Food Safety Engineer

About Abbott
Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Ourportfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leadingbusinesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritional and branded genericmedicines. Our 107,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

Abbott serves the Irish market with a diverse range of healthcare products including diagnostics,medical devices and nutritional products. In Ireland, Abbott employs over 4,000 people acrossnine sites. We have six manufacturing facilities located in Clonmel, Cootehill, Donegal, Longfordand Sligo and a third-party manufacturing management operation in Sligo. Abbott hascommercial, support operations and shared services in Dublin and Galway. We have beenoperating in Ireland since 1946.

Abbott Ireland Nutrition Division Cootehill Cavan
Abbott Nutrition produces a range of infant formulae in all pack sizes under the brand name“Similac”. To complement the range of “Similac” infant formulae, the facility also manufactures arange of follow-on formulae under the brand name of “Gain”. The essential ingredient is liquidskim-milk and this is combined with carbohydrate, vegetable oils, vitamins and minerals. Theproduct is blended, pasteurised, dried and packaged at the site and once packaged, isdistributed to Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Canada.

Established in 1975, Abbott Nutrition in Ireland is the largest powder manufacturing facility forthe production of infant formulae within the Abbott Corporation worldwide. Approximately 1,000dairy farms in Ireland and Northern Ireland supply quality milk to the Cootehill facility whichprocesses 500,000 litres per day. This secure supply together with Ireland’s reputation as agreen, clean environment is of significant strategic importance to Abbott Nutrition.

Primary Function I Goals / Objectives

• The Food Safety Specialist has the responsibility for reviewing all SOP's for any job task he/she may carry out and ensure he/she fully understands and adheres to the SOP.

• The Food Safety Specialist provides guidance and direction of plant sanitation for manufacturing operations, warehouse and plant grounds.

• The purpose of the job is to implement food safety, sanitation, and regulatory compliance policies, procedures and training.

• This Job function will change where update procedures to GMP, EHS, Technical/ New Equipment, Quality Procedures & SOP's are made.

• This list of responsibilities may change depending on plant needs and employees are expected to be adaptable and flexible were this need arises.

Major Responsibilities

The role of the Food Safety Specialist is part of the site's success and compliance by:

• Driving and implementing holistic plant sanitation programs, policies and procedures for plant, warehouse and plant grounds; Assuring compliance with all local, state and federal regulations and all food safety policies and procedures

• Acting as sanitation support in the process of assessing and mitigating safety risk associated with construction and major maintenance.

• Collaborate/Coordinate with Facility Supervisor, Operations Leadership, Operations Associates and Site Cleaning staff to achieve desired Environmental Monitoring performance and Pest Control performance

• Evaluating facility sanitary conditions, assessing risk based on food safety and public health principles, prioritizing corrective actions, and verifying sanitation activities and validation testing

• Evaluating monthly environmental samples for monitoring of pathogenic organisms in plant, trending the results and developing corrective actions

• Conformance to master cleaning schedule and applicable cGMP guidelines, best practices and requirements.

• Assist in developing and implementing all sanitation related training for sanitation and plant employees as needed;

• Ensures all safety requirements related to sanitation are met including proper

chemical storage, MSDS, PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and procedures.

• Maintaining and writing detailed clean up procedures and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures for all plant equipment, driving towards reduced water and air usage.

Education & Experience

You will have BSc a in plant quality/food safety/Sanitation with a minimum of 3yrs experience in a similar role with demonstrated Leadership skills (direct or cross functionally leadership skills)

Certification as a Sanitarian and Pesticide Application is an advantage for this role

Key Skills:

• Understanding and application of microbiological principles with in depth food borne pathogen knowledge.

• Knowledge of HACCP, Sanitation principles and Food Safety Preventive Controls (FSPC)

• Understanding of the appropriate wet cleaning and dry cleaning methodology.

• Experience in successfully addressing environmental sanitation challenges in areas such as drains, floors, walls, roofs, and equipment.

• Proven leadership capabilities

• Project planning & execution experiences

• Process control knowledge

• Proven plant financial understanding

• Experience with working on Continuous Improvement Projects

• Experience with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.

Accountability / Scope

• The Food Safety Specialist works under the direct supervision of the Food Safety Manager. Position assists and with all phases of sanitation, pest control, microbiological and cleaning programs for the site. The decision-making process of this position is key to the ongoing compliance of the production operation, and to the quality and safety of the food products.

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