QA Technician

QA Technician

In this role, you will play a critical part in protecting product quality and ensuring food safety across our production operations. The Food Safety & Quality Assurance Technician is responsible for monitoring, verifying, and documenting key food safety and quality standards throughout the production process in a USDA- and FDA-regulated environment. This position is ideal for someone who is detail-oriented, quality-driven, and passionate about food safety and compliance.

Responsibilities

• Support compliance and Quality Assurance activities within a USDA and FDA regulated facility.
• Verify and support HACCP and PCQI programs, including accurate and timely documentation.
• Perform environmental swabbing for ATP and APC testing related to pathogens such as Coliform and Salmonella (sample collection and data recording only; no laboratory testing required).
• Conduct line checks every two hours, ensuring processes, programs, and food safety standards are being followed.
• Validate that GMPs and food safety protocols are consistently met by production staff.
• Maintain clear, accurate documentation to support audits, inspections, and internal quality programs.

Essential Skills

• Proficiency in food safety and quality standards.
• Experience with HACCP and PCQI programs.
• Knowledge of GMPs and food safety protocols.
• Strong documentation and data collection skills.
• Understanding of food science, chemistry, biology, and microbiology.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• High School Diploma or equivalent required.
• Previous Quality or Food Safety experience is highly desired, but not required.
• Bilingual skills are a plus.
• Strong attention to detail with the ability to accurately document findings.
• Comfortable working on the production floor and communicating with cross-functional teams.

Work Environment

This role is primarily based on the production floor within a cold storage manufacturing facility, maintained at approximately 30°F. Candidates should be comfortable working in cold conditions for extended periods. Production operates Sunday through Friday, with Saturdays off and one additional weekday off, not Friday. Start times vary daily between 3:30 AM and 12:00 PM, with employees working 8-hour shifts. Overtime is common, though the current workload averages 40 hours per week. There is a typical 3-week training process, with 70% of time spent on the production floor performing spot checks and line checks, and 30% of time spent on documentation and desk-based quality work.

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Saint Paul, MN.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $19.00/hr. Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: Medical, dental & vision; Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital; 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available; Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents); Short and long-term disability; Health Spending Account (HSA); Transportation benefits; Employee Assistance Program; Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave).

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.