Food and Safety Manager

The Food Safety Manager is responsible for overseeing the good manufacturing practices and good retail practices for Sprouts Farmers Market and to assure the stores have a sound foundation of prgrams and services under which to operate. Additionally, this role will be responsible for the food safety operating system, to assure Sprouts Store Support teams and its store level associates are knowledgeable about their food safety roles and responsibilities as well as executing the program properly. This position develops and maintains strong working partnerships with state and local health agencies as well as vendor partners to ensure strong compliance to Sprouts food safety programs and standards.

Essential Functions

• Develops food safety policies and procedures to ensure compliance to company and regulatory standards
• Benchmarks against industry best practices to maintain food safety leadership within our market areas
• Develops food safety training programs to ensure compliance standards are met and maintained
• Assists in the development and evaluation of new product standard operating procedures for food and food handling
• Works closely with store design on new and remodeled store and merchandising plans to meet food safety compliance
• Assists with managing and responding to incidents (alleged illnesses and injuries, foreign objects and intentional food tampering) related to store prepared food products; acts as the lead investigator for customer complaints due to product, facilities and/or illness complaints
• Provides expert compliance knowledge and guidance with regard to food safety, crisis situations and food defense for our stores and distribution facilities
• Provides expert knowledge and guidance for federal, state and local regulations with regard to food safety, organic, nutritional and country-of-origin labeling requirements and control methods
• Oversees Food Handling certification for all store to maintain compliance
• Manages the company’s recall program
• Provides direction and management of the sanitation program with oversight of the sanitation service provider; trains employees on their responsibilities
• Other related duties as assigned

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Bachelor Degree in Environmental Health and Biological Sciences or related field preferred; other degrees considered based on industry and practical experience. Two (2) to four (4) years of experience in the retail food industry working with food safety compliance or adult education programs; or an acceptable combination of education and experience
• Strong knowledge of FDA, USDA and industry specific regulatory requirements and experience interacting with company and regulatory officials at all levels
• Excellent working knowledge of local, state and federal food safety regulations (FDA, GMP’s, USDA, GAP’s, SQF, etc)
• Experience in the design and development of Hazardous Analysis of Critical Control Point (HACCP) protocols; in depth knowledge of HACCP, food recalls and withdrawals, food distribution channels, traceability methods, emerging foodborne pathogens and state of the art control strategies
• Ability to provide direction and leadership to effectively manage the performance and development of the food safety regulatory program and staff
• Self-directed and able to work independently
• Demonstrated analytical and problem solving skills
• Strong planning, coordination and time management skills
• Excellent interpersonal, written and oral communication skills
• Solid sense of integrity and ethics
• Ability to conduct food safety audits
• Proficiency in Word, Excel and PowerPoint

Physical Requirements

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by a team member to successfully perform the essential functions of this position or that a team member encounters while performing the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Exposure to hot and cold environments, including freezers and cool storage areas
• Require team member to bed, reach and stand for extended periods of time
• Requires use of personal vehicle for frequent travel to stores
• Must possess a valid Arizona driver license, mandatory insurance and an acceptable driving record

This job may have specific physical demands including, but not limited to, the following:  ability to lift up to 75 lbs.; ability to operate machinery with moving mechanical parts; and ability to bend, reach, kneel, squat, stand for a long period of time and push/pull heavy loads.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job. 

Qualified candidates will be contacted.  To learn more about all of the benefits of working at Sprouts and how you can become part of our growing team, apply on-line at .  Sprouts Farmers Market is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

2014

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by people assigned to this work. This is not an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and requirements. Sprouts’ management reserves the right to amend and change duties, responsibilities, and requirements to meet business and organizational needs as necessary.