Food Safety Quality Assurance Lead

Armstrong Group • Denver, CO

4d • Onsite

About The Position

The Food Safety Quality Assurance Lead at The Ziegenfelder Company supports food safety and quality assurance activities at a frozen novelty manufacturing operation. The role helps ensure finished products are ready for delivery by preparing raw materials, monitoring production, inspecting products, testing for safety and quality, and documenting results. It coordinates the implementation, maintenance, review, and continuous improvement of SQF programs and related food safety systems, and serves as a backup SQF practitioner.

The Lead supervises the sanitation team and oversees sanitation of production lines and surrounding areas, including cleaning verification using ATP testing and completion of sanitation records. The position also supports production through mix making, equipment cleaning, product sampling, chemical preparation, sugar receiving and ordering, and employee training. It works with plant and cross-functional teams to promote consistent SQF and food safety practices, supports third-party audits, and helps maintain compliance with applicable federal, state, local, and company requirements.

The position is based in Wheeling, West Virginia. It may involve travel to other facilities. The work environment can include cold temperatures below 32°F, noise above 85 decibels, hot and wet conditions, and outdoor weather exposure; appropriate protective equipment is specified for cold and high-noise conditions.

Requirements

• HACCP certification.
• PCQI certification.
• Experience and training in food safety, SQF, sanitation (SSOP and GMP), and/or other food safety systems.
• Quality assurance process improvement skills.
• Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Office products.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to stand for up to 12 hours per day.
• Ability to frequently climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, bend, twist, reach, grasp, and push or pull.
• Ability to exert up to 50 pounds of force occasionally, 30 pounds frequently, and 10 pounds constantly.
• Good spatial awareness when working around manufacturing equipment.
• Visual acuity to perform job tasks.
• Ability to stay focused and complete tasks in a timely manner.
• Willingness to travel to other facilities if necessary.

Nice To Haves

• Degree in Food Science, Food Technology, or a related field; experience may be considered instead.
• SQF practitioner certification.
• Food sanitation courses.

Responsibilities

• Prepare raw material inputs, monitor production processes, and inspect final products to ensure finished products are ready for delivery.
• Analyze and document quality assurance processes and recommend improvements.
• Coordinate implementation, maintenance, review, and continuous improvement of SQF programs, policies, procedures, records, and supporting documentation.
• Serve as a primary resource for SQF system requirements, including food safety plans, prerequisite programs, GMPs, sanitation, allergen controls, traceability, recall readiness, document control, training, internal audits, corrective actions, food defense, and food fraud prevention.
• Conduct or coordinate internal audits, inspections, mock recalls, traceability exercises, and verification activities.
• Support production through mix making, equipment cleaning, product quality testing and sampling, and completion of master sanitation schedule tasks.
• Ensure consistent preparation and mixing of chemicals.
• Review, trend, and communicate food safety and quality data to identify risks, recurring issues, improvement opportunities, and corrective or preventive actions.
• Supervise the sanitation team and ensure safe cleaning protocols for production equipment and surrounding areas.
• Lead equipment cleaning before return to production and verify cleaning with ATP testing in accordance with the master sanitation program.
• Oversee daily sanitation of production lines and surrounding areas and ensure cleaning tasks are documented.
• Follow and support HACCP, SQF, GMP, SOP, and SSOP programs; coordinate documentation for compliance with applicable requirements; and serve as backup SQF practitioner.
• Perform microbiological and chemistry testing to ensure product safety.
• Support internal laboratory functions, including microbial samples, document completion and control, comparison of internal and external laboratory results, and product release or hold management.
• Audit documentation regularly to ensure compliance with applicable requirements.
• Receive sugar trucks and verify certificates of analysis against company specifications.
• Conduct and maintain sugar orders and processes.
• Develop, deliver, and document employee training on SQF, HACCP, GMPs, SOPs, sanitation, allergen control, food defense, and other food safety topics.
• Partner with plant management, quality, production, sanitation, maintenance, warehouse, purchasing, and HR teams to promote consistent SQF and food safety practices.
• Assist the QA Manager with third-party audits.
• Train and qualify new employees in mix making, equipment cleaning, product testing and sampling, and master sanitation schedule tasks.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed