FSQA Lead - 1st shift

Ajinomoto Foods North America•San Diego, CA

6h•Onsite

About The Position

This position is responsible for coordinating the monitoring and execution of Food Safety & Quality Assurance (FSQA) programs throughout the plant and providing leadership to the FSQA technicians. This is accomplished through coordinating the activities of the FSQA technicians, conducting audits and training FSQA and production employees. Responsibilities will include making decisions to accept or reject area, equipment, products or materials when deemed insanitary, possibly contaminated, or if the product is determined to be out of Ajinomoto Foods North America, Inc. (AFNA) specifications. When any deficiency in requirements occurs, it is the responsibility of the FSQA Lead technician to take appropriate action.

Requirements

A College degree in Food Technology, Food Science or its equivalent is desirable. Meaningful education and experience may be substituted for the degree requirement.
Sufficiently broad experience in food manufacturing Food Safety and Quality Assurance and/or food plant production operations, processes, and policies to permit execution of assigned duties is strongly desired. Limited food manufacturing experience combined with an appropriate college degree may be considered.
Valid Driver’s License, clean driving record
Fluency in English (Written and Verbal) – required
Working knowledge of Microsoft based software, including Excel, Word and Outlook.
Ability to elicit internal and external support; good interpersonal skills; ability to work under pressure and short time lines, prioritizing multiple projects with various simultaneous deadlines, as well as attention to detail with accuracy

Nice To Haves

Certifications such as HACCP, PCQI, SQF, or through ASQ and other professional quality associations are helpful.

Responsibilities

Coordinates the activities of FSQA Technicians and verifies all required duties/areas are covered. May coordinate FSQA Technicians schedule.
Train FSQA Technicians to assure that they understand their duties and are competent in performance.
Assists in developing and applying quality controls and related procedures in plant operations. May be required to perform other FSQA tasks if someone is absent.
Assists in special projects related to food safety and product quality.
Responsible for insuring that FSQA activities are completed within the allotted time and are accurate.
Be a resource for production supervisors, to aid in training, policy enforcement and problem solving.
Will assist in evaluating new processes and materials and make recommendations.
Assist R&D in setting up specifications and control standards for products (especially new ones). Provide input to the development of product specifications as needed.
Create and maintain a reference library of finished product samples (Gold Standards and Drift Controls) for use in the Daily Product Consistency Evaluation (DPCE).
Consolidate the findings of the DPCE and report non-conformance identified from the reports.
Follow up on deviation reports. Assists in identifying the causes of problems to recommend solutions and preventive measures in areas involving product quality, materials, product deviations and sanitation controls.
Keeps accurate and complete records of all inspections, tests, evaluations, and deviations.
Maintains technician time sheets and follows disciplinary policy as needed.
Assists with in-plant monitoring including monthly facility assessment, positive swab investigations, Mass Balance, allergen compliance, Foreign Object Blitz and pest control.
Verifies all deficiencies are corrected in a timely manner.
Interact with, and address concerns of, local USDA inspection toward manufacturing and food safety concerns.
May perform HACCP Pre-shipment review.
Performs data entry as needed.
Perform all other work as assigned.