Food Safey & Quality Specialist

Welcome to a workplace where everyone passionately believes in one purpose!
 
Our company's commitment extends beyond tasks; it's about infusing every action with purpose. We are dedicated to bringing unparalleled passion and customer focus to every facet of our business, creating an environment where your contribution truly matters.
 
With 70 years of experience, we are the leading strategic partner, providing specialized solutions for airlines, airports, and enterprises across 21 countries throughout The Caribbean and Latin America.
 
At GCG, we believe the secret recipe for a perfect team blends talent, focus, and discipline. We seek these qualities in candidates eager to thrive in a diverse and multicultural environment.
 
Our comprehensive solutions include Sky Dining, Airport Dining, Aviation Support, and Culinary. With a team of over 5,500 highly skilled experts dedicated to excellence, we uphold the highest standards of quality and service. We are committed to elevating travel & culinary experiences for all our customer's journeys, becoming the top choice in the region.

JOB PURPOSE

The Food Safety & Quality Specialist is accountable for the technical adequacy of the Group’s food safety and quality standards and the effectiveness of related controls across stations. The role translates applicable requirements into practical programs, directs technical implementation, and verifies that controls protect food safety and meet product and service specifications.

The position requires timely correction of deficiencies, validates technical solutions, and escalates unresolved risks. It develops local capabilities and supervises the Food Safety & Quality Coordinator, while Operations retains responsibility for daily execution and sustained implementation of controls.

Duties & Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Technical Requirements & Standards

·        Establish and maintain food safety and quality requirements within the approved corporate framework.

·        Translate applicable regulatory, corporate, and customer requirements into operational standards and technical controls.

·        Assess proposed local adaptations and approve them within delegated authority or submit them to the QHSE Lead for approval.

·        Require correction of practices that do not meet approved requirements and escalate unresolved technical disagreements.

·        Obtain additional technical expertise when a requirement or proposed solution exceeds the available competence.

Food Safety & Quality Programs

·        Define and maintain the technical requirements for HACCP, prerequisite programs, hygiene controls, allergen management, traceability, and food safety verification.

·        Review station food safety plans and support evidence to confirm that hazards and controls reflect actual products, processes, and operating conditions.

·        Establish validation and verification priorities, including microbiological testing and shelf-life studies, and evaluate the adequacy of methods and results.

·        Define quality control criteria with relevant process owners to verify compliance with approved product and service specifications.

·        Supervise the Food Safety & Quality Coordinator’s technical work, review deliverables, and require correction of incomplete or unreliable evidence.

·        Verify that program results lead to appropriate action when controls or product performance fall below requirements.

Cross-Disciplinary Coordination

·        Coordinate with the HSSE Specialist where occupational safety, ramp activities, physical security, or environmental controls may affect food safety or quality.

·        Review cross-disciplinary risks associated with facilities, maintenance, equipment, chemicals, loading, and transport.

·        Define food safety and quality requirements for shared interventions without assuming technical ownership of other disciplines.

·        Escalate conflicting requirements to the QHSE Lead and contribute to technically sound, practical resolutions.

Risk Prevention & Performance Analysis

·        Assess food safety and quality risks using process information, inspection results, complaints, incidents, and verification data.

·        Establish intervention priorities and technical remediation deadlines proportionate to risk, within approved procedures.

·        Evaluate station trends, recurring failures, overdue actions, and control effectiveness.

·        Require targeted corrective responses where performance or evidence indicates that controls are inadequate.

·        Report material risks, recurring deficiencies, and unresolved actions to the QHSE Lead and relevant operational leadership.

Local Technical Direction

·        Provide functional technical direction to designated local food safety and quality representatives.

·        Require implementation of approved standards, completion of assigned technical programs, and timely submission of reliable evidence.

·        Review local performance and challenge inadequate controls, unsupported conclusions, or ineffective corrective responses.

·        Coordinate resource and implementation requirements with station management and local OPEX Managers, where present.

·        Provide technical performance feedback and escalate capability or execution gaps without replacing local personnel management responsibilities.

Technical Visits & Inspections

·        Conduct food safety and quality inspections according to the corporate intervention plan and emerging risks.

·        Evaluate actual operating practices and control effectiveness through observation, records, interviews, and relevant technical results.

·        Document deficiencies, communicate required corrective outcomes, and establish response deadlines within delegated authority.

·        Require follow-up verification or reassessment when submitted evidence is insufficient or failures recur.

·        Approve closure of technical inspection deficiencies within delegated authority, based on demonstrated implementation and effectiveness.

·        Provide technical validation to EA for deficiencies linked to corporate audit findings; EA retains the formal closure decision.

Incidents, Deviations & Corrective Actions

·        Require immediate containment of significant food safety or quality risks in accordance with applicable procedures and delegated authority.

·        Lead the technical evaluation of significant incidents, complaints, and recurring deviations, coordinating investigations with process owners.

·        Challenge root cause analyses that lack evidence or fail to explain the identified control failure.

·        Approve or reject the technical adequacy of corrective action plans within delegated authority and require revision of insufficient solutions.

