Bilingual English & Spanish Quality Assurance Specialist

U.S. Spice Mills•Glendale Heights, IL

8h•Onsite

About The Position

US Spice Mills, Inc. is seeking a detail-oriented, bilingual QA Specialist to join our Quality Assurance team. This hybrid role bridges the gap between hands-on floor quality control, meticulous food safety documentation, and customer service support. You will be responsible for collecting product samples, preparing items for third-party laboratory testing, and fulfilling client documentation requests. The ideal candidate has 1–2 years of experience in food manufacturing and will play a critical role in maintaining our SQF certification, auditing product standards, and ensuring seamless communication across our English- and Spanish-speaking workforce.

Requirements

All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States without company sponsorship now or in the future.
High School Diploma or equivalent required.
1–2 years of experience in Food Safety/Quality Assurance within a food manufacturing environment.
Must be fully bilingual in English and Spanish (written and verbal).
Ability to translate technical food safety concepts clearly to floor staff.
Basic understanding of HACCP/HARPC principles, GMPs, and GFSI standards (SQF or BRC).
Proficient with MS Office Suite (Word, Excel) and comfortable learning digital quality management software.
High level of accuracy in data entry and record-keeping; a "sharp eye" for catching deviations on the distribution center floor.
Commitment to consistently wearing all required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and strictly following food safety guidelines.
Comfortable working around strong, rich spice aromas, dust, and active moving equipment.
Requires standing, walking, and bending for extended periods.
Ability to regularly lift up to 51 pounds.

Nice To Haves

Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Biology, or a related field preferred.
Spice, ingredient, or dry blending experience is a huge plus.

Responsibilities

Maintain, organize, and update all Food Safety and Quality Assurance (FSQA) records.
Translate critical FSQA documents, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and training materials from English to Spanish.
Assist in preparing for third-party audits (SQF, FDA, Organic, Kosher).
Compare COAs to ensure the test results match supplier’s COAs and log into the ERP system.
Conduct supplier risk assessment by monitoring the trends and creating periodic reports.
Handle customer documentation requests from Customer Service.
Organize documentation folders.
Serve as the primary contact for customer service information requests.
Provide acknowledgment to customers for quality complaints and shelf extension requests.
Perform routine product testing for raw materials (e.g., granulation, and organoleptic properties including color, taste, and smell, as well as packaging integrity).
Monitor GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) adherence on the distribution center floor and deliver on-the-spot coaching to warehouse staff in English or Spanish.
Collect and log raw material, and finished product samples for microbiological testing, coordination with third-party labs.
Identify, hold, and document any non-conforming products or raw materials; assist in root-cause analysis and corrective actions (CAPA).