Quality Assurance Specialist – Fresh Produce
Monco Produce Inc. – Toronto, Ontario
Full-time | On-site
About Monco Produce
Monco Produce Inc. is an established fresh produce importer, distributor and repacker serving independent retailers and major national customers across Canada.
We are seeking a seasoned Quality Assurance Specialist to build and operate a strong product-quality program across receiving, storage, repacking, labelling and shipping.
This is not a desk-only quality role. The successful candidate will develop systems and training while also personally inspecting fresh produce and finished shipments.
This position offers the potential to grow into broader responsibility for food safety, production and facility operations.
Key Responsibilities
Quality Assurance Systems
- Enhance practical quality procedures from receiving through final shipment.
- Augment inspection forms, checklists, photo requirements and product-hold procedures.
- Enforce standards for accepting, holding, regrading, relabelling or rejecting product.
- Investigate customer complaints, returns and rejections.
- Identify root causes and ensure corrective actions are completed.
- Track quality trends by product, supplier, customer and type of defect.
- Maintain complete and organized inspection, hold and release records.
Product Inspection and Quality Control
- Personally inspect incoming fresh produce.
- Assess condition, maturity, temperature, size, colour, defects, packaging and remaining shelf life.
- Cut and sample products when internal quality must be verified.
- Inspect products during and after regrading or repacking.
- Conduct final pre-shipment checks against customer and internal specifications.
- Place questionable product on hold and require regrading, repacking or relabelling.
- Stop non-conforming product from being shipped.
- Document findings clearly with written reports and photographs.
Labelling and Packaging
- Execute a structured label-verification process.
- Check product name, size, count, net weight, country of origin, lot information, importer information and PLU details.
- Verify English and French bilingual labelling.
- Review inner labels, outer-case labels, packaging and PLU stickers.
- Train production and shipping employees on label checks.
- Collaborate with purchasers to establish compliant labelling with suppliers and ensure consistent performance.
Inventory Condition and Product Care
- Regularly inspect products in storage for softening, decay, dehydration, discoloration and other deterioration.
- Maintain a watch list of vulnerable inventory.
- Alert Sales, Purchasing and Operations early enough for action to be taken.
- Recommend whether product should be sold first, regraded, repacked, diverted, discounted or disposed of.
- Ensure products are stored and handled at appropriate temperatures.
- Monitor cooler, staging, loading and handling practices.
- Help prevent bruising, compression, contamination and unnecessary temperature exposure.
Product Knowledge and Training
- Develop strong knowledge of the products handled by Monco, including common defects, maturity, handling and storage requirements.
- Consolidate customer specifications and internal standards into practical product guides.
- Create visual examples of acceptable and unacceptable product.
- Train receivers, supervisors, regraders, packers, pickers and shipping checkers.
- Verify that employees understand and consistently follow quality standards.
Leadership and Accountability
- Provide visible and decisive leadership on the warehouse and production floor.
- Give clear corrective instructions to employees and supervisors.
- Address non-compliance promptly and professionally.
- Follow issues through until they are fully resolved.
- Challenge poor practices regardless of department or seniority.
- Escalate serious or unresolved concerns directly to the COO.
- Promote a clean, organized and quality-focused work environment.
Future Growth
Depending on performance, experience and development, this position may progressively assume responsibility for:
- CFIA compliance and Preventive Control Plan maintenance
- CanadaGAP and organic certification
- Traceability, recalls, audits and food-safety training
- Production planning and labour scheduling
- Production-team supervision
- Productivity, throughput, yield and waste control
- Packaging-line workflow and equipment utilization
- Broader facility operations
A successful incumbent may advance into a Manager in Quality, Production, or broader facility-management role.
Qualifications
- Three or more years of experience in quality assurance, quality control, fresh produce, food processing, manufacturing or a related environment.
- Experience inspecting fresh produce or other perishable products is strongly preferred.
- Strong understanding of product condition, defects, deterioration and shelf life.
- Experience developing procedures, checklists, specifications or quality records.
- Strong written communication and documentation skills.
- Comfortable working in refrigerated warehouses and active production areas.
- Comfortable handling, opening, cutting and inspecting fresh produce.
- Proficiency with spreadsheets and electronic recordkeeping.
- Experience training or supervising employees is an asset.
- Knowledge of CFIA, CanadaGAP, organic certification or food-safety programs is an asset.
- Postsecondary education in food science, agriculture, quality, operations or a related field is an asset but not mandatory.
Ideal Candidate
The successful candidate will be:
- Decisive and comfortable making difficult quality decisions.
- Confident enforcing standards in a fast-paced environment.
- Willing to stop work or shipment when requirements are not met.
- Direct, professional and respectful.
- Organized, disciplined and persistent.
- Practical and able to build systems employees can follow.
- Interested in developing strong fresh produce knowledge.
- Capable of growing into food-safety and production leadership.
Compensation and Work Conditions
- Salary: $22.00-$28.00 per year, based on experience.
- Extended health benefits.
- Full-time, permanent and on-site.
- Parking on-site.
- Work is performed in warehouse, cooler, production and office environments.
- Early mornings, evenings or weekends may be required based on receiving and shipping schedules.
Pay: $22.00-$28.00 per hour
Benefits:
- Extended health care
- On-site parking
Work Location: In person
