Hiring Quality Professionals in the Food Industry

Hiring Quality Assurance and Quality Control Executives in the Food Sector have never been more important. With the ISO 22000 implementation and certification process, HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) requirements, BioTerrorism Act compliance mandated, these professionals have much more to accomplish than “merely” keeping bacteria out of the food, says Thomas Cutler, President and CEO of TR Cutler, Inc., in an article for International Food Safety & Quality Network (IFSQN).

Ironically the lean initiatives implemented by so many food manufacturers in the past year have not translated continued process improvement theory into the hiring practices of these much needed professionals. Antiquated advertising methods, tedious interviewing processes, and unclear delineation of quality skill sets are hampering the nature of “lean” and introducing a wasteful and inefficient methodology for selecting the best candidates.

While noting that every QA executive conducts different functions, the food manufacturing quality assurance placement firm, ResourceMF, developed a sample list of 30 requirements often sought when selecting Quality Assurance professionals for the Food Manufacturing sector, the first five of which are:

1. Oversee, implement, review and develop policies, procedures and systems and processes related to food safety and quality assurance management systems.
2. Stay abreast of regulatory policies, directives and notices, and provide effective liaison with USDA-FSIS and other government regulatory agencies.
3. Monitor and enforce supplier raw material compliance regarding source supply protocol, food safety & quality.
4. Maintain, audit and improve pre-operation and operational SSOP programs, define requirements for master sanitation program and sanitation performance standards, i.e., trailer and pallet sanitation, implement corrective action and verification procedures. Make necessary updates and modifications to reflect changes in processes and/or USDA-FSIS regulations.
5. Manage, reassess and improve regulatory HACCP programs. Monitor, verify and validate HACCP records compliance, direct validation of HACCP program, implement corrective actions. Make necessary modifications to reflect changes in processes and/or USDA-FSIS regulations.

Read the full story and all 30 requirements at IFSQN.