Food Safety Specialist

Farmacopia Farms is a fresh fruit, vegetable, and tree nut marketing firm.  We are women owned and are growing a culture of hard working, highly skilled and passionate team members.  We represent farmers internationally by marketing and selling their products into domestic and international markets.  Farmacopia is a respected firm in the produce industry.  It's our goal to serve our customers the highest quality products at affordable prices.  We have a very large list of producers and farms that rely on us to distribute their products into the marketplace and facilitate the utilization of said products into the supply chain- from soil to consumer.

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Job Position‍

Farmacopia Farms is looking to fill the role of Food Safety Specialist.  The position would report directly to the ownership.  The FSS would be responsible for maintaining exceptional food safety standards, developing and training team members to adhere to current laws and rules specific to the food safety and compliance category.‍

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Core Competencies Needed :

• Strong understanding of, and certification in,  food safety regulations and standards such as Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules, and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) requirements
• Knowledge of global standards like Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) benchmarked schemes
• Ability to interpret and apply regulations within operations
• Designing, implementing, and maintaining food safety programs
• Developing HACCP plans, preventive control plans, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
• Managing traceability, recall readiness, and supplier verification
• Understanding manufacturing processes, sanitation, microbiology basics, and quality assurance
• Knowledge of environmental monitoring and pathogen control

‍Daily Job Duties:

• Daily review of food safety and traceability records of sales transactions in compliance with industry standards
• Design, implement and maintain Farmacopia’s food safety program
• Develop and implement food safety verification SOPs of current and future vendor/product list
• Communicate risk and compliance expectations clearly across departments
• Train sales team regarding requirements for existing purchases to insure maintaining highest level of customer satisfaction with regards to our company’s adherence to food safety standards
• Create and oversee company wide Food Safety plan

• Approve/Disapprove the supply of fresh fruit and vegetables to be purchased based on a highly skilled evaluation of said suppliers food safety certification
• Maintain GSFI (SQF) certification and educate/train the sales team and operations to comply
• Identify potential risks or issues with products/sources and implement corrective actions when required
• Create and implement processes to drive the food safety department to continuous improvement that will contribute to the company’s long-term success and reputation in the industry as a trusted produce firm
• Work closely with the sales team to support and help manage the vendor list and the various customer requirements
• Respond with correct information to customer requests and enable the department to adhere to compliance requirements by maintaining a working knowledge of current industry standards
• Maintain organic certification OSP and strict adherence to NOP certification requirements and keep direct correspondence with our organic certification counterparties
• Create a budget for tools needed to support said food safety processes whether by educational resources, software, etc
• Conduct Internal audits and preparing for regulatory or third party audits
• Where necessary evaluate sanitation programs, facility practices and documentation
• Be able to investigate non-conformance and implement corrective actions.
• Manage product recalls and corrective action plans

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