Quality Assurance Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Description

At Pacific Seafood, we do more than just provide the world with the healthiest proteins on the planet. We are a family-owned, excellence-driven organization committed to being the brand of choice in the marketplace and the employer of choice in the community. We believe in servant leadership, investing in our team members’ personal and professional growth, and rewarding performance. We live by the core values of our Diamond Philosophy: Teamwork, Productivity, Quality, and Excellence—which means consistently doing your best and always striving to do better.

Summary:

The Quality Assurance Manager at Pacific Seafood is a key role on our Value Creation and Quality team supporting efforts to maintain high standards of food safety, quality, and regulatory compliance throughout the organization. This position involves overseeing a team and interpreting and implementing regulations and is ideal for someone who is oriented towards continuous improvement, a strong leader, and highly analytical. 

Key Responsibilities

1. Quality Management: 

• Responsible for achievement of department goals and objectives; strive for continuous improvement on food safety and quality program.
• Implement Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points Program (HACCP).
• Interpret and implement FDA, State and Local regulations ensuring HACCP, SSOP, COOL Act standards are met. 
• Establish and maintain GFSI and Sustainability/Chain of Custody standards to meet audit requirements.
• Interact with Regulatory Agencies and third-party auditors; monitor scheduled audits.
• Develop and implement applicable training.
• Remain current on all regulatory requirements and law changes.
• Oversee the mock recall and recall process: conduct and coordinate procedures and training.
• Provide support and direction with customer complaint investigations.
• Perform internal/external audits and inspections to ensure that all standards and requirements are met.
• Perform on-site physical inspections of product during offload and receiving to ensure specification compliance and verify product quality.
• Conduct physical on-site audits of both domestic and overseas co-packing facilities to ensure compliance with Pacific Seafood standards, customer requirements, and product specifications.
• Maintain import and trade permits
• Review vendor positive release reports to ensure adherence to food safety, quality, and labeling per the specification
• Routine review of vendors compliance history and status (Import Alert, rejection, and recall)
• Identify, investigate, and report critical quality defects in production processes and products. 
• Ensure systems are in place to verify that vendors are capable of meeting food safety, quality, and regulatory requirements.
• Prepare and submit various reports as required.

KPI: 

• HACCP and Import Documentation
• Vendor Audits
• Allergen control and recall prevention

2. Operational Support and Coordination: 

• Develop, maintain, and lead the implementation of product specifications and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to support procurement practices while ensuring compliance with quality, food safety, regulatory, and business requirements for value-added finished products.
• Support Central Procurement's business strategy by collaborating with buyers to prequalify vendors and partners for business growth.
• Collaborate with the R&D team on projects that drive continuous improvement and create competitive advantages
• Develop, implement, and continuously improve allergen management and labeling control programs to ensure compliance with applicable regulations, customer specifications, and company standards while minimizing the risk of mislabeling and allergen-related incidents
• Develop and maintain robust traceability and inventory control systems throughout the supply chain, and manage recalls, market withdrawals, and regulatory investigations as needed.
• Identify, investigate, and report on critical quality defects on production processes and products.
• Determine the source of quality variance and specific steps to be taken in correcting the process and product.
• Communicate daily report to management team and provide recommendations for improvement.
• Maintain full ownership of quality-based customer credits, including investigation, root cause analysis, corrective action follow-up, and communication of findings to appropriate stakeholders.
• Coordinate with local VCQ managers for implementation, improvements, and standardizing of SOPs on centrally sourced programs.
• Create and maintain scorecard measurement tools to evaluate co-packers on quality standards, specification compliance, audit performance, corrective action responsiveness, and overall program performance.
• Maintain full ownership of updating specification sheets for all co-packed items to ensure compliance with Pacific Seafood brand standards, customer requirements, and item-specific specifications.
• Maintain full ownership of customer documentation and certification portals, including accurate submission of required documents, ongoing compliance maintenance, and direct customer-facing discussions as needed.
• Ensure systems are in place to make certain that vendors are capable of meeting food safety, quality, and regulatory expectations.
• Provide on-site support to address critical issues; provide necessary training.
• Participate in management and strategic planning meetings in the pursuit of operational excellence. 

KPI

• Credits and consumer complaint
• CP Team Support and training 
• Product Specifications

3.  Leadership: 

• Servant Leadership: Practice servant leadership by understanding the needs of team members, removing barriers to their success, and providing the support, resources, coaching, and development opportunities they need to perform at their best.
• Lead by Example: Set a high standard for professionalism, integrity, accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement. Demonstrate the behaviors and work ethic expected from the team and take ownership of both successes and challenges.
• Effective Communication & Collaboration: Communicate clearly, openly, and proactively across Central Procurement, VCQ, Operations, suppliers, and other business functions. Promote collaboration, ensure alignment on priorities and expectations, and communicate risks and opportunities to the appropriate stakeholders in a timely manner.
• Industry Leadership in Food Safety & Quality : Help position the company as an industry leader in food safety and seafood quality by promoting best practices, strengthening quality programs, anticipating emerging risks and customer expectations, and continuously identifying opportunities to raise standards beyond basic regulatory compliance.

KPI:

• Servant Leadership Scorecard

What you bring to Pacific Seafood

Required:

• Minimum of five-years related experience and/or training, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Proficient with Microsoft Word and Excel.
• Be available nights and weekends as needed.
• Knowledge of HACCP, GFSI standards, SSOP and COOL Act.
• Up to 25% Travel Required for plant audits, inspections

Preferred:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.
• Previous quality assurance experience in the food industry.

Physical Requirements:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a team member to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the team member:

• Sedentary work, walking and standing are required only occasionally. 
• Reaching. Extending hand(s) and arm(s) in any direction.  
• Fingering. Picking, pinching, typing or otherwise working, primarily with fingers rather than with the whole hand as in handling.
• Talking. Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word. Those activities in which they must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly.
• Hearing. Perceiving the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction. Ability to receive detailed information through oral communication, and to make the discriminations in sound.
• Close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading.
• Repetitive motion. Substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers.
• Occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. 

Working Conditions:
The working environment characteristics described here are representative of those a team member encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the team member is exposed to:

• Office, as well as warehouse environment.
• Moderate noise level in the work environment.
• Plant exposure to wet, cold, and/or humid temperatures.
• Standard office equipment and heavy machinery.
• Ability to travel up to 50 percent. 

Benefits

Total compensation:

At Pacific Seafood your base wage is only a portion of your overall compensation package. We invest in our Team Members through a comprehensive and attractive total rewards package, including but not limited to:

• Health insurance benefits options, including medical, prescription, vision, dental, basic group life and short term disability.
• Flexible spending accounts for health flex and dependent care expenses
• 401(k) Retirement Plan options with generous annual company profit sharing match
• Paid time off for all regular FT team members, to include sick days, holiday pay, vacation, and personal time
• Employee Assistance Program- Confidential professional counseling, financial, and legal assistance provided at no charge to Team Members and immediate family members
• Product purchase program

Pacific Seafood is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.