Food Safety & Quality Ops Technician - 1st Shift

Instinct; Lincoln (NE); On-site; USD 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Life insurance

AD&D insurance

Flexible spending accounts

Health savings accounts

Short-term disability

Long-term disability

Paid time off

Volunteer days

401(k) with company match

Job summary

Instinct Lincoln, NE, is hiring a Quality Assurance professional to monitor food safety and quality across manufacturing operations. You will audit raw materials, processing areas, and finished products, ensuring compliance with SSOP, GMP, HACCP and related standards, while documenting findings and supporting continuous improvement.

This role involves sample collection, calibration tasks, and collaboration with cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• Must read, write and speak in English.
• Able to perform in a manufacturing environment at 40–50 F.
• Lifting up to 50 lbs may be required.

Responsibilities

• Review and monitor food safety and quality to verify conformance with product specs (net weights, codes/labels, temperatures).
• Collect product samples from production lines and ensure timely release and documentation.
• Audit facility and personnel daily for compliance with cGMP, FSMA, HACCP, SQF, sanitation guidelines.
• Prepare and maintain accurate monitoring reports and reports for audits.

Skills

Quality Assurance

Food Safety

Documentation

Teamwork

Tools

Microsoft Office

ERP (QAD)

Redzone

Job description

Company Description: At Instinct®, our purpose is to feed the unspoken bonds between pets, their people, and the planet. As The FreshRaw Brand, we believe nothing is fresher than raw and that raw nutrition has the power to help pets live healthier, happier lives. Guided by our leadership capabilities — acting as Change Agents, driven by Consumer Obsession, and fueled by a Challenger Mindset — we’re redefining what’s possible in pet food and challenging the status quo to create a better future for pets, people, and the planet. From our St. Louis headquarters to our Center of Excellence Raw Food Kitchens in Lincoln, Nebraska, we’re united by a shared passion for making a meaningful difference through the power of raw.

Instinct® is part of the family-owned group, Agrolimen, who owns leading pet food and human food businesses in the US, China, Europe, and Africa.

Sign-on Bonus up to $2,000

Position Summary:

Rotating shift through three manufacturing facilities, performing quality audits and food safety monitoring in a pet food processing facility. This includes monitoring raw materials, processing areas, finished product and providing accurate documentation to support the SSOP, GMP & HACCP programs, and labs.

Key Responsibilities:

• Executing activities related to reviewing, monitoring, documenting, and assessing food safety and quality standards to verify materials are compliant with product specifications including, but not limited to net weights, product quality, product codes/labels, temperatures, CCP’s
• Gather product samples from production lines to identify defective and non-conforming products and take appropriate corrective action if necessary
• Gather product samples from production lines aseptically for product testing; ensure on-time sample pick-up for product release
• Ensure cGMPs and best practices are being followed by auditing the facility and personnel daily for compliance
• Monitor production processes, personnel, and facilities to ensure adherence to cGMP, FSMA, HACCP, SQF, Sanitation guidelines, etc.; taking corrective action as necessary if standards are not being met
• Assist in employee training as needed for Food Safety and Quality tasks
• Pre-Op inspection of processing area/equipment daily before the start of operations to verify cleanliness
• Perform swabbing to verify the cleanliness of equipment and surrounding environment
• Generate complete and accurate documentation of all monitoring activities; distribute all reports in a timely manner
• Perform scale and thermometer verifications; calibrations of other equipment may also be required
• Communicate with all cross-functional departments to notify them of issues, take appropriate actions and resolve problems; may assist in non-conforming product investigations and CAPA’s
• Perform verification activities for FS&Q documentation
• Maintain organization and inventory of on-site product samples/retains.
• Enter data in spreadsheets as required
• Support Food Safety and Quality initiatives and data collection
• Other assigned projects and other tasks/duties when appropriate
• Crosstrain and support onsite laboratory as needed
• Assist with preparations for SQF audit
• Back-up for other QA personnel
• Assist with fostering Food Safety/Quality Culture within Instinct manufacturing
• E-Systems: Microsoft Office Tools (Excel, Outlook), ERP (QAD), Electronic monitoring system (Redzone)
• Must be able to occasionally lift up to 50 pounds
• Must be willing to work in refrigerated temperatures (40F to 50F)
• Other duties as assigned

Personal Attributes:

• High Values: integrity (do the right thing), encourager, courteous, respectful and trustworthy
• Team player: work effectively across levels and departments, cover responsibilities of others, and work holidays/weekends as needed
• A self-starter with the desire to follow work instructions and work with urgency
• Organized with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple things at once
• Effective verbal and written communicator
• Ability to remain calm in stressful and conflict situations

Skills and Technical Expertise:

• Employee safety knowledge (Knowing what you can do to keep yourself and others free from work injuries)
• Food safety and quality knowledge (Knowing what you can do to assure safety, high-quality product)
• Sanitation knowledge (operational sanitation)

Required Experience:

• Able to read, write and speak in English
• Must be able to perform in a manufacturing environment with temperatures of 40 -50 F
• Lifting of up to 50 lbs. may be required to perform audits

Preferred Experience:

• Bilingual (Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic, French)
• Prior experience in Production

Compensation and Benefits:

Competitive compensation includes health and dental insurance, life and AD&D insurance, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, short and long-term disability, paid time off, Purpose Days off for company partner volunteer opportunities, and 401k with company match.

Our Instinct is to CHAMPION Diversity

At Instinct, we are as passionate about our people as we are about the pets we call family. We are committed to inclusion, empowerment, and respect. We believe that just like our pets, what sets us apart unleashes our greatest strengths. We thrive on the ability to not only empower people to transform the lives of pets through raw nutrition, but also to empower each other to inspire a culture that celebrates our differences. Our unique approach to pet food is what makes us who we are as a company, and our individual identities are what makes us a successful, innovative, authentic team.