3rd - Shift QA Lead

Winona Foods•Green Bay, WI

51d•Onsite

About The Position

Winona Foods, a growing industry leader in innovative cheese manufacturing, converting, and distribution, is seeking a 3rd Shift QA Lead. This role provides on-shift quality and food safety leadership, focusing on verifications, after-hours decision support, and cross-training. The Lead ensures accurate documentation, supports investigations, and minimizes escalations to the QA Manager. This is a full-time position on the 3rd shift (10:00 pm - 6:00 am), Monday through Friday, with a starting pay of $27.00 plus incentives. Winona Foods is a family-owned company that values its employees and offers a good work-life balance.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED required.
1-3 years of experience in food manufacturing, food safety, sanitation, or quality required.
Experience performing basic quality checks, GMP verification, or sanitation/pre-op tasks required.
Working knowledge of GMPs, basic food safety principles, sanitation steps, and allergen controls.
Ability to perform and document ATP testing, chemical titrations, thermometer/scale checks, and sanitation verifications.
Ability to read and follow SOPs, SSOPs, cleaning procedures, line inspection forms, and quality logs.
Basic understanding of HACCP/Preventive Controls and willingness to learn deeper concepts.
Strong attention to detail and ability to recognize nonconformances in cleanliness, documentation, or product quality.
Ability to provide clear, respectful coaching to employees.
Strong organizational skills to track holds, complete logs accurately, and manage nightly tasks.
Ability to communicate issues clearly during pass-downs, both written and verbal.
Comfortable using basic computer tools (email, spreadsheets, shared logs).
Ability to make sound decisions on shift using established procedures and escalation guidelines.
Works well independently, especially on night shift where leadership support is limited.
Ability to collaborate with others to resolve issues.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with HACCP principles, CCPs/PCs, or product inspections preferred.
Experience conducting line inspections, sanitation verification, or documentation review preferred.
Prior experience in a lead, trainer, or go-to person role strongly preferred (does not need to be formal leadership).
Experience on 3rd shift or in after-hours operations preferred.
HACCP certification preferred (or willingness to complete within 6 months).
Internal Auditor training preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

Complete and document production line inspections and sanitation verification during end-of-week sanitation, releasing lines/equipment per procedure.
Conduct ATP and chemical titration checks and initiate corrective actions.
Support the maintenance and accuracy of the hold program, reviewing logs, first pass quality issues, and assisting with inspections and rework decisions.
Verify CCP/Preventive Controls and escalate significant deviations.
Assist in developing, implementing, and maintaining programs for GFSI, customer, and regulatory compliance.
Support annual document reviews, including SOPs, SSOPs, sanitation procedures, and prerequisite programs.
Review and verify SSOPs for accuracy.
Review pest control service reports, identify trends, and communicate issues.
Perform verifications for prerequisite programs such as glass & brittle plastics inspection, thermometer and scale verification, chemical concentration/titration verification, and color-coding/tool control compliance.
Provide feedback to improve sanitation practices, environmental monitoring effectiveness, and pre-operational readiness.
Participate in the review and improvement of HACCP/Preventive Controls verification activities.
Support implementation of corrective and preventive actions (CAPA), including root cause documentation and evidence gathering.
Provide on-shift direction and guidance to the 3rd shift QA Tech.
Train production and sanitation employees on quality checks, documentation, and procedures.
Serve as the primary QA contact on 3rd shift to minimize escalation to the QA Manager.
Conduct internal audits/inspections during 3rd shift and communicate findings.
Maintain accurate, compliant documentation.
Review food safety and quality data, identify nonconformances, trend results, and notify the QA Manager.
Support audit readiness for all 3rd-shift operations and sanitation.
Support new item trials occurring on 3rd shift.
Assist with root cause analysis and corrective actions.
Document and update QA Manager on project progress.