Quality Assurance Associate

Quality Assurance Associate

Your Opportunity As a Quality Assurance Associate As a part of the Hostess/Smucker's Quality Assurance Team you'll be responsible for monitoring compliance with food safety and quality standards & procedures on and off the production floor to ensure product conforms to specification and food safety practices are followed. Assist in documentation involving HACCP, Food Safety, and Good Manufacturing Practices.

Location: Columbus, GA Bakery

Work Arrangements for Quality Assurance Associate:

• 100% Onsite (Can be from 8,10 or 12-hour shifts)
• 1st Shift (6am-6pm)

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Monitor production to ensure all documentation is complete. Monitor scaling of raw materials, mixing of ingredients to ensure compliance with formula cards (i.e., correct ingredients, correct lot codes, quantities). Verify and conduct process control audits and address out of specification findings in a timely manner.
• Verify control points are being monitored and are acceptable per food safety requirements.
• Ensure product specifications, weights, color and other attributes of finished product are acceptable.
• Control out of specification products and provide recommendation of disposition.
• Monitor packaging to ensure correct labelling, date coding, and correct packaging is being followed.
• Organoleptic tests of finished goods to ensure acceptance to standards, taste, eye appeal, odor etc.
• Advise QA Manager regarding questionable product, discarding of bad product or possible stopping of production line to correct or prevent product food safety & quality issues.
• Monitor production processing and assist operators in making adjustments to processing methods during production to improve product quality & consistency.
• Monitor metal detectors and scales to ensure complete accuracy.
• Assist production employees with label printing as necessary.
• Work with production and warehouse to control, maintain, and/or improve as appropriate the handling, storage and usage of all other materials.
• Provide individual or group training to production employees on Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), product specifications, SPC, production controls, formulas, visual quality inspection criteria, GMP, Food Safety procedures.
• Assist in development of SOPs by working with production operators to understand current operating procedures, identify best methods. Assist in developing HACCP/Food Safety Plans, Food Defense Plans and Global Food Safety Initiative audit schemes such as BRC.
• Participate in audits and participate in internal audits.
• Perform GMP inspection.
• Control and retain samples and associated reports.
• Conduct sampling as required by company procedures.
• Conduct inspections of equipment during preoperational inspection, changeovers and/or as required by company policies.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Requirements

• Requires high school diploma, or equivalent.
• Previous experience in Quality or Food Safety in a food manufacturing environment.
• Requires flexible schedule & strong computer skills in excel and other programs.
• Must be self-disciplined, pay attention to detail, multitask, be comfortable training and be a good communicator.

Physical Requirements:

Ability to stand, walk, kneel/squat, climb, bend and lift a maximum of 50lbs.