Quality Specialist

Role summary
This role coordinates quality release for consumable products - dietary supplements and pet consumables (treats, chews, food) - manufactured by suppliers across Europe, the United States and South America.

Unlike hardline categories, where a standard pre-shipment inspection is often the main release gate, consumables are released on the strength of quality documentation, laboratory results and raw material traceability. The Quality Coordinator is the final coordination point who determines whether the evidence package for a batch is complete and sufficient before a shipment moves.

This is a judgment role, not a checklist role. The person in it decides whether what a supplier has provided demonstrates a compliant, safe product - and holds shipments when it does not.

Key responsibilities

1. Quality release coordination
• Manage day-to-day QC coordination for supplements and pet consumables across an assigned supplier portfolio.
• Confirm that all required quality, testing and documentation checks are complete before a product is released.
• Act as the central coordination point between suppliers, inspection agencies, QA, procurement and operations on shipment readiness.
• Apply judgment on whether available evidence is complete and sufficient - not simply whether a factory passed a standard visual inspection.
2. Batch documentation and certificate review
• Review, verify and organize Certificates of Analysis (COAs), microbiological reports, raw material and finished-good lab results, batch records and specification sheets.
Confirm that batch documentation aligns with the approved product specification, formulation requirements
and destination market standards.
• Verify labeling and packaging compliance against approved artwork and regulatory requirements for each market.
3. Microbiological and contamination-risk control
• Coordinate testing and review for contamination-sensitive categories, including yeast and mold, Salmonella, E.coli, coliforms and other product-specific hazards.
• Review results against specification limits and escalate out-of-specification, incomplete or inconsistent results to QA and technical stakeholders before release.
• Flag recurring patterns that indicate a systemic hygiene or process control issue rather than a one-off batch failure.
4. Third-party inspection and audit management
• Arrange third-party inspections scoped appropriately for consumable manufacturing - not default hardline PSI scope.
• Ensure inspection scope covers hygiene controls, batch segregation, cleanliness, allergen controls, storage conditions, traceability systems, process discipline and documentation practice.
• Assess whether a facility is capable of consistently producing compliant consumable product, and report
findings to the Quality Manager.
5. Release criteria design
• For each product and supplier, determine whether PSI alone is sufficient or whether additional controls are required - lab result review, batch documentation verification, formulation confirmation, label compliance checks or traceability confirmation.
• Coordinate those additional controls and confirm closure prior to shipment approval.
6. Formulation and specification control
• Work with internal stakeholders and suppliers where quality depends on formulation accuracy, ingredient specifications, dosage and composition consistency, or raw material controls.
• Ensure the QC process reflects the current approved formulation and technical specification, with particular attention during product changes, supplier changes and new product introductions.
7. Traceability and batch control
• Verify that finished goods can be traced back to the correct batch records, production dates, testing records and supplier documentation.
• Ensure traceability data is complete and usable in an audit, complaint investigation, product hold or recall scenario.
8. Supplier corrective action
• Follow up with suppliers and inspection partners on missing COAs, incomplete batch records, failed microbiological results, specification deviations and labeling inconsistencies.
• Track corrective actions to closure and ensure open issues are resolved before release where required.
9. Regional risk monitoring
• Monitor quality risk across US and South American suppliers, where supplier maturity, operating standards, inspection partner capability and documentation quality vary considerably.
Identify weak points in supplier controls and escalate where tighter release criteria or additional intervention is warranted.
10. New product and supplier onboarding
• Establish the correct QC approach at the start of a new supplier or product relationship: testing expectations, documentation requirements, traceability controls, inspection scope and release criteria - defined before regular production begins.
11. Records and audit readiness
• Maintain organized, current QC records: inspection reports, COAs, lab results, batch documentation, deviation logs and corrective action tracking.
• Support customer requests, internal review, supplier performance tracking, and quality-system or regulatory audits.

Required qualifications
• 3+ years in quality assurance, quality control or supplier quality in a food, beverage, dietary supplement, nutraceutical, pet food or comparable consumable manufacturing environment. Depth in any one of these is what counts - direct experience with supplements or pet consumables is welcome but not expected.
• Working knowledge of GMP and HACCP principles, or an equivalent food safety management framework, as applied to consumable manufacturing.
• Demonstrated ability to read and critically assess COAs, microbiological reports, batch records and specification sheets - including recognizing when a document is incomplete, inconsistent or does not actually support release.
• Familiarity with microbiological testing parameters and specification limits in a consumable category. The specific organisms and limits we work to can be learned on the job.
• Experience working with third-party inspection, audit or laboratory partners.
• Fluent English, written and spoken - used for internal reporting and a large share of supplier correspondence.
• Strong documentation discipline and organized record-keeping.

A note on fit. If your quality background is in food or consumables generally rather than in supplements or pet products specifically, please apply. We are hiring for quality judgment, rigour and follow-through; category specific knowledge is something we will teach. Candidates who meet most - not every - requirement above are encouraged to put themselves forward.

Preferred qualifications
• Experience with dietary supplements, nutraceuticals or pet consumables (chews, treats, rawhide alternatives or similar).
• Experience with EU or UK market requirements for supplements or pet food.
• Prior work with manufacturers or exporters in South America.
• Working Spanish and/or Portuguese, for direct communication with suppliers across the region.
• Familiarity with third-party certification schemes (SQF, BRCGS, FSSC 22000).
• Degree in Food Science, Chemistry, Biology, Veterinary Science, Nutrition or a related technical field.