Gem-Pack Berries is a grower-focused, family-proud organization that holds quality, consistency, and sustainability as our key priorities.
Our story is rooted deeply in the heritage of farming, and now we grow and ship berries year-round across our widespread acreage in California, Florida, and Mexico to bring fresh strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries to the table year-round. To learn more visit our website at: gem-packberries.com.
The Food Safety & Sustainability Manager is a position within our operations department and will play a vital role for Gem-Pack Berries by supporting our core fresh produce functions. General responsibilities will vary based on need and will include but are not limited to assisting to manage and maintain customer and grower compliance, ensure regulatory requirements are satisfied, data entry/tracking, and more. This individual will work closely with and report to the Vice President of Food Safety.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities:
- Assisting to drive the development and delivery of the company’s food safety program.
- Support the growth of Gem Pack by supporting sustainability, social responsibility, Organic requirements, and compliance initiatives.
- Responsible for developing, maintaining, and enforcing food safety policies as well as managing the food safety work activities to ensure all processes and regulatory requirements remain satisfied.
- Working collaboratively with cross-functional teams and builds strong relationships with suppliers and stakeholders.
- Maintaining an active role on internal continuous improvement.
- Understand the differences in procedures between growers, or between domestic and international operations/orders and the ability to organize and manage accordingly.
- Utilization of resources to generate effective solutions based on available information.
- Assist VP of Food Safety with grower audit prep, audit attendance as required in the assigned geographic areas.
- Develop a long-term, multi-year strategy for the sustainability program.
- Monitor sustainability program metrics and seek ways to improve based on the data and seek innovative solutions in different aspects of the business.
- Manage the sustainability requirements of supplier and vendors from customers.
- Monitor, collect, and maintain data related to Scope 1,2,3 data.
- Maintain necessary documentation around compliance, grower data as related to surveying.
Qualifications:
- Strong communication skills in English and preferably Spanish
- Familiarity and experience working in the berry industry.
- Experience managing a daily workload with several overlapping deadlines and a variety of tasks.
- Quick thinker and problem solver; Ability to take the lead on smaller tactical projects as they relate to larger team initiatives.
- Detail-oriented; Ability to perform repetitive tasks efficiently without error.
- Must be able to work independently but also as a dependable member of the field operations team and interact professionally with other department teams within Gem-Pack Berries.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint) and ERP & CRM systems (Famous iTrade etc.)
- Must have the ability to perform routine daily tasks as well as maintain attention to multi-step, long-term projects completed over weeks or months.
- Strong customer service skills that build trust and sustain grower-partner relationships for the long term.
Education:
- BS degree in Food Science, AG Business, or relevant field/experience preferred, M.A. a plus.
- Certified in: FSMA FDA Produce Safety Rule, FSMA FDA Preventive Controls Qualified Individual, FSMA FDA Foreign Supplier Verification Program, FSMA FDA Sanitary Transportation HACCP
Experience:
- 2 to 3 years’ experience in related roles.
- Berry industry experience preferred.
Travel Requirements:
- Reliable vehicle required
- Frequent travel within California. Possible occasional travel to other states/countries
Work Environment/Physical Demands:
- Approximately up to 40% of work may involve being in an agricultural environment. 60% of work may be performed in an office environment.
- Ability to stand/walk for multiple hours.
- Ability to lift up to 30 lbs.
