Job Description

Who We Are

The Raley’s Companies is a private, family-owned, and purpose-driven retail company headquartered in West Sacramento, CA. Since our founding in 1935, our store operations have grown to include more than 235 locations across four states and four Tribal Nations under eight well-known banners: Raley’s, Bel Air, Nob Hill Foods, Raley’s O-N-E Market, Bashas’, Food City, AJ’s Fine Foods and Bashas’ Diné Market. In addition, The Raley’s Companies bridges the divide between the physical and digital retail experiences through the operation of Apium Logistics, Fieldera and FieldTRUE. Built on a higher purpose, the organization and our over 21,000 employees are committed to quality offerings, exceptional service and doing right by our team members, communities, and planet.

Position Purpose

The Senior Food Safety Specialist collaborates with leadership on the development, implementation, and execution of retail food safety programs, aligned with the Company’s mission, vision, and values. The position serves as a subject matter expert in the identification of risks and their respective solutions for meeting Raley’s standards and regulatory expectations. The position routinely partners with management-level stakeholders in Sales and Merchandising, Distribution, Operations, Project Management and Risk Management to achieve business goals for providing high quality products to customers. Incumbents in this job classification must possess strong analytical skills and experience, as well as intermediate to strong scientific knowledge in a related field.

Perks & Benefits

• Competitive compensation, paid weekly
• Eligible for annual incentive bonus
• Retirement Savings Plan - 401(k) including company contributions and matching funds
• Tuition Reimbursement for qualified courses
• Scholarship opportunities for continued education
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for yourself and eligible dependents
• Paid time off
• Family leave and time off
• Life insurance
• Wellness Programs (Raley’s Healthy Lifestyles)
• Flexible Spending Account (pre-tax - commuter, childcare, and medical expenses)
• Health Savings Account
• Corporate store and discount programs (10% off groceries, free items)
• Discounts to amusement parks, gym memberships, mobile phone plans, etc.
• Employee Assistance Program (free financial, legal, and mental health services)
• Charitable contribution opportunity and volunteer time off and community events
• On-site pop up grocery market (at corp office)
• On-site all you can eat fruit bar (at corp office)

Responsibilities

• Develops and implements food safety intervention programs to address store locations performing below regulatory performance standards.
• Analyzes audit data and other relevant metrics to identify stores presenting greatest risk.
• Co-develops Master Cleaning Schedule, SOPs, SSOPs, HACCP forms/logs, training resources and Learning and Development projects.
• Develops and revises retail food safety policy/HACCP documentation and variance programs as needed.
• Provides frequent coaching to store and corporate-level team members.
• Reviews call logs via Riskonnect system to investigate and resolve consumer complaints and food safety/quality incidents. Conducts resulting store visits to audit and resolve issues.
• Manages Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and chemical sanitation programs.
• Works directly with service vendors to ensure identified issues are promptly addressed.
• Assesses vendor performance and reviews metrics to ensure that service levels and contractual obligations are met.
• Manages third party vendor Food Safety auditing program.
• Works directly with vendor coaches/auditors and Account Manager to ensure programs are followed through and identified issues are promptly addressed.
• Assesses vendor performance and reviews metrics to ensure that service levels and contractual obligations are met.
• Monitors regulatory/legislative activity and scientific literature to ensure ongoing compliance of FSQA programs.
• Consults on Food Safety related maintenance and equipment issues to ensure regulatory compliance.
• Serves as the main point of contact for county health inspections of store locations. Reviews findings, identifies root cause, creates action plans and validates corrections made.
• Actively participates in corporate leadership, District Team Leader, District Partner, and Store leadership meetings. Develops, prepares, and delivers quarterly business reviews for Senior Management.
• Leads the recall process across all store locations, records store responses and calls to verify product recall completion.
• Provides rotational weekend on-call coverage for product recalls (every 4-5 weekends).
• Provides limited cross-functional support for Quality Assurance functions such as private brand label review, regulatory support for FSMA-regulated facilities (DC and Production Bakery), audit standards, vendor onboarding, consumer complaint/product incident investigation and vendor onboarding.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Biology, Agricultural Sciences or related field and a minimum of five (5) or more years of experience in food safety at a retail environment or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Required Knowledge

Working knowledge of:

• Food safety and quality assurance principles, programs and practices.
• FDA and USDA regulatory requirement.
• Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)
• Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
• State and local regulatory requirements.

Skills & Abilities

Advanced ability to:

• Prioritize, meet tightly scheduled deadlines and be flexible to meet changing work priorities and production needs.
• Negotiate project timelines and outcomes.
• Work independently and in a group.
• Maintain effective working relationships and foster teamwork in a diverse work group.
• Make persuasive presentations by communicating technical information in a non-technical manner appropriate to the audience.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Advanced organizational, project management and documentation skills.
• Strong computer skills with proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, Microsoft Project, iCiX (preferred).
• Strong analytical skills.
• Detail oriented.

Certifications Required

• Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Certification or ability to pass in first 90 days is required.

Physical Demands - Employees may occasionally experience the following physical demands for extended periods of time:

• Sitting
• Keyboarding
• Viewing computer monitor
• May lift boxes weighing up to 50 lbs.

Work Environment

This role performs both in stores and in office, with 3-4 days in the field/stores, and 1-2 days in office (West Sacramento, CA). This position will require regular travel to store locations. Occasional exposure to moving mechanical parts, fumes or airborne particles, toxic or caustic chemicals, extreme cold or heat (indoors), extreme humidity (indoors) and extreme vibration. May be exposed to loud sounds frequently found in manufacturing environments. Ability to work weekends for on-call coverage required.

Permanent residency in California or Nevada is a condition of employment for this position. This means a job offer may be denied or rescinded and, if employed, employment may be terminated if an applicant/team member ceases to reside in California or Nevada.

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