Quality Assurance Analyst (Fort Lauderdale)
The Quality Analyst plays a key technical and operational role within the Quality Assurance and Regulatory function for imported food products entering the United States. This position is responsible for coordinating quality claims, customer complaints, USDA refusals, product documentation, and regulatory-support activities to help ensure imported products meet company quality standards, customer requirements, and applicable U.S. food safety and regulatory expectations. Working primarily in an import or corporate office environment, the Quality Analyst serves as a liaison between U.S. customers, Sales, Customer Service, Logistics, Finance, third-party laboratories, origin production facilities, and Quality teams. The role supports the timely exchange of accurate technical information and helps ensure quality records, customer documentation, claim files, and investigation materials are complete, organized, current, and readily available. A significant component of this role involves the coordination and monitoring of customer claims, quality events, and USDA refusals. The Quality Analyst is responsible for receiving and documenting claims; collecting relevant supporting information; coordinating follow-up with origin Quality teams; monitoring investigation and corrective-action responses; and maintaining clear status updates through resolution. The Quality Analyst supports root-cause investigation and corrective-action activities but does not independently make final product-disposition, regulatory, commercial-settlement, or customer-credit decisions. The Quality Analyst also supports preliminary review of product labels, specifications, allergen statements, certificates, customer questionnaires, and other technical records. The role identifies missing, expired, inconsistent, or potentially noncompliant documentation and escalates concerns to the USA Quality Manager or designated Quality leadership. The Quality Analyst must demonstrate strong analytical ability, attention to detail, organization, communication, and judgment in a fast-paced, regulated import environment. This role is well-suited for a quality professional with experience in food safety, quality assurance, customer claims, regulatory documentation, supplier quality, or imported-food operations in the U.S. market. Key responsibilities Receive, document, and manage customer quality claims, complaints, and USDA refusals by ensuring each case is accurately logged, supported by complete evidence, and tracked through resolution. Collect and validate claim evidence including product details, lot codes, production dates, photographs, shipping information, invoices, customer correspondence, inspection results, and other supporting documentation needed for investigation. Coordinate quality investigations with origin plants and supplier Quality teams, ensuring timely submission of investigation responses, root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and preventive-action plans. Monitor open claims, investigations, and corrective actions; follow up on overdue items; maintain current case status; and provide timely updates to Sales, Customer Service, Logistics, Finance, and Quality leadership. Maintain complete, accurate, and audit-ready quality documentation for imported products, including specifications, labels, allergen statements, certificates, declarations, questionnaires, supplier records, and claim files. Prepare and provide customer technical documentation in response to requests from Sales, Customer Service, customers, and commercial partners, ensuring information is current, complete, and approved in accordance with company procedures. Perform preliminary reviews of product labels and technical documentation for completeness and alignment with internal quality requirements and applicable USDA/FSIS, APHIS, FSMA, customer, and product-specification requirements. Identify and escalate quality, documentation, labeling, traceability, regulatory, or customer-service risks to the USA Quality Manager or designated Quality leader, particularly when records are missing, inconsistent, expired, or potentially noncompliant. Maintain quality, claims, documentation, and regulatory trackers, including document-expiration dates, customer-request status, investigation timelines, corrective-action follow-up, and claim-resolution status. Prepare and update dashboards and KPI reports related to claim volume and trends, claim-resolution timelines, investigation response time, documentation turnaround time, recurring quality issues, and corrective-action completion. Analyze claim data, customer feedback, plant reports, and quality-event outcomes to identify recurring trends, supplier or product risks, process gaps, and opportunities for preventive action and continuous improvement. Serve as a technical liaison between U.S. commercial teams, Logistics, Customer Service, Finance, origin production facilities, suppliers, customers, and third-party laboratories to ensure clear, timely, and accurate exchange of quality information. Support internal audits, customer audits, regulatory inquiries, and audit-readiness activities by organizing quality records, retrieving documentation, validating file completeness, and preparing required materials. Support the development and continuous improvement of SOPs, templates, trackers, work instructions, and quality workflows related to claims, regulatory documentation, customer technical requests, and investigation management. Prepare materials and support internal training sessions on quality documentation, claims handling, compliance procedures, customer requirements, and process changes. Perform other Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs duties as assigned in support of imported-product compliance, customer satisfaction, supplier accountability, and continuous improvement. Qualifications Knowledge: Bachelor’s degree (or in progress) in Food Science, Food Technology, Biology, Chemistry, Microbiology, Animal Science, Regulatory Affairs, Supply Chain, or a related field preferred. Working knowledge of food safety, quality assurance, supplier quality, document control, traceability, and quality-claim processes. Familiarity with USDA, FSIS, APHIS, FSMA, HACCP, GMP, allergen-management, labeling, and imported-food documentation requirements is strongly preferred. Experience: 2–4 years of experience in quality assurance, food safety, regulatory affairs, supplier quality, technical services, customer quality claims, import/export, or food-industry operations required. Experience coordinating customer claims, complaints, nonconformances, product refusals, technical investigations, or corrective-action follow-up preferred. Experience reviewing and maintaining technical documentation, including product specifications, labels, allergen statements, certificates, questionnaires, and supplier records preferred. Experience supporting imported food products, protein or meat products, USDA-regulated products, or international supplier/plant relationships is strongly preferred. Experience working with cross-functional teams, including Sales, Customer Service, Logistics, Finance, Quality, and international production facilities preferred. Skills: Fluent English (Spanish, Portuguese strong plus). Strong attention to detail and commitment to accuracy in documentation, claims records, technical information, and reporting. Strong analytical skills with the ability to identify patterns, trends, recurring issues, incomplete information, and inconsistencies in claims and quality records. Ability to coordinate quality investigations with origin Quality teams and monitor timely completion of responses and corrective actions. Ability to assess the completeness of claims and technical documentation and escalate food safety, regulatory, customer, financial, or reputational risks appropriately. Strong organizational and time-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple claims, document requests, deadlines, and follow-up activities simultaneously. Effective written and verbal communication skills for translating technical information into clear updates for internal teams, suppliers, and customers. Customer-focused and collaborative, with the ability to build productive working relationships across functions and countries. Proactive, adaptable, and able to work effectively in a fast-paced import and regulatory environment with changing priorities. Ability to follow established procedures while identifying and supporting opportunities for process improvements. Comfortable working with databases, spreadsheets, dashboard reports, document-management systems, and Microsoft Office, especially Excel. Ability to prepare and maintain quality dashboards, KPI reports, claim trackers, investigation status reports, and documentation-control records. High level of professionalism, accountability, confidentiality, sound judgment, and follow-through.
