Food Safety Systems Specialist

**Position Summary**

Reporting to the Senior Director, Quality Assurance Programs and Compliance, the Food Safety Specialist (FSS) is responsible for conducting unannounced internal audits at their assigned manufacturing facilities, presently in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Burlington, ON, to ensure plants meet BRC requirements (Issue 9 and Gluten-Free), customer standards and relevant regulatory requirements. FSS will provide reports to the sites and review corrective action plans and assist corporate QA department in implementing all new or updated standards at all plants.

This position offers the option to work from our Edmonton, Calgary, or Vancouver facilities.

• *Key Responsibilities**:

1. Schedule and conduct audits as per risk assessments of BRC clauses for each of the assigned plants.

2. Conduct unannounced internal audits at Sofina plants to ensure plants are meeting BRC, gluten-free and 3rd party audit standards and regulatory requirements, including overall HACCP plans and prerequisite programs and their annual re-assessments.

3. Provide timely feedback to QA Managers and Plant Management on non-conformances and improvement opportunities.

4. Review corrective actions and preventative measures, close the non-conformances and during next audit verify effectiveness.

5. Track and trend all non conformances for ongoing continuous improvement for plants to include in their Progress Reports. Provide internal Key Performance Indicator (KPI) audit data for Senior Continuous Improvement meetings.

6. Participate in at least one annual BRC audit for calibration. If available, participate onsite or via teams for the internal audit and food fraud sections of the audit.

7. Assist in the development of training programs for QA and operations staff as required.

8. Coach and provide guidance to facilities on standards compliance.

9. Inform and support Regulatory and Product Development Specialists in respect to relevant regulatory developments or industry codes of practice in Canada and the US.

10. Keep appraised and assist the Corporate QA Department in implementing all scientific and technical developments, industry codes of practice, and all relevant legislation applicable in the country of raw material supply, production, and country where the product will be sold.

• *Qualifications**:
• Minimum three to five years Food Safety and HACCP system management experience with Diploma/ Degree in Food Science, or a related discipline
• Internal Audit certification an asset
• Demonstrated knowledge, experience and certification in Global Food Safety Initiative standards
• Established working relationship with CFIA
• Hands-on experience with preparation and conducting third party audits
• Strong knowledge of GMP, CFIA regulatory and HACCP requirements and system
• Strong understanding of manufacturing food processes
• Strong leadership and communication skills
• Computer knowledge and ability to work with Microsoft programs to create documents, spreadsheets, reports and written letters of response
• Travel comprises approximately 40% of the time in this role, with travel locations including Vancouver BC, Edmonton AB, Calgary AB, Wynyard SK, and Burlington ON.