal record, genetics, retaliation, sexual harassment or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.