Technical Specialist, Corporate Quality Assurance - Lakeland

Description
The purpose of this position is to provide technical support and regulatory compliance leadership for food safety and Quality Assurance programs. This includes developing, assessing, and validating the food safety and sanitary design of equipment and processes with the Fresh Retail Business Units (RBU), Grocery RBU, Customer Service RBU, Omnichannel, Human Resources /Education Training Development, Facilities Services, Facilities Purchasing, and Manufacturing Supply Purchasing; providing CQA subject matter expertise and technical food safety support for corporate strategic initiatives; advising RBUs of improvements necessary to comply with evolving food safety and other food related regulations; serving as a liaison with regulatory agencies and associations; and help maintain regulatory compliance with retail and programs. This position also provides support to customer complaint investigations and after-hour and weekend coverage for recalls.
Responsibilities include:

• receiving and prioritizing support requests from the retail food safety team and communicating process updates, equipment changes and completion of requests to the team
• supporting evaluation of current and proposed retail equipment and tools in the context of food safety and sanitary design
• assessing how processes performed in retail can positively or negatively impact food safety
• supporting development of training documents, policies, guides, videos, marketing materials, signage and other written resources used by retail
• providing routine technical support to facilities design, refrigeration, purchasing and services teams
• facilitating organized communication of retail business unit (RBU) needs and ensuring follow-up is properly documented and reported back to the internal customer
• providing weekend, holiday, vacation, and weekday back-up coverage for recall program, customer complaints and product tampering investigations

Additional Information
Your application may have additional steps that you will need to complete in order to remain eligible for consideration. Please be sure to monitor your email, including your spam folder, on a daily basis for critical, time-sensitive emails that could require action within 24-48 hours.
Please do not use your Publix email address when applying. Once your application has been successfully submitted you will receive a confirmation email.
Year End Bonus
To reward associates for their contributions to the company for the calendar year, Publix provides a Holiday Bonus in November. In the first year of continuous employment the bonus is equal to 15 hours of pay, and in the second year of continuous employment the bonus is equal to one week's pay if associate remains employed through issue date of the bonus check. In subsequent years, the bonus is equal to two weeks' pay.
Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in microbiology, food safety, food science, OR public health related course of study OR equivalent experience
• 1 year or more of experience in a retail or industrial operations (manufacturing or distribution) environment or experience in a regulatory capacity
• Ability to obtain certification as a Certified Professional in Food Safety (CP-FS) through the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) within the first year of employment
• Ability to obtain HACCP Basic Training within the first year of employment
• Be at least 20 years old
• Have a valid driver's license and obtain authorization to drive a company vehicle (on or before his or her start date in the position)
• Knowledge of how to conduct a literature review of scientific food-related peer reviewed journal publications relevant to Publix business interests
• Knowledge of food microbiology and chemistry and how they impact food safety aspects of products received, enhanced, and merchandised at retail
• Flexibility/adaptability
• Ability to work effectively without close supervision or guidance and self-direct work activities
• Ability to set priorities
• Time management skills
• Skilled in data analysis
• Problem solving skills
• Active listening skills
• Written communication skills
• Ability to be exposed to highly confidential information and matters that require collaboration on project work while maintaining confidentiality
• Basic skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Ability to travel locally and make overnight trips as needed
• Availability to work nights, weekends, holidays, extended hours, and be on call 24/7 as business needs require

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in microbiology, food safety, food science or public health related course of study or equivalent experience
• Certification as SQF Practitioner, Certified Food Scientist (CFS), Advanced HACCP Training
• Bilingual - Spanish
• Knowledge of federal and state regulatory requirements specific to food safety and related areas [Food, Drug, Cosmetic Act (FD&C), Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), FDA Food Code, USDA Meat and Poultry Acts, state food safety regulations, weights and measures, Code of Federal Regulations] and the principles behind these requirements affecting Publix retail stores. and how to develop compliance strategies for the company
• Knowledge of a retail supermarket processes and programs impacting food safety
• Knowledge Publix policies and procedures related to food safety in retail and how to develop implementation strategies for changes needed to meet new regulatory requirements
• Basic skills in Microsoft Access
• Intermediate skills in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint
• Advanced skills in Microsoft Excel
• Skilled in CQA Recall System, CQA Customer Complaint Tracking, BlueBeam Vue, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft OneNote

Benefits Information

• Employee stock ownership plan that contributes Publix stock to associates each year at no cost
• An opportunity to purchase additional shares of our privately-held stock
• 401(k) retirement savings plan
• Group health plan (with prescription benefits)
• Group dental plan
• Group vision plan
• Sick pay
• Paid Parental Leave
• Long-term disability insurance
• Company-paid life insurance (with accidental death & dismemberment benefits)
• Tuition reimbursement
• Vacation pay
• Free hot lunches (buffet-style) at facilities with a cafeteria
• Paycheck direct deposit
• Credit union
• Access to over 50 discount offers including discounts on computer, vehicle and wireless purchases
• 6 paid holidays (associates can exchange the following holidays with their manager's approval: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day)