Food Safety, Quality & WHS Manager

Food Safety, Quality & WHS Manager - FNQ Avocados & Bananas

Costa Group is Australia’s leading grower, packer and marketer of premium quality fresh fruit and vegetables.  We nurture our people, cultivate our growing sites and invest in ongoing research and development. All of the products we grow and sell are fresh, nutritious, unprocessed and grown on our very own farms or those of our partner growers.

We are looking for a Food Safety, Quality & WHS Manager to join our Costa Avocado & Banana Team. This role will be based in Atherton, Far North Queensland and will report to the National FS&Q and National WHS Manager.

About the Role:

The Food Safety, Quality & WHS Manager drives better performance of Food Safety, Compliance and Culture alongside improving the WHS standards at the Avocado & Banana sites located in Far North Queensland. This role ensures the region meets the required customer and compliance standards along with Federal, State, and Local Government legislative requirements. It requires good communication skills between farming, packing, and administration staff to improve the Costa Avocado & Banana compliance for domestic and international auditing bodies.

The role is responsible for providing WHS generalist advice and support to the farms and pack shed operations, with a key focus on in-field and pack shed safety, employee engagement, and the Return to Work Process. Occasionally, support may be required for the broader business as needed.

This position focuses on supporting day-to-day Food Safety, QA, and WHS requirements, proactively building relationships and engaging with key stakeholders in the region. It empowers leaders to be better safety leaders and ensures safety compliance across operations.

Key Responsibilities:

• Liaise with internal farming teams and third-party grower networks to ensure products meet customer requirements.
• Lead and support teams during internal and external Quality Assurance, WHS, and market access audits to ensure compliance.
• Assist with MRL and quality assurance program compliance for own farm and third-party growers.
• Support third-party SEDEX on-boarding, training, and external audits.
• Ensure all documentation, policies, SOPs, SWPs, and RA's are up to date.
• Engage in cross-functional work across the business to share best practices.
• Assist the QA team with environmental initiatives as required.
• Drive implementation of outcomes from the Costa Food Safety, Quality & WHS strategic plan.
• Proactively identify initiatives for waste reduction in products, processes, or systems.
• Act as a conduit for information to ensure farming operations meet marketing initiatives from a compliance perspective.
• Provide assistance to customers and attend on-farm visits.
• Perform root cause analysis (RCA) on customer rejections and severity one complaints, providing prompt responses to the National FS and Quality Manager.
• Ensure all customer requirements are met as outlined in their policies and requirements.
• Support leaders in monitoring, analysing, and investigating injuries, incidents, and near misses, ensuring corrective actions are taken.
• Assist leaders and managers in understanding and achieving responsibilities across quality, WHS, and wellbeing through the strategic plan and key performance indicators.

 Education, Qualifications, Training Requirements:

• Minimum 5 years’ experience within Quality Assurance and WHS supporting farms and or production facilities.
• Certification in QA standards or related field, or equivalent experience.
• Qualification in Training and Assessment or relevant experience.
• Cert IV in WHS

 Skill & Knowledge Requirements:

• Understanding of horticultural process and systems, continuous improvement principles and supply chain process.
• Must be able to demonstrate a sense of urgency and willingness to learn.
• Self-motivated, organised and work independently.
• Demonstrated problem solving skills and ability to use initiative to evolve and improve a business.
• Ability to prioritise, manage and communicate effectively at all levels.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced customer driven environment.
• High attention to detail.
• Lead by example.

 What we offer:

Permanent, full-time position working within a collaborative environment with a team that has a high-performance mindset.

Significant scope for growth and professional development within Costa.

For more information about this role or to have a confidential discussion please email angeline.mulder@costagroup.com.au