Senior Specialist, Quality Assurance

Your Opportunity as the Senior Specialist, Quality

The Quality Assurance Specialist is responsible for implementation of the JMS Quality programs to ensure that food safety, quality, quality, sanitation, and food defense expectations are exceeded at the plant. The QA Specialist plays a critical role in maintaining Food Safety and Quality Systems to ensure audit readiness. The role works closely with operations to provide the knowledge, planning, implementation, and support necessary to maintain the food safety and quality expected by our customers and consumers. This position is a core member of the audit team for Corporate, third-party certification, and regulatory audits including sanitation processes, GMP processes, and Integrated Pest Management. The Quality Assurance Specialist leads activities to support the plant in ensuring compliance with all relevant standards and to ensure adherence to the Food Safety Plan and JMS standards.

Location: Topeka, KS

Work Arrangements: 100% on-site, Monday through Friday

• Willingness to work flexible hours including nights, weekends, and/or holidays as needed

In this role you will:

• Work with production to manage and build upon existing Quality, HACCP/FSMA, and other Food Safety programs in the plant to assure regulatory compliance of facility, equipment, and plant practices
• Drive continuous improvement in all plant Food Safety Programs, Quality Systems, and sanitation
• Lead the Food Safety Team and be a member of FSMA/Food Defense teams to ensure food safety and quality are identified, maintained, and improved upon
• Manage pre-operational verification, including the use and monitoring of visual inspection procedures of production equipment
• Own Food Safety (FSMA/Preventive Controls) and Food Safety systems and Proficy items related to Process Quality
• Provide coaching to plant operations on food safety, quality systems, and day-to-day quality issues
• Understand all quality tests performed by operators and how to analyze the data
• Train all full-time employees in the areas of FSMA/Food Safety, Sanitation, Statistical Process Control, and GMPs
• Prioritize and coordinate sanitation activities and schedules to ensure completion of job assignments
• Review SSOPs, maintain Master Sanitation Schedule compliance, and develop focused improvement processes to exceed minimum requirements
• Direct integrated pest management programs
• Assist QA Manager in Food Safety, Quality, and Sanitation processes and improvements
• Drive out defects in the process through collaboration with production teams and leadership to prevent and correct food safety and quality issues
• Grow partnerships with chemical supply vendors and manage chemical supply inventory; develop and maintain quality documentation for the plant
• Manage direct reports and lead with the "End State in Mind" to drive improvements in all aspects of responsibilities
• Maintain audit readiness for Corporate, GMP, government agencies, Operational Excellence (Continuous Improvement), BRC, or other third-party audits
• Verify and validate cleaning effectiveness through sanitation audits and environmental data review
• Facilitate preventive and corrective actions as needed
• Assist in all internal and external quality and regulatory audits to ensure plant compliance
• Serve as a Recall and Traceability team member
• Support Operational Excellence (Continuous Improvement) as a Key Element Owner member and/or SME/Coach
• Perform other tasks as required

What we are looking for:

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree in a technical field (Food Science or Biological Science) is required
• Minimum of 5 years' experience required
• Ability to lead, coach, and develop others effectively in a team environment
• Working knowledge of food manufacturing quality systems, including product hold processes, laboratory testing equipment, and quality data collection and processing systems
• Strong organizational, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills
• Effective presentation, verbal, and written communication skills
• Ability to organize and prioritize actions to help meet plant objectives and long-term vision
• Willingness to work flexible hours (weekends, off shifts) as needed
• Role model for continuous improvement behaviors
• Strong computer skills (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)

Additional skills and experience that we think would make someone successful in this role:

• Previous QA internships, co-ops, or work experience in food manufacturing is highly desired
• Previous food manufacturing experience is preferred
• HACCP Certification / PCQI Training is preferred
• Willingness to relocate for future opportunities

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The Right Place for You

We are bold, kind, strive to do the right thing, we play to win, and we believe in a strong community that thrives together. Our culture is rooted in our Basic Beliefs, and we believe in supporting every employee by meeting their physical, emotional, and financial needs.

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We're an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, age, national origin, disability status or protected veteran status.