QA Supervisor

Driscoll Strawberry Associates, Inc; Maidstone; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Driscoll’s Maidstone-based QA Supervisor role combines daily supervision of a quality assurance team with hands-on QA activities throughout the supply chain from grower to customer. The position involves field visits during UK production season and regular work at the Maidstone site, coordinating with Quality, Technical, Procurement, Sales, Operations, Production and Allocations.

You will protect food safety, legality, authenticity and product quality, and uphold our brand integrity, with

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in a comparable quality assurance role.
• Experience within soft fruit / fresh produce is highly desirable.
• Ability to supervise, train and motivate a QA team.
• Strong communication skills across departments.
• Ability to identify quality risks and translate them into pragmatic solutions.

Responsibilities

• Supervising, supporting and training members of the QA team.
• Helping coordinate staffing levels, annual leave and other absences.
• Ensuring compliance with customer specifications, quality standards and SOPs.
• Monitoring quality at grower, harvest, intake and operational stages.
• Identifying and communicating non-conformances to Technical, Procurement, Sales and Operations.
• Working closely with production management to ensure packing procedures are followed correctly.
• Collaborating with allocation and production teams to ensure correct pallets and quality standards are allocated to customers.
• Providing clear feedback to growers, Procurement and Sales regarding fruit arrivals and quality performance.
• Managing fruit quality and labeling issues and ensuring documentation is complete.
• Reviewing quality data, identifying trends and supporting corrective actions.
• Supporting and covering the QA Manager when required.
• Contributing to continuous improvement across quality and operational processes.

Skills

Quality assurance

Team supervision

Communication

Attention to detail

Food safety

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

Job description

About the Opportunity

Are you passionate about quality and ready to take the next step in your career within the fresh produce industry? This is a Maidstone based position that also requires you to visit fields during UK production season. You will build close working relationships with colleagues across Quality, Technical, Procurement, Sales, Operations, Production and Allocations, as well as with our growers and other external stakeholders.

In this role, you will combine the daily supervision and development of our QA team with practical quality assurance activities. You will help ensure that our quality standards are consistently applied throughout the supply chain, from grower and harvest through intake and packing to the final customer.

Responsibilities

• Supervising, supporting and training members of the QA team
• Helping coordinate staffing levels, annual leave and other absences
• Ensuring compliance with customer specifications, quality standards and standard operating procedures
• Monitoring quality at grower, harvest, intake and operational stages
• Identifying and communicating non-conformances to Technical, Procurement, Sales and Operations
• Working closely with production management to ensure packing procedures are followed correctly
• Collaborating with allocation and production teams to ensure the correct pallets and quality standards are allocated to customers
• Providing clear and timely feedback to growers, Procurement and Sales regarding fruit arrivals and quality performance
• Managing fruit quality and labelling issues and ensuring these are documented correctly
• Reviewing quality data, identifying trends and supporting corrective actions
• Supporting and covering for the QA Manager when required
• Contributing to continuous improvement across quality and operational processes

You will also play an important role in protecting food safety, legality, authenticity, product quality and the integrity of the Driscoll’s brand. This includes maintaining high standards relating to health and safety, hygiene, security and the environment.

Candidate Profile

You will also play an important role in protecting food safety, legality, authenticity, product quality and the integrity of the Driscoll’s brand. This includes maintaining high standards relating to health and safety, hygiene, security and the environment.

What you bring

We are looking for someone who combines strong quality knowledge with a practical and collaborative approach. You will ideally bring:

• Extensive experience in a comparable quality assurance role
• Previous experience within soft fruit, fresh produce or a similar fast-paced food environment
• The ability to supervise, train and motivate a QA team
• Strong communication skills and confidence working with colleagues across different departments
• The ability to recognise quality risks and translate them into pragmatic solutions
• A well-organised approach and the ability to manage several priorities at the same time
• Strong attention to detail and the confidence to address quality concerns when needed
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel
• Experience within the soft fruit industry would be particularly valuable for this position.

How you will work

This is a field-based UK position that also requires you to work regularly from our Maidstone operations. You will build close working relationships with colleagues across Quality, Technical, Procurement, Sales, Operations, Production and Allocations, as well as with our growers and other external stakeholders. You will report to the QA Operations Manager.

Driscoll’s is the global market leader for fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. With more than 100 years of farming heritage and hundreds of independent growers around the world, Driscoll’s is passionate about growing fresh, beautiful and delicious berries. Our values of humility, passion and trustworthiness have guided our mission to delight consumers around the world. Driscoll’s exclusive patented berry varieties are developed through years of research using only natural breeding methods – meaning, no GMOs. From farm-to-table, we focus on delivering a high quality, premium berry experience with our many supply chain partners. Driscoll’s is the trusted brand for Only the Finest Berries.