NA Quality Assurance

About the Role

This Technician role ensures that proper specifications are met and documented for all incoming ingredients, packaging materials, and outgoing finished products. The position requires communicating findings to necessary departments and complying with safety work rules. It also ensures that all food safety and quality policies, procedures, and activities are followed to reduce product and process variability.

Key Responsibilities

• Perform periodic in-process quality checks, including physical and chemical lab testing, coding, weight, packaging integrity, labeling, temperature, sensory analysis, document review, and data entry to verify compliance with customer and MFI specifications and associated regulations.
• Inspect and sample incoming ingredients for internal lab testing.
• Assist in drafting, revising, and maintaining plant standard operating procedures.
• Participate in plant food safety/quality inspections, in-process inspections, mock recalls, label audits, and HACCP audits.
• Verify proper set-up of production lines at start-up and shift change, including printer set-up (coding), packaging materials, and labeling.
• Review the sanitary condition of production lines prior to start-up by verifying filler sterilization limits, performing ATP testing, and environmental swabbing.
• Follow up on sanitation procedures after downtime requiring maintenance activity.
• Communicate quality issues across departments and assist in root cause analysis and corrective action implementation.
• Perform investigative environmental swabbing of critical production equipment/areas.
• Assist in investigations responding to customer concerns or quality deviations to determine root cause and appropriate corrective actions.
• Assist in managing quality hold activities, including non-conforming product inventories.
• Ensure lab equipment, refrigerators, and thermometers are properly maintained and calibrated.
• Maintain and follow MFI micro sample and shelf-life study programs.
• Perform tasks including job rotation at all NJ locations.
• Act as a liaison between departments.
• Perform sample delivery to the Micro Lab and other NJ MFI plants.
• Adhere to all safety policies and procedures, incorporating safety and health into all job duties.
• Adhere to safe work practices, follow GMPs and HACCP guidelines, maintain sanitary conditions, and ensure product quality.
• Report any conditions or practices that may adversely affect employee or food safety/quality to management immediately.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Attention to detail
• Accuracy
• Organizational skills
• Time management skills
• Critical thinking
• Problem-solving skills
• Ability to work independently and in teams
• Basic proficiency using computer programs (MS Office) for data collection, analysis, and writing procedures/reports.
• Ability to read and interpret documents (safety rules, operating/maintenance instructions, procedure manuals).
• Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.
• Ability to speak effectively before groups, customers/vendors, or employees.
• Ability to perform basic arithmetic (add, subtract, multiply, divide) in all units of measure using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.
• Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.
• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions.
• Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.
• Ability to operate specific equipment or tools.
• Ability to lift at least 50 lbs.
• Ability to ascend and descend stairs.

Qualifications

• One-year certificate from college or technical school or equivalent combination of education, training and/or experience.
• Driver’s license

Preferred Qualifications

• Pallet jack permit
• Fluency in a language other than English.

Work Environment & Physical Demands

• Required PPE such as hair nets and ear plugs. Certain areas require earmuffs.
• Occasional bending, sitting, standing, stooping, pushing, pulling, and reaching over shoulders.
• Frequent periods of sitting, standing, walking, and repetitive hand movement.
• Exposure to changes in temperature and humidity.
• Ability to lift up to 50 lbs.
• Manufacturing plant is a large, open floor with some areas featuring loud machinery and some areas being wet.