Quality Assurance Specialist

HOS Global Foods; Mumbai; On-site; INR 550,000 - 850,000; Full time

Job summary

House of Spices in India seeks a Supplier QA Executive to be on-site across South India, witnessing production and assuring adherence to HOS specifications, formulations, process parameters, food-safety requirements and GMP/GHP.

The role focuses on detecting deviations, containment, RCA/CAPA, supplier audits, and timely reporting, with travel required and a strong shop-floor presence.

Qualifications

• Master’s or bachelor’s degree in food science/technology.
• Should have handled 3P operations.
• Knowledge of lab technique of analyzing different food product.
• Good MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint skills.
• Good organoleptic senses for product and sensory evaluation.

Responsibilities

• Witness production at supplier facilities to ensure products are manufactured as per approved HOS specifications and food-safety requirements.
• Verify usage of approved raw materials, ingredients, packaging materials and ensure compliance with specifications.
• Verify HACCP/Preventive Controls and CCPs during production, with focus on Frozen RTE and Rice processing.
• Provide strong on-site QA oversight for Frozen RTE and Rice products, including temperature controls and hygiene.
• Conduct GMP/GHP facility verification for hygiene, sanitation, pest control, allergen control, and related programs.
• Conduct and support supplier quality audits against GMP, HACCP/Preventive Controls, ISO 22000, BRC requirements.
• Identify deviations, contain affected material, and communicate issues to QA Manager before release.
• Lead or support RCA using 5 Why, Fishbone and process analysis.
• Review CAPA and verify effectiveness at supplier site; document evidence and close actions.
• Prepare supplier visit and production-witnessing reports and track actions.

Skills

MS Word

MS Excel

PowerPoint

Organoleptic evaluation

Education

Master’s degree in Food Science/Technology

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science/Technology

Job description

House of Spices is a leading South Asian Food manufacturer and distributor in North America (USA & Canada) and has been delivering pure and quality products for over 50 years with 11 distribution centers throughout North America. We have our own brands and have exclusivity for distributing our partner brands in US / Canada. Our vision is to bring our culture alive through the celebration of authentic ethnic food, flavor and families. Our mission is to provide consumers easy access to all authentic ethnic food and flavors across the North American marketplace with a will to win. Visit www.hosindia.com to know more.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Summary/Objective:

The Supplier QA Executive will be primarily responsible for on-site production witnessing and supplier quality assurance for HOS products manufactured at supplier/co-packer facilities across South India.

The key responsibility is to ensure that every witnessed production is carried out as per approved HOS product specifications, formulations, process parameters, food-safety requirements, SOPs, GMP/GHP, sanitation requirements and applicable US FDA/FSMA requirements.

The position will have a strong shop-floor presence and will be responsible for identifying deviations during production, immediately communicating risks, ensuring containment, supporting root-cause analysis (RCA) and verifying effective implementation of corrective and preventive actions (CAPA).

This is primarily a field-based supplier QA role, not a documentation-focused position.

Key Responsibilities

Supplier Production Witnessing & Process Compliance

• Regularly visit assigned suppliers and witness production to ensure products are manufactured as per approved HOS specifications, formulations, process parameters, SOPs, quality standards and applicable food-safety requirements. Verify actual production conditions and process controls rather than relying only on supplier documentation.

Raw Material, Formulation & Product Specification Compliance

• Verify the use of approved raw materials, ingredients and packaging materials and ensure formulation, processing, product characteristics, net weight and finished-product requirements comply with approved HOS specifications. Identify and escalation any unauthorized changes or deviations.

Critical Process & Food Safety Control Verification

• Verify implementation and monitoring of HACCP/Preventive Controls, CCPs, critical process parameters and other food-safety controls during production, with particular focus on Frozen RTE and Rice processing.

Ready to eat products Quality Assurance:

• Provide strong on-site quality oversight for Frozen RTE and Rice products, including cooking, cooling, freezing, hygiene, cross-contamination controls, temperature controls, foreign-material controls, destoning, grading, sortex, admixture, varietal authenticity and other product-specific requirements.

GMP, Hygiene, Sanitation & Plant Verification

• Conduct regular physical verification of supplier facilities for GMP/GHP, personnel hygiene, housekeeping, cleaning and sanitation, pest control, allergen control, foreign-material prevention, equipment condition, calibration and other prerequisite programs.

Supplier Quality & Food Safety Audits

• Conduct and support supplier/co-packer assessments and audits against HOS requirements, approved specifications, applicable regulatory requirements, GMP, HACCP/Preventive Controls, FSSC 22000/ISO 22000, BRC/customer requirements and other applicable standards.

Deviation, Non-Conformance & Containment Management

• Identify quality and food-safety deviations during production, ensure appropriate immediate containment and segregation of affected material, determine the scope of impact and communicate significant issues to the QA Manager before product release or shipment.

Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

• Lead or support supplier investigations for production deviations, complaints and non-conformances and ensure effective RCA using appropriate tools such as 5 Why, Fishbone and process analysis. Challenge incomplete or unsupported root causes and ensure the RCA addresses the actual cause of failure.

CAPA Implementation & Effectiveness Verification

• Review supplier CAPA, verify implementation at the supplier site and ensure corrective and preventive actions address the identified root cause. CAPA shall be closed only after objective evidence and, where required, follow up production witnessing demonstrate effectiveness and prevention of recurrence.

Complaint, Traceability & Supplier Performance Management

• Support investigation of customer and internal complaints, verify batch/lot traceability, mock recalls, sample retention and relevant supplier records, and monitor supplier performance to identify recurring issues and improvement opportunities
• Prepare timely supplier visit and production-witnessing reports, document observations and objective evidence, track open actions and CAPA, follow up with suppliers until effective closure, and identify opportunities to improve supplier processes, quality performance and food-safety controls.

Travel

• Travel is mandatory for this Job Profile

Required Education and Experience

• A master’s or bachelor’s degree in food science/food technology or equivalent qualification.
• Should have handled 3P operations
• Knowledge of lab technique of analyzing different food product.
• Good in MS word, excel, and power point.
• Good organoleptic senses for product and sensory evaluation.

Preferred Knowledge

• Knowledge of lab technique and prior training in fundamental quality assurance technology.
• Basic Knowledge of Quality Assurance; GFSI and Regulatory (US FDA); FSMA and other Regulatory standards.