Quality Assurance Lead

Quality Assurance LeadLocation: ReadingSalary: £30,000 - £35,000Hours: Mon-Fri 09:00 - 17:00

1. Purpose of the job

To administer Quality and Food & Safety information and ensure the company Board are kept informed in order to comply with all legislative requirements.

1. Principal Accountabilities

• Co-ordinate and assist Quality Assurance Technician with day to day tasks allocated to that position
• Manage BRC Audit visits
• Maintain documentation & circulation of updated versions
• Maintain Food Safety team & HACCP/VACCP/TACCP updates
• Prepare for & drive HACCP/VACCP/TACCP Review & Management Review meetings
• Manage Internal Audits program
• See that updates to legislation, regulatory & other platforms are maintained (ERUDUS, QADEX, SEDEX, RASFF etc)
• Assist with supplier, specification and label requirements around new product development.
• Review supplier issued documentation for approval to purchase
• Oversee complaints handling program
• Maintain (or assist in maintaining) company's food safety Pre-Requisite Programs (Pest Control, Calibration Control, Glass & Hard Plastics Control, Maintenance, Contractors, VACCP, TACCP etc)
• Manage food safety related visits from local authorities, other regulatory bodies & customer representatives.
• Manage food safety related procedural, & where necessary, present in-house group training eg: Allergen awareness, Food Fraud, Food Defence, Cold Chain Management
• Maintain program of CoA requests and applied external analyses of own branded product.
• Manage sample preparation for external testing for food safety compliance & validity, shelf life extension requests etc
• Assist Sales department with information needed for customer presentations
• Managing complaints
• Attend company's NPD and operations meetings, as well as any other meetings required to be attended from time to time.
• Team Leader for the Food Safety Team.
• Team Co-Ordinator for the Food Defence Team.
• The post holder should ensure compliance with GDPR policies. Third party data should be treated in accordance to the GDPR policy, therefore all data is assumed to be private unless permission is given.
• All data should be stored securely in compliance with the company's policies and no data is taken off site unless on company devices and with permission.
• This list is not exhaustive and may be changed at any time following consultation between employee and manager.

1. Health & Safety

While at work, staff are required to:

• Adhere to the company's health, safety and welfare rules/guidelines (new employees receive the company's handbook)
• Look after all employees' health, safety and welfare, if part of the company's Health & Safety team (in which case, training will be provided)

• GCSE in Maths and English or equivalent.

• A level in Maths or English or equivalent

• Tertiary food industry qualification, with good understanding of nutrition, quality systems, food labelling and legislation.

• Proven QA administration experience ie: experience of maintaining Quality Assurance related activities within a company, with a small to medium sized team.

• Quality management systems experience in the food industry (experience of managing and maintaining a data base)

• At least 2 years previous administrative experience within the food industry.

• Practical experience working with BRCGS or similar GFSI recognised food safety certification standard.

• Proficient in MS Word

• Good Excel skills.

• Good written communication skills.

• Ability to present and analyse data

• Be able to communicate verbally and written at all levels, both inside and outside the organisation

• Be an Advanced Excel user.

• Excellent written communication skills

• Understanding of written and spoken Spanish or other languages

• Ability to communicate with overseas food manufacturers in order to establish their food safety for supplier approval

• Flexibility in approach to work duties.

• Good attention to detail.

• Collaborative working style.

• Ability to organise and prioritise workload.

• Ability to analyse and extract relevant data logically.

• Having no problem in conducting repetitive tasks.