Food Safety & Organic Compliance Manager
Objective-
Kershaw Fruit is seeking a warehouse and CA facility level Food Safety and Organic Compliance Manager to coordinate the company’s diverse food safety and organic programs. Duties include coordinating the SQF and USDA food safety components associated with producing conventional and organic apples. Day-to-day responsibilities include assisting warehouse, shipping and CA facility managers and growers, outlining priorities, setting goals, maintaining documentation and policy creation and enforcement. Communication and teamwork are key skill traits. The candidate should be an independent, motivated self-starter who values working in a team setting. Bilingual communication skills are a plus. This is a full time year round position located in the Yakima Valley. Travel may be required to service additional facilities and growing areas. The position will serve as a member of the Food Safety and Compliance Team. This position reports to the SQF Practitioner and Operations Manager.
Key Responsibilities:
- Implement and oversee the warehouse and CA food safety program to meet the requirements of the SQF and USDA food safety program for apples.
- Maintain and oversee the warehouse and CA organic system plan to be in compliance.
- Act as asst. practitioner on all compliance audits related to food safety and organic handling.
- Conduct warehouse and CA internal food safety audits. Develop and provide training for food safety, organic and quality requirements.
- Coordinate and lead warehouse, shipping and CA food safety/safety meetings.
- Maintain all training records.
- Maintain all necessary storage, production and shipping food safety records.
- Develop and maintain documentation such as SOP’s, as well as maintenance of manuals, policies and procedures as relate to any food safety or organic compliance concerns.
- Work with the SQFP and Production/Shipping teams to review, update and improve processes and systems relating to food safety and the broader compliance systems.
- Communicate strategic goals and progress to Practitioner and Operations Manager.
- Monitor and verify all activities associated with conventional and organic apple storage, packing, shipping to ensure that all products coming in and out of the orchards meet food safety standards in addition to quality standards.
- Assist in overseeing proper maintenance and sanitation of all orchards and orchard equipment to comply with food safety requirements.
- Ensure that all company food safety, organic handling/packing and quality assurance procedures are followed and documented correctly at all times.
- Work with all managers to identify and implement innovations and key strategies to ensure continued growth and success.
- Coordinate, plan and conduct external audits with third party auditors.
- Provide support to the wider Compliance, and Health and Safety teams as required.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Understanding of SQF and USDA Food Safety code.
- Understanding of USDA/WSDA Organic handling compliance
- Good leadership and decision-making skills.
- Exceptional communication
- Ability to implement projects and work with others across multiple teams and facilities.
- Detail oriented, and possess computer skills, including MS Office and Excel.
- Exceptional technical writing skills.
Qualifications:
- Food safety experience, with management level experience in SQF or equivalent.
- Comprehensive knowledge of GMP’s and GAP’s.
- Previous experience with Global GAP, SQF, GFSI, PrimusGFS, USDA, EPA, or FDA audits.
- Previous experience with water sampling procedures is desirable.
- Must be able to travel as required between packing line and CA storages, Yakima to Gleed.
- Able to work unsupervised and manage independently
- Have strong communication skills and proficiency in English reading and writing
- Must be flexible with seasonality and audit scheme scheduling.
This position offers a competitive salary with benefits. Salary will depend on experience.
