QA Supervisor - F&B Manufacturing - 1st Shift

Here at Summer Garden Food Manufacturing, we are family-owned and operated. As an employer, we offer a safe, clean, and friendly work environment for our staff to grow. We frequently offer fun events, lunches, rewards, and other incentives to show appreciation to our employees for their dedication to our ever growing company.

POSITION SUMMARY

The QA Supervisor reports to the QA Manager and is based out of our Boardman, Ohio location. This individual will be responsible for coordinating quality control activities while demonstrating leadership, interpersonal skills, rigor, and strong initiative.

Primary Responsibilities include:

Supervising the Quality Control Department

• The QA Supervisor assigns and prioritizes tasks within the team according to production contingencies and needs.
• They maintain a positive work environment that fosters accountability and teamwork.
• They ensure good flexibility within the team to build a versatile workforce.
• They encourage and motivate employees to generate improvement ideas.
• They ensure that analyses are performed in accordance with the established quality system (method, frequency).
• They oversee processes to ensure non-conformances are identified and placed in quarantine, and they ensure the necessary follow‑up so that a quick decision can be made.
• They report retention trends to management according to the established frequency.
• They identify corrective actions to prevent recurrence of non‑conformities.
• They propose improvement opportunities for processes, work methods, and work organization.
• They respond to production contingencies: problem‑solving, decision‑making, recipe adjustments, etc.

Production Verification

• The person in this role supervises and supports the QC technicians in verifying production reports (operator reports, charts, records) prior to releasing finished products.

Training

• They oversee the onboarding of new technicians and provide appropriate training.
• They evaluate technicians and provide improvement tools.
• They identify training needs to maintain a high‑performing and versatile team.
• They contribute to the general training of all employees in the facility by supporting cross‑department training initiatives and ensuring quality‑related requirements are understood and applied across the plant.

Material Orders

• They ensure the availability of necessary laboratory materials (pocket thermometers, reagents, stationery), place orders, and manage inventory.
• Perform other related duties as required and assigned

LEAD RESPONSIBILITIES

• Quality system oversight — Provide feedback to the QA Manager on system performance and ensure the validity and relevance of quality system elements.
• Continuous improvement leadership — Identify improvement opportunities in processes, methods, and work organization.
• Non‑conformity management — Ensure non‑conformities are identified, quarantined, tracked, and resolved quickly; analyze trends and propose corrective actions.
• Production decision‑making — Respond to production contingencies, troubleshoot issues, and make technical decisions (e.g., recipe adjustments, pH corrections).
• Verification oversight — Support QC technicians in reviewing production reports before product release.
• Training strategy — Identify training needs to maintain a high‑performing, versatile team.
• Resource planning — Ensure laboratory materials are available and manage inventory and purchasing.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

• · Team task assignment — Assign and prioritize tasks for QA technicians based on production needs.
• · Team leadership — Maintain a positive work climate that promotes accountability and teamwork.
• Staff flexibility — Build and maintain a versatile team.
• Employee engagement — Encourage technicians to propose improvement ideas.
• Training and onboarding — Train new technicians and provide ongoing coaching.
• Performance evaluation — Effectively communicate all performance indicators and objectives to employees.
• Supervision of QC technicians — Support QC technicians in verifying production documentation.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

Minimum Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (B.A./B.S.) from a four-year college or university; or three or more years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Five years of experience in QC/Food with experience in manufacturing environment preferred. Experience with managing direct reports is required.
• Must have technical understanding of food safety including manufacturing, quality, HACCP, and GMP operations
• Knowledge of microbiology and formulation of products is preferred
• Must have strong ability to apply basic statistical concepts to problem solving and root cause analysis, and ability to use spreadsheets.
• Must possess strong analytical skills to use laboratory equipment
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills required to consider various parameters and make quick, informed decisions.
• Excellent interpersonal approach and listening skills to create synergy with employees.
• Must be meticulous and well-organized.
• Must demonstrate initiative.
• Must have excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Must be detailed oriented and can multi-task
• Must have excellent time management skills

Additional Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a unionized environment
• Experience in customer USDA, FDA, and SQF audits
• Experience in report writing
• Must be detail oriented and have the ability to multi-task

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS & WORKING CONDITIONS

This position requires sufficient physical ability to work in a production setting.

FREQUENT: Ability to talk and hear; ability to stand, walk, climb stairs, stoop, bend and/or crouch; push/pull; lift up to 50 pounds; use of hands and fingers to operate machinery/equipment and all manual and electronic equipment in area of responsibility. Exposure to wet and humid conditions and fluctuations in ambient temperature (seasonal).

OCCASIONAL: Squatting, kneeling, ability to reach above and at shoulder height. Ability to wear a dust mask and perform Confined Entry using LOTO program. Exposure to toxic and corrosive chemicals.

VISION: Ability to use close and distance vision, as well as color and peripheral vision with or without correction. Must be able to visually detect obstacles and potential dangers in a fast-paced production environment involving high speed equipment and powered industrial lift equipment.

HEARING: Ability to hear in the normal audio range with or without correction. Exposure to noise levels from pumps, machinery, forklift traffic, bottle lines and exhaust fans.

This job description is not intended to contain a comprehensive list of the responsibilities that are required to successfully perform in this position. Other duties as assigned are part of every job description. The conditions herein are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals to perform the essential job functions.

Lassonde Pappas & Co., Inc provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.