Food Safety And Quality Assurance Student

Your Recipe For a Rewarding Career Starts Here!

Why Dawn Farms?

We can offer an excellent opportunity to be part of a world-class team offering plenty of opportunity for further training, development and career opportunities should you wish to progress further. Our culture is one of inclusiveness and diversity with a constant drive and focus for continuous improvement throughout our business. Our production plants are located in Naas, Co Kildare with easy access via public transport.

Job Purpose

Dawn Farms is currently seeking for a Quality Student to join our Quality Department to be based in our Head Offices in Naas, Co. Kildare. The main activity within this role is to work alongside the Quality Team ensuring all goods produced onsite are to a high food safety and quality standard. To maintain finished product, raw material and packaging specifications to the Dawn Farms standards and formats, ensuring that they meet both customer and legal requirements. Manage all aspects of quality & food safety from incoming material, processing to finished shipped product. Further to this to work with team to ensure that customer specifications are met as well as maintain & improve quality standards.

Positions: Full-Time, On-Site

Location: Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland.

Working Hours: 39 hours per week, 8am - 5pm Mon. - Fri.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Liaise with Plant Manager & Quality Manager (Naas), Procurement team.
• Develop Supplier relationships.
• Dealing with customer queries relating to company and supplier systems and policies e.g. Animal Welfare, Ethical Trade, Halal and completion of customer questionnaires.
• Control of suppliers to Dawn Farm Foods.
• Maintaining approved vendor lists and ensuring all information is up to date.
• Issuing, reviewing and approving Supplier Approval Questionnaires, Approval Certificates etc. Dealing with exceptions regarding approved suppliers where required.
• Maintaining vendor grading system and supplier non-conformances – weekly KPI reporting of same.
• Approval and issue of raw meat specifications.
• Provide support when required for Technical Department when required (Customer Complaints, Cutting Sessions, Customer Specifications, Dry Ingredients, Legislation queries etc.).
• Provide Quality services to site and ensure product safety.
• Ensure best practice, rules & regulations are in place & operating on site.
• Produce reports as required and liaise with other departments.
• Conduct traceability exercises as required.
• Provide regular Supplier quality performance reports to assist production managers eliminate non-conformance.
• Ensure quality standards are maintained with respect to raw materials.
• Prevent any risk to food /product safety and ensure that all irregularities are reported.
• Hygiene checks and GMP throughout floors.
• Immediately go onto the floor to check if there are any issues relating to raw material / Suppliers.
• Requests from other departments i.e. Stock Release, Stock Enquiry, POs etc
• Control of Non-Conforming stock including placing on hold, review and release as appropriate.
• Generating MSR’s for Held stock as requested.
• The principles of Lean must be applied daily in problem solving, root cause analysis and change management.
• Other activities as specified by your manager

Be a Lean Champion

The food industry is a dynamic and fast paced environment and we employ Lean management principles and an ethos of continuous improvement to stay ahead. The candidate will receive Yellow Belt Lean training and will be expected to use Lean tools in problem solving for both new and existing processes.

Team Player

The ability to work effectively with others is essential within this role, taking actions which respect the needs and contributions of others.

Key Knowledge and Experience

• Experience of working in a busy, challenging environment.
• Experience of working to tight deadlines.
• Good Computer skills.
• Certificate / Diploma / Degree in relevant science subject.

Key Competencies

• Must work well under pressure.
• Ability to work in a busy, fast paced environment.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills.
• Organised logical thinker, attentive to detail.
• A ‘can do’ attitude and a keen learner.
• Capable of work on own initiative.
• Team player who works well with others.
• Good time management skills.
• Flexible attitude with an aim to meet all business demands.
• Confidential in managing results.
• Positive and focused worker.