Food Safety and Quality Technician - Hold Specialist

Position Summary

The FSQA Technician - Holds Specialist is responsible for managing all aspects of product holds, including finished goods and raw materials. This role ensures timely communication, documentation, and resolution of holds in compliance with company, plant, and SQF standards.

Work Schedule & Hours

• Schedule:Monday through Friday
• Hours:8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
• Flexibility required to support off-shift activities, inspections, or meetings as needed.

Key Responsibilities

Quality Support

• Provide quality testing, analysis, and review to ensure production quality and schedule standards are met.
• Initiate problem-solving activities related to quality parameter issues.
• Support continuous training, record keeping, and maintenance of food safety and quality practices.
• Promote food safety and quality program initiatives within the plant environment.

Hold Management

• Manage and track holds for finished goods and raw materials.
• Ensure all held products are properly tagged, stored, and documented.
• Send out disposition instructions and ensure timely reconciliation of holds.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Collaborate with operations and offsite locations to coordinate rework, reconditioning, and inspections.
• Work with supply chain and offsite teams to manage scrap processes.

Reporting & Documentation

• Work with QA Manager on final disposition of holds.
• Assist in investigating held product issues.
• Develop hold reports and deviation reports.
• Perform weekly verification and reconciliation of all holds.
• Distribute weekly hold status updates to relevant stakeholders.

Training & Compliance

• Conduct hold and release training for new hires in leadership roles.
• Ensure compliance with company, plant, and SQF hold and release requirements.

Raw Material Oversight

• Ensure affected raw materials are reported and placed on hold.
• Process supplier complaints and follow up on final disposition of raw materials.

Inventory & Meetings

• Attend inventory meetings to ensure alignment on held product status and disposition.
• Follow up on material shelf life and expiration tracking.

Qualifications

• Experience in quality assurance, supply chain, or inventory control required.
• Strong organizational and communication skills.
• Proficiency in SAP, Red Prairie, or similar inventory management systems.
• Ability to work cross-functionally and manage multiple priorities.
• BS degree preferred.

Who We Are:

You might have our iconic cranberry juice in your fridge or have gotten into heated holiday debate about what's better - canned or fresh cranberry sauce. But did you know that the hardworking people growing the superfruit in our products are 700 family farmers that own our cooperative? They entrust us with what is most precious to them to create new and innovative products that will delight consumers and grow this beloved brand today and into the future.

Team members, farmers, consumers and communities alike--we value what makes us unique and strive to connect our farms to families for a better life by living our values:

• Grower Mindset - We embrace our grower-owners innovative spirit and heritage through confidence, learning and focus on the future.
• Sustainable Results - Guided by purpose, we are focused on delivering results for our grower-owners.
• Integrity Above All - We are ethical, doing the right thing for our grower-owners, customers, consumers and each other
• Inclusive Teamwork - We build diverse and inclusive teams that strengthen our cooperative.