Sr Specialist Food Safety Compliance

Job Location: Hazleton, PA

Summary:

The Hershey Company Hazleton plant is a Union plant producing products such as Cadbury, Milk Bars, Almond Bars, Extra Dark Bars, Caramel Bars, Candy Coated Eggs, and Kit Kat, in a high-speed complex environment.

Under minimal guidance, the Food Safety Compliance Specialist’s primary role is to coordinate efforts to achieve and maintain Global Food Safety Initiative certification and to ensure adherence to Hershey’s Product Excellence Program. Responsibilities include ensuring compliance to all company and regulatory policies/procedures pertaining to product safety/quality. The incumbent shall be responsible for coordination of the following programs, including but not limited to, food defense, monthly employee training, activities around Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), and quality and food safety culture. The specialist shall lead the development, maintenance, and governance of the plant’s food safety and quality plans and related programs.

Responsibilities:

Food Safety/Quality Program Compliance:

• To assure compliance to the food safety/food quality programs, facilitate required employee training, complete required internal assessments, develop corrective/preventive actions, lead internal and 3rd party audits, and complete required validation and verifications of the system.

PEP / GFSI Program Compliance:

• Lead the development, implementation, review, and maintenance of the plant’s food safety/food quality program to assure compliance with The Hershey Company’s Product Excellence Program and GFSI standards.

Training / Communication:

• Assure employee ownership of programs by communicating essential information related to food safety/food quality to all employees including management and line operatives.

Manufacturing Support:

• The position serves as a technical resource for Manufacturing and Engineering along with providing leadership and guidance in the areas of weight control, packaging, incident investigation and resolution, troubleshooting and other related matters. Support shall also be provided for employee training and product/process audits. The position provides QA support to the various Business Units across the plant.

Scope of Position:

• Scope of involvement: All production lines and plant processes / corporate / external contacts
• Coordination of activities: Plant management level and below / corporate teams / external contacts
• Scope of interaction: All plant departments / other plants / corporate teams / external contacts

Minimum knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform major duties/responsibilities:

• Strong communication skills and ability to work collaboratively with all levels internal and external to the plant to deliver timely results.
• Strong documentation skills and attention to detail.
• Strong understanding of GFSI standards. Safe Quality Food (SQF) Practitioner Certification strongly preferred.
• Ability to interact effectively with 3rd party and internal auditors.
• Strong understanding of The Hershey Company’s Product Excellence Program (PEP) and HACCP.
• Knowledge of manufacturing operations.
• Understanding of sanitation and pest control practices.
• Strong auditing/assessment skills.
• Strong working knowledge of QA principles.
• Effective communication of technical and non-technical information to various levels, both internally and externally to the organization.
• Position will primarily work 1st shift but work schedule flexibility is required to support a 24/7 manufacturing operation is required.
• Working Knowledge of federal and state food industry regulations.
• Strong leadership skills and ability to influence management, enabling the activities of employee teams that do not have direct reporting to the Specialist.
• Strong computer and document management skills.

Minimum Education and Experience Requirements:

• Safe Quality Foods (SQF) Certification is strongly preferred.
• Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) Certification is strongly preferred.
• B.S. in Food Science, Microbiology, or related field
• Minimum of 5 years related experience.
• Preventive Control Qualified Individual (PCQI) Certification is desirable.

The Hershey Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The policy of The Hershey Company is to extend opportunities to qualified applicants and employees on an equal basis regardless of an individual's race, color, gender, age, national origin, religion, citizenship status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other categories protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.

The Hershey Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer - Minority/Female/Disabled/Protected Veterans

If you require a reasonable accommodation as part of the application process, please contact the HR Service Center ([email protected]).