·        Verify implementation and sustained effectiveness, escalating overdue actions, continuing exposure, or recurring failures.

·        Provide technical recommendations on affected products or processes; disposition, suspension, and restart decisions follow the applicable authorization requirements.

·        Inform EA when new evidence indicates that a previously closed corporate audit finding may require reassessment.

Technical Competence & Capability Development

·        Define food safety and quality training content, learning objectives, and practical competence criteria.

·        Train and coach local representatives and operational teams in the application of relevant standards and controls.

·        Verify competence through observation, technical exercises, and operating results, and require further development where gaps remain.

·        Develop the Food Safety & Quality Coordinator through clear assignments, technical review, and performance feedback.

·        Validate technical best practices and the conditions required for their replication across stations.

·        Coordinate with EA on the communication of validated lessons from evaluations and with local management on their adoption.

Technical Documentation & Change Management

·        Develop, review, and maintain food safety and quality standards, procedures, technical instructions, and training materials.

·        Require documentation to reflect validated controls, actual operating conditions, and current applicable requirements.

·        Assess the food safety and quality implications of proposed changes to products, ingredients, suppliers, equipment, processes, or facilities.

·        Define the technical evidence, validation, and controls required before relevant changes are implemented.

·        Coordinate with OPEX and process owners so that revised operating methods incorporate approved technical requirements.

·        Submit documents through the established approval and document control process, retaining responsibility for technical content.

Corporate & Customer Assessments

·        Participate in corporate evaluations coordinated by EA according to assigned scope, competence, and objectivity requirements.

·        Provide technical input on food safety and quality criteria, evidence interpretation, and corrective action effectiveness.

·        Avoid independently evaluating work personally implemented or directly owned.

·        Assess customer food safety and quality requirements with the Customer Compliance Officer, KAM, and Operations.

·        Identify gaps between customer requirements and existing controls, define the necessary technical response, and verify implementation.

·        Escalate requirements that cannot be met under current conditions; KAM retains responsibility for formalizing commercial commitments, and EA retains formal closure authority for corporate audit findings.

Qualifications & Skills

Education and qualifications

·        Bachelor’s degree in food engineering, Microbiology, or a related discipline.

·        Formal HACCP training, including practical application of Codex Alimentarius principles, is required.

·        Training in food safety management systems and prerequisite programs is required.

·        Completion of an internal or lead auditor course in food safety management systems, such as ISO 22000 or FSSC 22000, is preferred.

·        Training in the IFSA World Food Safety Guidelines or equivalent airline catering food safety requirements is preferred.

·        Additional training in food microbiology, allergen management, food safety validation and verification, or shelf-life evaluation is desirable.

Skills/Competencies

• Strong technical knowledge of food safety hazards, preventive controls, HACCP, and prerequisite programs.
• Working knowledge of relevant international food safety standards and guidance, including Codex Alimentarius and the IFSA World Food Safety Guidelines, with the ability to translate applicable provisions into operational controls, verification criteria, and training.
• Ability to interpret and apply relevant local regulatory, corporate, and customer requirements alongside international references.
• Ability to evaluate whether technical controls are adequately designed, implemented, and effective.
• Working knowledge of food microbiology, sampling, laboratory results, validation, and verification.
• Ability to translate product and service specifications into practical quality control criteria.
• Sound judgment in evaluating food safety risks, requiring containment, and escalating unresolved conditions.
• Strong investigation, root cause analysis, and corrective action evaluation skills.
• Ability to challenge insufficient evidence and communicate mandatory technical requirements clearly.
• Ability to supervise technical work, coach local representatives, and develop operational competence.
• Effective coordination with Operations, Culinary, Maintenance, laboratories, and other specialists.
• Clear written and verbal communication in English and Spanish.

·        Proficiency in technical reporting and digital tools for inspections, documentation, and corrective action tracking.

Experience

• At least 5 years of experience in food safety, quality assurance, or technical food operations.
• Demonstrated experience implementing and verifying HACCP and prerequisite programs in operational settings.
• Experience conducting inspections, investigating incidents or complaints, and evaluating corrective action effectiveness.
• Experience interpreting microbiological results and contributing to validation or shelf-life programs.
• Experience coordinating technical activities or supervising technical personnel.
• Experience in catering, food production, food service, or comparable operations is preferred.
• Experience working across multiple sites or with airline customer requirements is desirable.

Work Environment

·        A combination of office-based technical work and regular activity in food production and service environments.

·        Frequent interaction with local food safety and quality representatives, station management, Production, Culinary, laboratories, and corporate functions.

·        Participation in inspections, investigations, technical trials, training, and corporate or customer assessments.

·        Compliance with applicable hygiene, food safety, occupational safety, and security requirements during operational visits.

Travel requirements

Up to 75% of domestic and international travel, depending on deployment needs, project priorities, and organizational requirements.

Embark on a journey with us, where every day brings new opportunities for growth and success. If you thrive in a dynamic environment and want to be part of a team that celebrates achievements, come, be a part of our story. Your career adventure starts here!