Food Safety & Quality Assurance Technologist - 2nd Shift

About the role

As part of our Food Safety & Quality Assurance team, you will play an important role in ensuring our products meet the highest standards. You will perform routine sanitation checks, enforce HACCP and USDA regulations, and use your technical expertise to track products from start to finish — identifying issues and driving corrective actions when needed. You will monitor quality in your area, from grading products and documenting results to overseeing sanitation, temperatures, GMPs, and more. Working closely with production teams, you’ll help resolve issues, investigate root causes, and improve processes. You’ll also support quality programs through training and performance assessment, ensuring our brands — from Smithfield to Nathan’s Famous — are delivered safely and with confidence.

Responsibilities

• Quality Verification: Conduct routine inspections — including process, metal detection, cooking, and chilling — to ensure products meet all quality standards. Identify and act on out-of-spec products, interpret customer specs, and collaborate with teams to correct issues quickly.
• Quality Improvement: Drive continuous improvement by addressing deficiencies, identifying root causes of failures, and supporting QA programs. This includes training, spec reviews, and collaborating on initiatives to enhance product quality and reduce waste.
• Food Safety & HACCP Compliance: Help develop and enforce HACCP programs, monitor critical control points, and ensure food safety protocols are followed throughout the production process.
• Regulatory & Sanitation Oversight: Ensure USDA regulatory requirements are met, assist with food safety documentation updates, and perform pre-op sanitation checks — following up to guarantee proper cleaning and sampling procedures.
• Communication & Training: Report food safety issues, recommend corrective actions, and support plant training on deficiencies. In the absence of key personnel, step in or delegate responsibilities as needed.

Requirements

• High school diploma or general education degree (GED), required. For internal candidates with 4+ years of experience with the company, the educational requirement may be waived.
• Ability to complete required forms in English, including reading and writing in English.
• Knowledge of quality assurance principles, food science, meat processing, and USDA regulations, ensuring compliance with company and industry standards.
• Capable of creating, interpreting, and maintaining technical documents, reports, and manuals, with effective written and verbal communication across teams and stakeholders.
• Experienced in using monitoring equipment, analyzing data, and responding to regulatory or customer inquiries with sound, evidence-based decisions.
• Proficient in office software and able to interpret and follow instructions in various formats, including written, oral, and visual.

Skills

• Associate’s degree, preferred.
• Effectively collaborates with others in a fast-paced, dynamic environment while maintaining a respectful, approachable, and team-oriented attitude to foster strong working relationships and a positive workplace culture.

Physical Demands & Work Environment

• Office and plant setting with wet or humid conditions (non-weather related), extreme cold and heat (non-weather related), moving mechanical parts, exposure to fumes or airborne particles, and chemicals.
• Noise level in the work environment is usually moderate but can be loud in the production area.
• Occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
• Specific vision includes close vision, distance vision, and ability to adjust focus.
• Exposed to temperatures ranging from 30 - 80 degrees, working in warm and cold areas simultaneously.
• Frequently required to stand for prolonged times; walk; use hands to handle or feel; reach with hands and arms; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; and talk or hear.