Food Quality Assurance Technician
About this role
About Us
Prep Kitchen is the fastest-growing meal prep company in the UK, ranked #27 in The Sunday Times Hundred 2024, a list of the nation’s 100 fastest-growing private companies. We provide convenient, healthy, and delicious meals to customers across the country. With a focus on high-quality ingredients, varied menu options, and exceptional customer service, Prep Kitchen has established itself as a trusted brand in the market.
Job Overview/Summary
Prep Kitchen is looking for a dedicated QA Technician to join our team in ensuring that all ready-meal products meet food safety, quality, and regulatory standards. In this role, you will monitor production processes, conduct inspections, and support continuous improvement efforts in our fast-paced manufacturing environment.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
Monitoring and upholding of all food safety and legal requirements. Understanding of company policies and procedures to enable checking and improving compliance within production.
Perform spot quality inspections of raw materials, in-process products, and finished goods.
Monitor compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), food safety, hygiene, and quality standards.
Verifying Critical Control Points (CCPs) to ensure critical limits are being met. Reporting any failures to the Technical Manager and support in corrective action implementation.
Verify the accurate completion and traceability of all food safety, quality, legality, CCP, and production records.
Conduct spot checks on ingredient quality, product weights, temperatures, and equipment settings.
Support internal, customer, and regulatory audits, and assist the Technical Manager during external audits.
Participate in scheduled traceability exercises and product recall tests.
Calibrate and verify QA equipment, including weighing scales and temperature probes.
Complete scheduled temperature checks of chilled and frozen storage areas.
Daily checks of factory processes and procedures to ensure compliance and goodmanufacturing practices are adhered to. Thoroughly conducting practical internal auditsincluding CCP, GMP, Fabrication, Glass and Hard Plastic etc. paperwork to facilitatetraceability requests.
Participate in product taste panels and report quality concerns.
Collecting and registering product samples for microbiological testing. Following the sampling plan to correctly take and accurately register swabs.
Manage non-conforming products by placing them on hold, maintaining hold records, and ensuring appropriate segregation.
Raise and investigate non-conformances, complete Corrective Action Reports (CARs), identify root causes, and verify the effectiveness of corrective actions.
Deliver CCP monitoring training and competency assessments.
Escalate food safety, quality, or compliance issues promptly to Technical Management.
About You
Food-related qualification; a degree in Food Science, Microbiology, or a related discipline is desirable.
Minimum of 1 year of experience in Quality Assurance or food manufacturing, preferably within the ready meal or chilled/frozen food industry.
Sound knowledge of HACCP, GMP, and food safety principles.
Strong attention to detail with excellent organisational skills.
Ability to accurately verify critical product information, including use-by dates, allergen declarations, batch codes, and labels.
Ability to work effectively in hot, chilled, and frozen production environments.
Good verbal and written communication skills with the ability to work collaboratively as part of a team.
Competent IT skills, including Google Workspace applications and temperature monitoring systems.
Experience conducting internal audits.
Flexibility to work shifts, including weekends, as required.
Accommodations
At Prep Kitchen, we celebrate the unique qualities that each individual brings to the workplace. We are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse environment where everyone feels valued and supported. We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, as we believe that diverse perspectives drive innovation and contribute to the success of our team. We are dedicated to providing equal opportunities and creating a workplace where everyone can thrive and contribute to our collective growth.