Technical and Quality Assurance Officer

Midlands Apiaries Limited; Ashburton; On-site; NZD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Midlands Apiaries Limited is seeking a Technical and Quality Assurance Officer to uphold quality standards across Midlands Apiaries, Midlands Bees and Midlands Seed. The role splits time between Midlands Apiaries and allied units in processing plants, ensuring compliance with customer, regulatory and internal requirements.

Key responsibilities include managing QA systems, conducting supplier audits, leading HACCP and customer audits, investigating complaints, and driving continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• QA professional with 2-5+ years' experience.
• Strong HACCP and audit experience would be an advantage.
• Previous experience in food manufacturing, agricultural processing, seed processing, honey production, or a regulated quality environment is highly desirable.
• Able to influence operational teams and drive compliance.
• A very high level of Food Safety and Health and Safety awareness and practices.
• Excellent communication and documentation skills.
• Well organised with strong planning skills and a positive attitude.
• High level of attention to detail.
• Be methodical and work with a sense of urgency.
• Remain calm under pressure.
• Able to follow direction and work effectively in a team environment.

Responsibilities

• Manage Quality Assurance and Compliance systems within Midlands Group in accordance with both internal and external standards including legislative compliance.
• Conduct annual supplier audits on our partnered food grade seed dressing sites in New Zealand and support the team in Tasmania.
• Lead National Program, HACCP and customer audits for Midlands Seed and work with the seed dressing sites when audits need to include those facilities.
• Support Tasmanian team in audits and QA activities.
• Investigate customer complaints and non compliance with the relevant departments and/or third party manufacturers; ensure root cause analysis and corrective actions are completed.
• Be part of the team that champion product safety and quality culture across the wider team.
• Cover for the Midlands Apiaries Technical and Quality Assurance Officer when they are absent.
• Ensure that all quality systems and requirements relevant to the Apiaries, Bees and Seeds businesses are adhered to.
• Assist in developing procedures to work towards continuous improvement.
• Assist in internal auditing against RMP, FCP, SQF, other Certifying Body and customer standards to ensure compliance with all internal and external requirements.
• Ensure the compliance and quality of labelling for raw materials and finished goods.
• Support Laboratory Analyst with honey testing, swabbing and/or water sampling.
• Provide QA and Technical support for branding and marketing strategies as required.
• Collaborate effectively across departments to achieve business objectives.
• Offer solutions as well as identifying problems.

Skills

QA professional

HACCP

Audit experience

Job description

Jora New Zealand will close on 9th September 2026. Thank you for being with us, we are cheering you on as you continue your career journey.

Technical and Quality Assurance Officer
Monday to Friday, 06:00-14:30

This role is being advertised to replace a departing team member, who has been in the role for 3 years. It has the unique opportunity to work within both Midlands Apiaries and Midlands Seed.

Through innovation and a dedication to producing complementary products, Midlands have become a global leader in high value seed production, a leading producer and exporter of high-quality food ingredients, honeys and nutritional oils and a fundamental force in research and development. Since planting our first seed back in 1990, we have sown a strong network of products, services and people with one shared goal – to develop the production and export of arable products from New Zealand.

Reporting to the Midlands Apiaries Technical Manager, this role will split their time between both Midlands Apiaries, Bees and Seeds.

The Technical and Quality Assurance Officer is involved in ensuring that Midland’s quality standards are being met at Midlands and at the seed dressing plants that we work with. This position will be instrumental in ensuring that product is of a consistently high quality, that quality systems and inspections are implemented and maintained within processing departments, and that processing operations are consistent with customer and regulatory requirements and company policy.

Key responsibilities include:

• Manage Quality Assurance and Compliance systems within Midlands Group in accordance with both internal and external standards including legislative compliance. This is across Midlands Apiaries Ltd, Midlands Bees, Midlands Seed Ltd and supporting Midlands Seed Tasmania Ltd.
• Conduct annual supplier audits on our partnered food grade seed dressing sites in New Zealand and support the team in Tasmania.
• Lead National Program, HACCP and customer audits for Midlands Seed and work with the seed dressing sites when audits need to include those facilities. Support the Tasmanian team.
• Investigate customer complaints and non compliance with the relevant departments and/or third party manufacturers. Ensure Root Cause Analysis is performed and that corrective and preventive actions are completed.
• Be part of the team that champion product safety and quality culture across the wider team.
• Support Midlands Apiaries and Midlands Bees QA activities, including (but not limited to) QA checks, internal audits, supplier audits, team training and updating of training material and procedures.
• Cover for the Midlands Apiaries Technical and Quality Assurance Officer when they are absent.
• Ensure that all quality systems and requirements relevant to the Apiaries, Bees and Seeds businesses are adhered to.
• Assist in developing procedures to work towards continuous improvement
• Assist in internal auditing of the business against e.g. RMP, FCP, SQF, other Certifying Body and customer standards to ensure compliance with all internal and external requirements.
• Ensure the compliance and quality of labelling for raw materials and finished goods.
• Support Laboratory Analyst with honey testing, swabbing and/or water sampling.
• Provide QA and Technical support for branding and marketing strategies as required.
• Collaborate effectively across departments to achieve business objectives.
• Offer solutions as well as identifying problems.

The successful applicant will possess the following skills and experience:

• QA professional with 2-5+ years' experience
• Strong HACCP and audit experience would be an advantage
• Previous experience in food manufacturing, agricultural processing, seed processing, honey production, or a regulated quality environment is highly desirable
• Able to influence operational teams and drive compliance
• A very high level of Food Safety and Health and Safety awareness and practices
• Excellent communication and documentation skills
• Well organised with strong planning skills and a positive attitude
• High level of attention to detail.
• Be methodical and work with a sense of urgency
• Remain calm under pressure
• Able to follow direction and work effectively in a team environment

To discuss the role in confidence, please contact Georgie Wade on 027 406 3990 or email: ****@midlands.co.nz.