Food Safety Specialist

Role Responsibilities

Reporting to the Food Safety Manager, the Food Safety Specialist plays a critical role at the Alberta Food Centre (AFC).  

This position is primarily responsible for ensuring that all requirements set by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR)—under which the Alberta Food Centre is licensed—are consistently met.

Primary responsibilities in this role include onsite monitoring and ensuring that the facility written program remains up-to-date, effective and continues to be implemented while providing training, technical expertise and coaching to AFC staff, clients and Incubator tenants as required.

Key responsibilities include:

• Maintenance and reassessment of the facility's written program.
• Conduct physical onsite monitoring of the AFC, active Incubator tenant suites and communal areas.
• Communicate observed areas of deficiency with facility staff, clients, tenants and building management.
• Conduct training with AFC staff, clients and Incubator tenants on critical control points, facility SOP's and policies as well as written program requirements.
• Coordinate and conduct air tests, allergen swabs, water sampling, ATP, environmental microbial swabbing, Listeria environmental swabbing and finished product sampling as detailed in the facility's written program.
• Provide support to the facility Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) program.

Please click on this link to view the job description for this position.

APS Competencies

Competencies are behaviors that are essential to reach our goals in serving Albertans. We encourage you to have an in depth understanding of the competencies that are required for this opportunity and to be prepared to demonstrate them during the recruitment process.

This link will assist you with understanding competencies:
https://www.alberta.ca/system/files/custom_downloaded_images/psc-alberta-public-service-competency-model.pdf.

• Agility: Ability to anticipate, assess, and readily adapt to changing priorities, manage resilience in times of uncertainty and effectively work in a changing environment.
• Drive for Results: Knowing what outcomes are important and maximizing resources to achieve results that are aligned with the goals of the organization, while maintaining accountability to each other and external stakeholders.
• Develop self and others: A commitment to lifelong learning and the desire to invest in the development of the long-term capability of yourself and others.
• Build Collaborative Environments: Leads and contributes to the conditions and environments that allow people to work collaboratively and productively to achieve outcomes.
• Develop Networks: Proactively building networks, connecting, and building trust in relationships with different stakeholders.
• Systems Thinking: The work done within the APS is part of a larger integrated and inter-related environment. It is important to know that work done in one part of the APS impacts a variety of other groups/projects inside and outside the APS. Systems thinking allows us to keep broader impacts and connections in mind.
• Creative Problem Solving: Ability to assess options and implications in new ways to achieve outcomes and solutions.

Qualifications

Two-year technical diploma in a related field such as Food Science, Science, Microbiology or Food Microbiology plus 4 years of related industrial food processing experience preferably in a Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) licensed facility. 

Equivalencies:  Directly related education or experience considered on the basis of: 
•    1 year of education for 1 year of experience; or 
•    1 year of experience for 1 year of education.

Assets: 
•    Knowledge of CFIA’s Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) and preventive control plans.
•    Familiarity with US FDA and USDA regulations for food products. 
•    Familiarity with food product labeling.
•    Three (3) plus years of industrial food processing experience.
•    Knowledge of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles and the development of HACCP programs.
•    Knowledge of laboratory sampling requirements when collecting, preparing and submitting samples for laboratory analysis.
•    Experience working in a Meat Processing facility.

Minimum recruitment standards outline the minimum education and experience required for appointment to a job classification. 
Refer to https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-minimum-recruitment-standards.

Notes

Position Information:

• Office located in Leduc at the Alberta Food Center (6309 - 45 Street, Leduc, AB T9E 7C5).
• Hours of Work: 36.25 hours per week (permanent full time).
• Monday to Friday (08:15 am-16:30 pm).

Other Application Information:

• A cover letter is required with your application, outlining how your education and experience aligns with the role.
• Final candidates may be required to undergo a written test demonstrating writing skills and abilities pre or post interviews.
• Please indicate employment duration for all roles listed on your resume and whether you worked part-time or full-time. For example, January 15, 2006 - June 25, 2009: Assistant (PT three 8 hrs. shifts/week).
• This position may require final candidates to undergo a security clearance.
• Any costs associated with obtaining the required documents/checks as noted or interview travel expenses, will be the responsibility of the candidate. Out-of-province applicants can obtain the required documents/checks from the province they currently reside in.

Links and information on what the GoA have to offer to prospective employees.

• Working for the Alberta Public Service - https://www.alberta.ca/advantages-working-for-alberta-public-service.aspx.
• Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP) - https://www.pspp.ca.
• Alberta Public Service Benefit Information - https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-benefits.
• Professional learning and development - https://www.alberta.ca/professional-development-support-directive.
• Research Alberta Public Service Careers tool – https://researchapscareers.alberta.ca.
• Positive workplace culture and work-life balance.
• Leadership and mentorship programs.