Burke - FSQ Technician

Food Safety and Quality Technician

2nd shift 1:00pm to 11:00pm,  Monday to Friday + weekends as needed. 

Pay: $23.15 + 1.00 shift differential

With guidance from the FSQ Lead and FSQ Supervisor, the FSQ Technician supports the implementation and maintenance of Food Safety, Process and Quality Control Programs, including the coordination, verification, and maintenance of the Programs in the production process.  Incumbent must understand company specifications and government (USDA and FDA) requirements.  Additionally, incumbent must demonstrate the ability to enforce accept/reject criteria and follow through with corrective actions and communication relevant to rejections.  Good communication skills are required to thoroughly explain and interpret requirements and expectations for other team members, which could also include members of management.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Food Safety & Product Quality Responsibilities :
  • Incumbent generates environmental sites and organizes time to perform swabs of food and non-food contact surfaces to support the Environmental Pathogen Monitoring Program. Also generates swab sites for the environmental sampling program for non-pathogenic organisms, pre-operationally and operationally – swabs are performed daily to confirm the sanitary condition of production equipment and the environment.  This position is responsible for overseeing corrective actions and performs follow-up sampling when swab results require.
  • Must be CCP Certified to monitor and verify CCP checks (incumbent will be trained and certified if not currently a CCP certified team member).
  • Incumbent is held accountable to be knowledgeable about Food Safety program requirements relating to production operations on the raw and RTE side of the facility.  This knowledge is expected to be used to take the initiative and interpret requirements to guide production management decision-making when events involving food safety and product quality occur.  There are times when the incumbent may be the only FSQ representative in the building – if this is the case, and if he or she feels the decision being made by production or maintenance management is different than what incumbent would otherwise choose to do, a FSQ Lead Tech or member of FSQ management must be contacted and become involved in the situation. Incumbents are also responsible for independently verifying and overseeing corrective actions being performed in response to an event.  Events could include, but are not limited to:
    • Thermal Process Deviations
    • Foreign Material Incidents
    • Product Labeling and Formulation Errors
• Incumbent must have the ability to perform pre-op inspections to ensure equipment cleanliness, functionality, and adherence to quality standards prior to the start of production – this involves a thorough visual inspection of the production area, equipment, and utensils to ensure they are clean, sanitized, and free from contaminates and damage.

• Must be able to learn and maintain in depth technical knowledge about product traceability in electronic A/S400 inventory system.  This computer system demands the ability to think critically about what information is needed to know which A/S400 screens to use in order obtain information needed to define windows of implicated product.  Additionally, incumbent places appropriate product on a non-ship hold, and perform follow-up and verification steps necessary to remove product from non-ship hold, where applicable.  Although an FSQ Lead Tech and/or member of FSQ management will be involved in verifying products on hold, these tasks must be performed independently, without instruction from other team members after the incumbent is considered fully trained on the tasks.  All products placed on and removed from hold must be accompanied by communication via detailed e-mails to applicable hourly and salaried team members.

   

• Auditing and other Communication Responsibilities:

  • The FSQ Technician holds primary responsibility for performing daily GMP audits in RTE and raw production areas, correcting and retraining employees, including management, as appropriate, and notifying applicable management of violations. This involves auditing and correcting team member personal safety violations as well and includes independently resolving some problems to correct them real time.  Documentation of GMP audits requires experience with Microsoft Excel, and audits are e-mailed out to applicable team members daily.
  • Documentation Discipline: incumbent may perform in-process and final reviews of documentation generated to support food safety and quality programs.  A very high level of attention to detail is required, as the final reviews performed are often the last review for many documents before they are filed.
  • Performs a section of the bi-monthly internal plant process and facility audit and documents findings in a Microsoft Excel application.

   

• Incumbent must have a demonstrated pattern of dependability (including, but not limited to, work attendance), and must demonstrate the willingness and ability to contribute to problem-solving, as this position may be asked to assist in generating viable solutions to permanently correct violations for issues identified while on the job (for example, solutions may involve team member behavior corrections and/or documentation modifications).  A very high level of attention to detail is expected and required of all tasks performed by the incumbent.  Additionally, professional interaction with all other team members is expected.

   

• Performs other duties as assigned.

   

• Required to contribute to harmony in the workplace

WORKING CONDITIONS 

• Standing, walking, reaching, bending, stooping, lifting up to 50 pounds, climbing ladders, stepping up and down are required of this position.

• Depending on issues to address, this employee will spend approximately 20% of the time at a desk and 80% of the time in a production area.

• This position must address issues in various areas of the plant. Desk work will be performed in a climate-controlled office environment.  Work in production areas is performed in temperatures ranging from -10 °F in freezers to 100+ °F in oven rooms.  Will be exposed to high noise levels requiring hearing protection, CO2, humidity, electrical hazards, and mechanical hazards.  Will work in areas that are wet or have fat/oil on the floor. Freezer may have frost/ice on the floor.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 18 years or older.

   

• Demonstrated pattern of dependability.

• HACCP Certification is preferred (if no HACCP Certification, must be attained within 1 year of hire date).

• Strong computer skills, experience with Excel and Word programs - testing may be required.

• Possess strong decision-making and problem-solving skills, organizational skills, ability to manage time, work independently.

• Must be available for weekend work.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• At least one to three years’ experience in the meat or food industry is desirable but not required.

BENEFITS

• Health Insurance

• Vision Insurance

• Dental Insurance

• Life Insurance

• 401K

• Flexible Spending Account

• Profit-sharing Opportunities

• Short and Long Term Disability

• Educational Assistance Program

• Employee Assistance Program

• Paid Holidays 

• Earn PTO weekly

• Fitness Center

• Product Discounts

   

Burke Corporation is a leader in the production of pizza toppings and other fully cooked meats. Located in Nevada, Iowa, Burke is a focused team of professionals that combines technical expertise, industry knowledge, flexibility and integrity. Our spirit of continuous improvement creates win/win relationships and a shared sense of confidence in quality and safety.

Hormel Foods provides equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race; color; sex; gender identity; sexual orientation; religious practices and observances; national origin; pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; status as a protected veteran or spouse/family member of a protected veteran; or disability.