Are you passionate about ensuring the highest standards of Food Safety and Sustainability? At Gem-Pack Berries we are dedicated to delivering the best berries to our customers. We are looking for a Food Safety and Sustainability Manager to join our Operations team!
The Food Safety and Sustainability Manager will play a vital role at Gem-Pack Berries supporting our core fresh produce function. General responsibilities will include managing and maintaining customer and grower compliance, ensuring regulatory requirements are satisfied, data tracking and entry, This individual will report directly to the VP of Food Safety.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Assisting to drive the development and delivery of the company’s food safety program.
- Support the growth of Gem Pack by supporting sustainability, social responsibility, Organic requirements, and compliance initiatives.
- Responsible for developing, maintaining, and enforcing food safety policies as well as managing the food safety work activities to ensure all processes and regulatory requirements remain satisfied.
- Working collaboratively with cross-functional teams and builds strong relationships with suppliers and stakeholders.
- Maintaining an active role on internal continuous improvement.
- Understand the differences in procedures between growers, or between domestic and international operations/orders and the ability to organize and manage accordingly.
- Utilization of resources to generate effective solutions based on available information.
- Assist Director of Food Safety with grower audit prep, audit attendance as required in the assigned geographic areas.
- Stay well-informed and up to date of trends and innovations in the sustainability realm and their impacts.
- Develop a long-term, multi-year strategy for the sustainability program.
- Monitor sustainability program metrics and seek ways to improve based on the data and seek innovative solutions in different aspects of the business.
- Manage the sustainability requirements of supplier and vendors from customers.
- Monitor, collect, and maintain data related to Scope 1,2,3 data.
- Maintain necessary documentation around compliance, grower data as related to surveying.
- May cross-train to perform other duties.
- Support with other operational tasks as needed.
Qualifications:
- Strong communication skills in English and preferably Spanish
- Familiarity and experience working in the berry industry.
- Experience managing a daily workload with several overlapping deadlines and a variety of tasks.
- Quick thinker and problem solver; Ability to take the lead on smaller tactical projects as they relate to larger team initiatives.
- Detail-oriented; Ability to perform repetitive tasks efficiently without error.
- Must be able to work independently but also as a dependable member of the field operations team and interact professionally with other department teams within Gem-Pack Berries.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint) and ERP systems, and BI.
- Must have the ability to perform routine daily tasks as well as maintain attention to multi-step, long-term projects completed over weeks or months.
- Strong customer service skills that build trust and sustain grower-partner relationships for the long term.
Education:
- BS degree in Food Science, AG Business, or relevant field/experience preferred, M.A. a plus.
- Certified in: FSMA FDA Produce Safety Rule, FSMA FDA Preventive Controls Qualified Individual, FSMA FDA Foreign Supplier Verification Program, FSMA FDA Sanitary Transportation HACCP
Experience:
- 2 to 3 years’ experience in related roles.
- Berry industry experience preferred.
Knowledge and Skills:
- Proven work experience in the berry industry
- Hands-on experience with ERP and CRM systems (Famous, iTrade, etc.)
- Proficiency with MS Office Suite and MS Excel
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment.
- Excellent communication skills
- Analytical and multitasking skills
- Teamwork and motivational skills
Travel Requirements:
- Frequent travel within California. Possible occasional travel to other states/countries
Work Environment/Physical Demands:
- Approximately up to 40% of work may involve being in an agricultural environment. 60% of work may be performed in an office environment.
- Ability to stand/walk for multiple hours.
- Ability to lift up to 30 lbs.
