Produce Quality Assurance Lead

About the role:

• Protect the quality and freshness of our fresh produce
• Build and maintain supplier and member relationships
• Free onsite parking | in-house café | monthly social events

About the role

As the Produce Quality Assurance Lead you’ll play a critical role in protecting the quality and freshness of our fresh produce, from farm gate through to distribution.

Reporting to the Inventory Team Leader, you’ll ensure our quality standards are consistently met. You’ll improve efficiency and reduce waste while supporting our long-term goal of being the preferred produce supplier to our members.

This is a hands-on role with a strong balance of operational execution and continuous improvement, where your expertise directly impacts product integrity, supplier relationships and customer service.

Key Responsibilities:

• Implement and embed quality control processes that support consistent product outcomes across DC operations.
• Lead produce related investigations and issue resolution, coordinating internal team and external partners.
• Analyse quality data, inspection finding and trends to identify risks, improvement opportunities and corrective actions.
• Coach and train DC team members on quality expectations, handling practices and compliance.
• Build strong working relationships with suppliers and internal stakeholders to support continuous improvement initiatives.

About you:

You’ll be confident working across operational and supplier environments with a detail orientated approach. Taking pride in high standards and building strong working relationships will be crucial to success. Ideally, you will also bring:

• A flexible, hands-on approach and the ability to work to deadlines
• A proactive mindset with the confidence to challenge the status quo and drive improvement.
• Produce Quality Assurance Certification (or equivalent)
• Previous QA and or wholesale produce experience
• Experience in DC operations and WMS or similar systems
• Exposure to medium-large volume logistics environments

Don't Meet Every Requirement? We encourage you to apply anyway. We are looking for individuals with diverse experiences and are keen to hear from those who believe they have the drive and potential to succeed in this role.

How to apply:

Ready to take on the challenge? Click “apply” to apply for the role! Applications will close 11:59pm Sunday 17 May 2025 and will only be accepted via our careers site.

If you have any questions about the role, or experience any issues submitting your application, please email careers@foodstuffs-si.co.nz

Why join us?

• Our approach to flexible working is based on trusting and empowering our people to manage their time and deliver results while balancing the needs of their personal lives. 
• We’re committed to equitable outcomes, and we offer additional paid parental leave, free period products and financial health checks to name a few.
• We support your wellbeing with Southern Cross health insurance for you and your family after a qualifying period, discounts at local gyms, access to online wellbeing tools, and a prayer and privacy room onsite.
• We offer continuous learning and professional growth, as well as access to our extensive online training library and endless opportunities.
• We’re proud of our supportive team environment, and our positive and friendly culture that’s made fun by regular social events!
• We’re a Pride Pledge organisation, and we are committed to an inclusive workplace where everyone thrives, every day and we celebrate our diversity as strength.
• Our Hornby based office has free carparking, an in-house café. 

About us:

We’re a team of 14,000 who make sure South Islanders have access to the groceries and essentials they need. Proudly 100% Kiwi-owned and operated, our co-operative has more than 180 PAK’nSAVE, New World, Four Square and On the Spot stores feeding the South Island.

We value being at the heart of our communities, like we’ve always been, to make the South Island a better place – for today and for many generations to come. From sunny Golden Bay all the way to Stewart Island, there’s a Foodstuffs store serving you and your whānau.

Our success is down to our people who bring their skills, experience, passion, and expertise to make Foodies an amazing and rewarding place to work. Our co-op has a wide variety of roles to offer, and endless opportunities for development.

Our values:

At Foodies, together we drive success to be our best and care for our whānau. We recognise that it takes a collective effort to achieve success, and we thrive on fostering a culture of collaboration to drive innovation and embracing challenges as a united team. We are committed to supporting our people, and to positively impact the lives of South Islanders every day.