FSQA Materials Technician

Ajinomoto Foods North America • Portland, OR

5d • Onsite

About The Position

We are looking for a FSQA Materials Technician to join our team in the Portland area. The FSQA Technician is critical to the food safety of the products being delivered to our customers. The Tech will primarily be checking and verifying products at all stages of production. In addition, they will be responsible for analysis of product for food safety and food quality.

Requirements

• A High School diploma or GED is required.
• 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.

Nice To Haves

• A College degree is preferred.
• Meaningful education and experience may be substituted for the diploma requirement.
• Certifications such as HACCP, PCQI, SQF, or through ASQ and other professional quality associations are helpful.

Responsibilities

• Inspect and collect samples of incoming materials (ingredients and packaging) when they are received. Determine whether each material meets the AFNA specification, and then decide whether to accept (or reject) each material.
• Collect ingredient Certificate of Analysis (COA) if required and maintain a file of these documents. Verify that they conform to material requirements.
• Inspect returned products and/or co-packed products as instructed.
• Perform tests on incoming material samples. This may include physical tests (piece size/weight, viscosity, color) or chemical tests (moisture, fat, salt) and verify conformance to AFNA incoming material specifications, FSQA and Safe Quality Foods (SQF) policies. This may include collection of samples for microbiological evaluation or other tests as required.
• Evaluate new materials and make recommendations for approval, rejection, modification, etc.
• Evaluate the performance of new suppliers of existing materials and make recommendations for approval, rejection, modification, etc.
• Create and submit Supplier Corrective Action Reports (SCARs), maintain a log of submissions and follow up on responses.
• Contact suppliers when necessary to resolve problems with out-of-specification materials.
• Perform studies to correlate material test results to the performance of the material in our products as assigned, in conjunction with R&D and/or Production.
• Provide input for material specification revisions, as the need arises, based on inspection findings.
• Keeps accurate and complete records of all inspections, tests, evaluations, SCARs, and supplier contacts.
• Verify correct ingredient statements on the raw materials by comparing to our specification and to our labels.
• Create and maintain a reference library of material samples (to be used as controls to which incoming materials can be compared – including revision numbers for packaging items).
• Evaluate inbound packaging samples for ingredient statement and version accuracy.
• Assists in identifying the causes of problems to recommend solutions and preventive measures in areas where incoming materials impact product quality and safety.
• Assists in developing and applying quality controls and related procedures in plant operations. May be required to perform other FSQA tasks as assigned.
• Perform work within company standards and efficiencies.
• Follows all facility safety rules and regulations, FSQA programs, and regulatory requirements.
• Train other workers as assigned.
• Perform all other work as assigned.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, Vision insurance on DAY ONE
• Company paid STD, LTD, and Life Insurance on DAY ONE
• 80 hours of vacation and 40 hours of sick time per fiscal year
• 401(k) Retirement Savings plan that includes company’s matching contributions up to 4.5%
• Wellness reimbursement towards gym membership and/or exercise equipment
• Referral bonuses totaling $750 when an employee refers someone to work with our company
• Quarterly sales of product to employees

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: High school or GED