Lead, Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance Lead

Department: Quality
Reports To: Quality Assurance Manager
FLSA Status: Non-Exempt
Shift: Must be able to work any shift
 

Position Summary

The Quality Assurance Lead is a key member of the plant Quality team and serves as a frontline leader in protecting product quality, food safety, regulatory compliance, and customer satisfaction.

This position provides day-to-day leadership and technical support for Quality Technicians while ensuring that water processing, microbiological testing, finished-product inspection, sanitation, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), and quality-system requirements are consistently executed across the facility.

The Quality Assurance Lead has the authority and responsibility to identify potential food safety or quality concerns, place questionable product on hold, escalate nonconformances, and partner with Operations and plant leadership to ensure issues are appropriately investigated and resolved before affected product is released.

The ideal candidate is highly visible on the production floor, technically strong, detail-oriented, comfortable challenging unacceptable conditions, and committed to building a culture where quality and food safety are everyone’s responsibility.

Key Responsibilities

Quality & Food Safety Leadership

• Serve as the frontline Quality resource for assigned production operations and shifts.
• Provide leadership, direction, coaching, and technical support to Quality Technicians.
• Ensure products meet established company, customer, regulatory, and product specifications from startup through completion of the production run.
• Monitor water processing systems, tanks, treatment areas, laboratories, production lines, and finished-product quality.
• Verify that required quality checks are completed accurately, consistently, and at the required frequency.
• Identify and escalate food safety, product quality, regulatory, or GMP concerns immediately.
• Initiate product holds when conditions warrant and assist with disposition and release activities in accordance with established procedures.
• Partner with Production, Maintenance, Warehouse, and Sanitation teams to resolve quality concerns.
• Promote a proactive quality culture by identifying risks before they become customer or product issues.

Water Processing & Laboratory Testing

• Monitor water-processing operations to ensure established specifications are consistently achieved.
• Perform and/or oversee required chemical, physical, and microbiological testing.
• Conduct routine microbiological testing, including applicable:
  • Coliform testing
  • Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC)
  • Yeast and mold testing
  • Other microbiological or analytical testing required by company procedures
• Review test results for accuracy, trends, abnormalities, and compliance with specifications.
• Collect and prepare samples for outside laboratory testing.
• Ensure testing equipment is properly maintained, calibrated, verified, and documented.
• Escalate out-of-specification or questionable results immediately.

Food Safety, GMP & Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure compliance with all applicable:
  • SQF requirements
  • HACCP/HARPC programs
  • Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs)
  • Sanitation requirements
  • Company food safety and quality policies
  • Customer requirements
  • Applicable regulatory requirements
• Monitor GMP compliance throughout production and warehouse areas.
• Coach employees and leaders when food safety or GMP deficiencies are identified.
• Verify appropriate use of required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
• Support food defense, allergen, sanitation, traceability, and other applicable food safety programs.

Audits & Regulatory Readiness

• Assist in preparing the facility for internal, customer, regulatory, certification, and third-party audits.
• Participate in SQF and other plant audits.
• Help maintain the facility in an ongoing state of audit readiness, rather than preparing only immediately before an audit.
• Conduct or support GMP inspections and internal quality-system audits.
• Assist with mock recalls and traceability exercises.
• Ensure assigned corrective actions from audits are documented and completed within established timeframes.

Nonconformance & Corrective Action

• Assist with identification, documentation, investigation, and resolution of nonconforming materials and finished products.
• Ensure nonconforming product is properly identified, segregated, and controlled.
• Participate in root-cause investigations.
• Assist with development and implementation of corrective and preventive actions.
• Verify that corrective actions are effective and sustainable.
• Support customer complaint investigations and provide documentation when requested.
• Identify recurring issues and escalate trends requiring additional investigation or action.

Documentation & Data Integrity

• Ensure Quality records are accurate, legible, complete, and completed in real time.
• Review Quality Technician documentation for completeness and accuracy.
• Maintain Quality records in accordance with document-control and record-retention requirements.
• Manage assigned Quality documentation, forms, logs, and standard operating procedures.
• Support revisions to SOPs, work instructions, specifications, and Quality-system documents.
• Ensure obsolete documents are removed from use.
• Maintain confidentiality and integrity of Quality and regulatory records.

Training & Team Development

• Serve as a training resource for Quality Technicians and plant employees.
• Train employees on applicable:
  • GMP requirements
  • Quality procedures
  • Sampling techniques
  • Laboratory procedures
  • Food safety requirements
  • Documentation expectations
• Reinforce accountability when established Quality procedures are not followed.
• Assist the Quality Assurance Manager with developing the technical capabilities of the Quality team.
• Provide effective shift-to-shift communication regarding quality concerns, product holds, testing status, and unresolved issues.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities to strengthen Quality systems, reduce defects, improve testing reliability, and prevent recurring nonconformances.
• Participate in root-cause analysis and continuous-improvement activities.
• Review quality data and trends to identify emerging risks.
• Support the use of statistical process control, trend analysis, and other data-driven quality tools where applicable.
• Partner cross-functionally to improve processes while protecting food safety and product quality.

