Quality Assurance Specialist

HOS Global Foods

About Company

House of Spices is a leading South Asian Food manufacturer and distributor in North America (USA & Canada) with over 50 years of experience.

Summary/Objective

The Supplier QA Executive will be primarily responsible for on-site production witnessing and supplier quality assurance for HOS products manufactured at supplier/co-packer facilities across South India. The role ensures that production adheres to approved HOS product specifications, formulations, process parameters, food-safety requirements, SOPs, GMP/GHP, sanitation requirements, and applicable US FDA/FSMA requirements. This is a field-based role with a strong shop-floor presence.

Base Location: Vadodara

Key Responsibilities

• Supplier Production Witnessing & Process Compliance
• Regularly visit assigned suppliers and witness production to ensure compliance with approved HOS specifications, formulations, process parameters, SOPs, quality standards, and food-safety requirements.
• Verify actual production conditions and process controls.
• Raw Material, Formulation & Product Specification Compliance
• Verify the use of approved raw materials, ingredients, and packaging materials.
• Ensure formulation, processing, product characteristics, net weight, and finished-product requirements comply with approved HOS specifications.
• Identify and escalate unauthorized changes or deviations.
• Critical Process & Food Safety Control Verification
• Verify the implementation and monitoring of HACCP/Preventive Controls, CCPs, critical process parameters, and food-safety controls during production, with a focus on Frozen RTE and Rice processing.
• Ready to Eat Products Quality Assurance
• Provide on-site quality oversight for Frozen RTE and Rice products, including cooking, cooling, freezing, hygiene, cross-contamination controls, temperature controls, foreign-material controls, destoning, grading, sortex, admixture, varietal authenticity, and other product-specific requirements.
• GMP, Hygiene, Sanitation & Plant Verification
• Conduct physical verification of supplier facilities for GMP/GHP, personnel hygiene, housekeeping, cleaning and sanitation, pest control, allergen control, foreign-material prevention, equipment condition, calibration, and other prerequisite programs.
• Supplier Quality & Food Safety Audits
• Conduct and support supplier/co-packer assessments and audits against HOS requirements, approved specifications, applicable regulatory requirements, GMP, HACCP/Preventive Controls, FSSC 22000/ISO 22000, BRC/customer requirements, and other applicable standards.
• Deviation, Non-Conformance & Containment Management
• Identify quality and food-safety deviations during production.
• Ensure immediate containment and segregation of affected material.
• Communicate significant issues to the QA Manager before product release or shipment.
• Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
• Lead or support supplier investigations for production deviations, complaints, and non-conformances.
• Ensure effective RCA using tools such as 5 Why, Fishbone, and process analysis.
• Challenge incomplete or unsupported root causes.
• CAPA Implementation & Effectiveness Verification
• Review supplier CAPA, verify implementation at the supplier site, and ensure corrective and preventive actions address the identified root cause.
• Complaint, Traceability & Supplier Performance Management
• Support investigation of customer and internal complaints.
• Verify batch/lot traceability, mock recalls, sample retention, and relevant supplier records.
• Monitor supplier performance to identify recurring issues and improvement opportunities.
• Reporting, Follow-Up & Continuous Improvement
• Prepare timely supplier visit and production-witnessing reports.
• Document observations and objective evidence.
• Track open actions and CAPA until effective closure.
• Identify opportunities to improve supplier processes, quality performance, and food-safety controls.

Travel

• Travel is mandatory for this Job Profile.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Food Science/Food Technology or equivalent qualification.
• Experience handling 3P operations.
• Knowledge of lab techniques for analyzing different food products.
• Proficiency in MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Good organoleptic senses for product and sensory evaluation.
• Lead Auditor (Any GFSI Scheme Certified PCQI Personnel Preferred).

Qualifications

• Knowledge of lab techniques and prior training in fundamental quality assurance technology.
• Basic knowledge of Quality Assurance, GFSI and Regulatory (US FDA), FSMA, and other regulatory standards.
• Good Technical skills.
• Good communication skills.
• Aptitude in problem-solving.
• Experience working in a start-up environment.

Competencies

• Teamwork
• Communication
• Consultation
• Ethical Practice
• Problem Solving