Fsqa Specialist

Position Summary
Position will be responsible for the monitoring and execution of food safety and quality assurance programs throughout the plant. The responsibilities include conducting audits, monitoring and ensuring compliance with facility HACCP, SSOP, Quality and GMP programs. This position will work on multiple tasks at a time while making decisions independently and handle themselves calmly in stressful situations.
Responsibilities will include making decisions to accept or reject area, equipment, products or materials when deemed insanitary, possibly contaminated, or if the product is determined to be out of Ajinomoto Foods specifications. When any deficiency in requirements occurs, it is the responsibility of the FSQA Specialist to take appropriate action.
Position Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Complete all required activities as defined by the FSQA Manager and/or Supervisor.
• With FSQA Supervisor, schedule and conduct in-plant audits (weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually) such as Monthly Facility assessment, GMP audits, Allergen Compliance, Food Defense, Foreign Object Prevention, Pest Control, Freezer Assessment, etc.
• Consolidate the findings of audits and report non-conformances identified from the reports.
• Keep accurate and complete records of all internal audits, inspections, assessments and deviations.
• Assist in identifying the causes of non-conformances to recommend corrective actions and preventive measures involving product quality, materials, product deviations, etc.
• Follow-up on corrective and preventive actions for compliance. Verify all deficiencies are corrected in a timely manner.
• Assist with HACCP Pre-shipment review and prepare positive release documents. Follow up on any deviations and/or corrective actions.
• Assist FSQA Micro technician in environmental and finished product microbiological testing as needed, such as EB swabs, allergen swabs, air and water sampling.
• Participate in Environmental investigative team due to OOS swab results.
• Assist in Customer Complaint investigations and risk assessments
• Assist in developing and applying quality controls and related procedures in plant operations.
• Assists in special projects related to food safety and product quality.
• Assist in evaluating new processes and materials and make recommendations.
• Assist with third party/customer audits.
• Be a resource for production supervisors, to aid in training, policy enforcement and problem solving.
• Interact with, and address concerns of, local USDA inspection toward manufacturing and food safety concerns.
• Active member of the Food Safety/HACCP team.
• Fill in for FSQA Supervisor or FSQA Microbiologist during absence from the plant.
• Be available to work different shifts as required by the FSQA Manager.
• Perform all other work as assigned.

Position Qualifications
Education and Experience:

• A College degree in Food Technology, Food Science or its equivalent is desirable. Meaningful education and experience may be substituted for the degree requirement.

• Sufficiently broad experience in food manufacturing Food Safety and Quality Assurance and/or food plant production operations, processes, and policies to permit execution of assigned duties is strongly desired. Limited food manufacturing experience combined with an appropriate college degree may be considered.
• Certifications such as HACCP, SQF, or through ASQ and other professional quality associations are helpful.

General Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

• Budget/Cost Control - general understanding of QA/procurement budgeting and cost control functions.

• Analytical - ability to independently perform, technical analysis of supplier performance.

• Communication Skills - excellent verbal and written communication skills, including technical writing and presentation skills.

• Organizational Skills - excellent organizational skills.

• Judgment/Decision Making - ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, draw valid conclusions and make appropriate recommendations independent of supervisor.

• Computer Skills - working knowledge of Microsoft based software, including Excel, Word and Outlook.

• Other - ability to elicit internal and external support; good interpersonal skills; ability to work under pressure and short timelines, prioritizing multiple projects with various simultaneous deadlines, as well as attention to detail with accuracy.