Quality Assurance Specialist

Why should you join our team?
At Dianne's Fine Desserts you'd be part of the rapidly growing Dessert Holdings Family, offering potential career growth opportunities. Dessert Holdings is North America’s fastest growing premium dessert company, recognized for providing retail and foodservice customers with chef-inspired innovative desserts made with real ingredients, a flexible and low-cost supply chain, and best in class service.
The company employs approximately 3,000 people across eight manufacturing facilities and its headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota. The manufacturing facilities are geographically dispersed, with two facilities in Canada and one each in Colorado, Texas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and North Carolina.
Job Summary:ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Perform routine laboratory tests including moisture and microbiological analysis of ingredients and products
• Participate in the GFSI/FSSC22000 yearly audit and assist in the development of procedures and corrective actions
• Help control the department’s budget for food safety programs; generate cost savings initiatives and reduction of food safety program spend through risk-based evaluations
• Perform product shelf life evaluations
• Monitor perishable materials for food safety non-conformance
• Execute internal microbiological evaluations
• Assist management with material cost avoidance by assessing food safety risks
• Verify that each production line is properly set up, uses the correct standards for each product, and completes the proper documentation; ensure the product is correctly labeled.
• Assist in developing, posting, revising, and maintaining product specifications and other operating standards
• Collect data from each production line daily, reporting variances from the specifications to management and production line personnel to ensure corrective actions have been taken; follow up to ensure effectiveness of the action
• Familiar with and use such equipment at the ATP Swabber, Moisture Analyzer, Petri-film plates, recording and calibrating thermometers, labeler, various computer programs, etc.
• Participate in and occasionally lead Food Safety team in evaluating and improving operational and product quality and food safety awareness
• Participate in Material Review meetings, offering opinions and recommendations on how to address issues; track defects of product and distribute to the appropriate personnel
• Generate and/or assist in generating a wide variety of reports and manuals based upon data collected by the Quality, Production, and R&D departments
• Communicate issues and concerns with all other members of the QA & Food Safety Department
• Promote Food Safety through maintaining high product standards and product consistency
• Minimize the cost of non-conformance of finished goods by providing technical support to the operation and avoidance of loss from food safety issues
• Provide ongoing training to Quality Technicians to ensure competency levels and microbiological awareness
• Provide support for microbiology lab activities on the respective shift
• Follows all Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP’s)
• Adheres to the plant’s HACCP plans
• Perform other duties as assigned.

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES:
Must communicate with others to ensure proper production flow to avoid line downtime.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• High School Diploma or Equivalent
• Minimum of two (2) year’s experience in the bakery environment
• Extensive knowledge of baking methods and finishing products
• Must possess good interpersonal skills including the ability to work well with peers as well as superiors
• Possess analytical skills, paying attention to details
• Must be able to work equally well with peers as well as supervisors
• Analytical skills and detail oriented
• Knowledge of food safety issues, GMP’s and other industry requirements
• Must be able to perform basic mathematical skills.
• Must be able to read, write and comprehend basic instructions and processes of the job.
• Familiar with computer programs as in Microsoft Word and Excel
• Flexibility to work other shifts as needed. May be required to work overtime
• Goal oriented; ability to lean new tasks
• Ability to project positive behavior; encouraging others to do the same
• Self motivated individual

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
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 function.
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essentials functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations maybe made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.