Laboratory & Quality Supplies

• Monitor laboratory and Quality supply inventory.
• Maintain appropriate Kanban or inventory levels for critical testing materials.
• Notify management of potential shortages before they affect required testing.
• Ensure laboratory areas remain clean, organized, and audit-ready.

Leadership Coverage

• Provide coverage for Quality Technicians as necessary.
• Provide designated coverage for the Quality Assurance Manager when assigned and appropriately trained.
• Communicate significant food safety or quality concerns to plant leadership immediately.
• May be required to support off-shifts, weekends, overtime, shutdowns, rebuilds, audits, investigations, or special projects based on business needs.

Required Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED required.
• Minimum of two years of Quality Assurance, Quality Control, food/beverage manufacturing, laboratory, or closely related experience preferred.
• Experience working in a manufacturing environment strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to follow technical procedures and accurately document results.
• Strong reading, writing, mathematical, and problem-solving skills.
• Basic proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, and computerized recordkeeping systems.
• Ability to work independently with limited supervision while effectively supporting a team.
• Ability to communicate professionally with hourly employees, supervisors, managers, auditors, and other stakeholders.
• Ability and willingness to work a flexible schedule, including off-shifts, overtime, weekends, or holidays when business needs require.

Preferred Qualifications

• Associate's or bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Biology, Food Science, Microbiology, Environmental Science, or a related scientific discipline.
• Relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a college degree.
• Previous experience in bottled water, beverage, food, pharmaceutical, or other regulated manufacturing environments.
• Experience with SQF, HACCP/HARPC, GMPs, internal auditing, microbiological testing, or food safety systems.
• Previous lead, training, or supervisory experience.
• Experience investigating nonconformances and participating in root-cause analysis and corrective-action processes.
• Knowledge of SPC, trend analysis, and process-control principles.

Knowledge, Skills & Competencies

Successful candidates should demonstrate:

• Quality Mindset – Does not compromise established quality or food safety requirements.
• Attention to Detail – Recognizes conditions or documentation that could create compliance or product risk.
• Leadership Presence – Provides clear direction and professionally addresses issues when standards are not followed.
• Accountability – Follows through on commitments and ensures issues reach appropriate resolution.
• Critical Thinking – Uses facts, specifications, test results, and data when making decisions.
• Communication – Clearly communicates technical and operational concerns across departments and shifts.
• Integrity – Accurately reports results and concerns even when findings may delay production.
• Sense of Urgency – Responds quickly to potential food safety, product quality, or regulatory concerns.
• Teamwork – Works collaboratively with Production, Maintenance, Sanitation, Warehouse, and leadership.
• Continuous Improvement – Looks beyond immediate corrections to identify sustainable improvements.

GMP & PPE Requirements

While working in production, laboratory, warehouse, or processing areas, employees must comply with all company GMP, food safety, sanitation, and PPE requirements.

Required PPE may include:

• Safety glasses
• Hair restraints
• Beard restraints, when applicable
• Hearing protection
• Safety footwear
• Gloves or other task-specific PPE

The Quality Assurance Lead is expected not only to personally comply with these requirements but also to appropriately address and escalate observed noncompliance.

Food Safety & Quality Authority

Every employee has responsibility for protecting food safety and product quality.

The Quality Assurance Lead is specifically expected to:

• Immediately report conditions that could compromise food safety or product quality.
• Stop or escalate a process when established specifications or food safety requirements are not being met, consistent with company policy.
• Initiate or recommend product hold when questionable or nonconforming conditions exist.
• Ensure questionable product is not released until appropriate evaluation and authorization have occurred.
• Escalate unresolved concerns to the Quality Assurance Manager and appropriate plant leadership.

Production objectives will not override established food safety, regulatory, or product-quality requirements.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described are representative of those required to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions.

The employee may be required to:

• Sit approximately 35% of the workday.
• Stand approximately 40% of the workday.
• Walk approximately 25% of the workday.
• Occasionally bend, stoop, crouch, push, pull, reach, and climb.
• Frequently lift and/or carry materials weighing up to 50 pounds.
• Frequently communicate verbally and in writing.
• Frequently hear normal conversation, equipment alarms, and operational sounds.
• Frequently use near visual acuity, depth perception, and attention to detail when conducting inspections, reading instruments, and reviewing documentation.
• Work in manufacturing environments that may include temperature changes, wet areas, noise, moving equipment, and other conditions typical of food and beverage production.

Other Duties

This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed and is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every responsibility, duty, or skill required.

Employees may be assigned additional responsibilities based on operational and business needs.

In the absence of the Quality Assurance Lead, the Quality Assurance Manager or appropriately trained designee will assume assigned food safety and quality responsibilities.

Why Join Our Quality Team?

This is an opportunity for a quality professional who wants to do more than simply perform tests and complete paperwork.

As a Quality Assurance Lead, you will play a critical role in protecting our customers, strengthening our food safety culture, developing our Quality team, and ensuring that every product leaving our facility meets the standards our consumers and customers expect.

We are looking for someone who is willing to lead from the floor, follow the data, speak up when something is not right, and help drive the facility toward world-class Quality performance.