Quality Assurance Manager

Sunrise Farms is a group of companies with primary focus in the poultry industry.

From our hatcheries to our “ready to eat” state of the art cooking facilities we service customers in the retail, food service and industrial sectors. We are proud of our support of the Canadian farm as well as our investment in the latest equipment and technologies at our facilities across Canada. Our test kitchens have the most current cooking equipment replicating that used in commercial establishments, to facilitate precision testing. This way you know the product you receive will perform to your expectations. We are proud of our long-standing partnerships with family-owned Canadian chicken farmers to produce high quality products.

Role:

Responsible for strict adherence to HACCP Program, customer requirements, and all regulatory framework for the entire facility. Establishing, implementing and directing the quality assurance and food safety efforts to ensure those requirements for processing components and other materials into finished goods and products conform to food safety, quality, and legal standards.  Together with direct reports establish and maintain quality assurance standards, procedures, and controls.  Work directly with processing to schedule and control inspection activities and to enforce requirements as specified by raw materials, ingredients, products and package specifications, and regulatory agencies.  Initiate corrective action for procedural product or process deficiencies.

Responsibilities

• Manage, plan, coordinate, and direct quality assurance and food safety program designed to ensure continuous production/service consistent with established standards.  Maintain various policies and standard operating procedures including: HACCP, GMP, CFIA regulations, food safety, pest control, internal audit procedures, etc.;
• Manage the development and analysis of statistical data and specifications to determine present standards and to establish proposed quality and reliability expectancy.  Recommend corrective action necessary to ensure conformity with quality specifications and standards;
• Formulate and maintain quality control objectives and coordinate objectives with the production procedures in cooperation with other managers to maximize quality, reliability, and minimize costs;
• Lead Internal and External Audit programs, including knowledge and experience with current BRC audit guidelines and requirements to ensure plant compliance to FSEP and Corporate Food Safety and quality programs (or equivalent);
• Manage proactively, both directly and through intermediate personnel, sanitation related activities to ensure that food safety is not compromised;
• Manage, through intermediate personnel, workers engaged in activities to ensure continuous control over materials, facilities, services and products;
• Develop and implement methods and procedures for monitoring work activities such as preparation of records of expenditures, progress reports, etc. in order to inform management of current status of work activities;
• Plan, promote, and organize training activities related to quality and reliability, including QA staff development. Develop on-floor quality assurance technicians and complete all related quality training in a hands on manner;
• Analyze and resolve work problems or assist employees in solving problems;
• Manage installation, inspection, and testing procedures for finished products.  In conjunction with the Plant Manager, investigate any product that fails to meet specifications, and develop the required improvement processes;
• Ensure nutritional, organoleptic and microbiological standards are met and monitored;
• Ensure the company’s food defense, animal welfare, and foreign animal disease policies and practices are maintained;
• Contribute to the marketing and development of new products through involvement with quality standards and production trials for existing products and/or new products;
• Investigate customer complaints regarding quality and make appropriate adjustments.
• Accountable for enforcement of company health and safety policies on the production line(s) under our direct supervision. 
• Demonstrate company values in all activities and interpersonal relationships.
• Direct the training of new employees.
• Review attendance records for the department and implement discipline as required.
• Implement employee discipline procedure for other issues as required.
• Oversee that all production employees follow good manufacturing practices.
• Reviews frequently the monitoring and documentation of critical control point checks.
• Enforce adherence to SOP’s and HACCP requirements.
• Assist Plant Manager in the development of departmental expenditure budgets on an annual basis.
• Achieves financial objectives by monitoring results, analyzing results and initiating corrective actions.
• Reviews daily, time and attendance records for those departments under our direct supervision, authorizing for pay, hours of work and any other benefits that an employee might be entitle to.

Knowledge and Experience

• Proven leadership, team building, and interpersonal skills; success driven with a “can do” attitude.
• Ability to interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, procedure manuals, etc.
• Computer experience with Microsoft Office Applications (Excel, Word, etc.).
• Ability to effectively communicate with internal and external partners.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Fair, firm, professional and personable in dealing with a multi-ethnic workforce, and in managing QA team.
• Requires a Bachelor’s degree in a related field (Food Science, Microbiology, etc.)
• 3-5 years supervisory or managerial experience in Quality Assurance with a food manufacturing facility, preferably raw material and poultry.
• 2-5 years of experience in quality control lab analysis, food processing, Food Industry HACCP and BRC programs, and quality management.
• Broad knowledge of quality control and manufacturing operations.
• Understanding of the plant floor and the interdependencies of the operating groups.
• Extensive practical and technical knowledge of plant processing operations.
• Good knowledge of and experience with meat hygiene regulations and CFIA manual of procedures.
• Ability to professionally and confidently represent the company in dealing with CFIA personnel, auditors as well as customer and supplier issues.
• HACCP Plant Development and Implementation required.
• Advanced HACCP-Verification.
• Validation and Auditing of a HACCP System preferred.
• GFSI training

At Sunrise Farms we are proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified individuals, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or any other identifying characteristic are encouraged to apply.

Please note that the expected new hire salary range provided is derived from a group of like roles within Sunrise Farms. The final offer amount for this role will be dependent on geographical region, applicable experience, and skillset of the candidate.