Food Safety & Quality Assurance NSIS Technologist

Smithfield Foods•Denison, IA

About The Position

As a member of Smithfield’s Food Safety and Quality Assurance team, the NSIS Technologist helps maintain food safety standards by conducting routine sanitation checks and ensuring compliance with HACCP and USDA regulations. The role performs New Swine Inspection System (NSIS) procedures, including inspections of live hogs, heads, carcasses, and viscera. It involves identifying and controlling potential food safety hazards related to pathological conditions and contamination during processing to help ensure product safety and quality. The position also supports compliance with federal regulations, directives, and guidelines; verifies product definitions, markings, and inspection documentation; collaborates with other departments and USDA officials; and contributes to resolving non-compliance and product or process failures. The work takes place in a plant setting and may include livestock areas with live animals.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED required; for internal candidates with at least four years of company experience, the company may waive the education requirement.
Ability to complete required forms in English, including reading and writing in English.
Ability to follow written and verbal directions and create and interpret technical documents, including quality specifications, safety rules, and manuals.
Ability to use monitoring equipment and software such as spreadsheets, presentation, and word-processing applications.
Strong written and verbal communication skills for reporting and responding to inquiries from customers or regulatory agencies.
Ability to make decisions, solve problems, and work collaboratively in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment.
Ability to lift and/or move up to 50 pounds and perform repetitive tasks and stand for prolonged periods.
Ability to continually stand; use hands to handle or feel; reach with hands and arms; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; and talk or hear.
Vision abilities include close vision, distance vision, and adjusting focus; must be able to identify color properly to detect abnormalities.
Ability to work in temperatures ranging from below 40 to above 90 degrees, including warm and cold areas simultaneously.
Fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination for handling inspection tools, knives, and conducting detailed examinations.

Nice To Haves

At least two years of experience in a related field, such as harvest processing, USDA inspection, or FSQA.
Bilingual skills.
Strong understanding of quality assurance principles, food science, meat processing, and USDA regulations.
Ability to uphold regulatory and company standards and interpret and apply corrective actions and regulatory expectations.

Responsibilities

Conduct routine sanitation checks and perform required NSIS procedures.
Inspect live hogs, heads, carcasses, and viscera for pathological conditions and contamination.
Recognize and identify diseases, consumer concerns, and contamination in pork and swine while ensuring compliance with federal regulations, directives, and guidelines.
Ensure products meet RTC pork definitions and communicate with helpers about correct tags and markings.
Verify inspection documentation with USDA officials and Plant Management.
Work with other departments to implement procedure changes and address non-compliance issues.
Apply technical knowledge to prevent and resolve product and process failures.
Interpret customer specifications and make subjective quality decisions concerning appearance, texture, and other attributes.
Support continuous improvement of product quality through attention to processes and ongoing improvements.
Perform other duties as assigned.