Quality Assurance Assistant in Hounslow

Rail Gourmet UK is the largest provider of catering and related on‑board services to the British Railway Industry. Our business operates from over 40 service centres across the country, employing over 1000 people in the UK alone. Our aim is to deliver a service that is First Class – Consistently.

We are looking for a Full Time Quality Assurance Assistant (40 hrs per week, Monday to Sunday) to join our team at our Food Production Centre in Heston. You will be responsible for supporting the Quality Manager in the implementation and maintenance of the Quality Management Systems (QMS) and processes within the production environment. This role is mainly based on the shop floor to ensure that all food products meet company standards & regulatory requirements, promoting a positive food safety and quality culture throughout the entire food production process.

Main Responsibilities

• Conduct verification of the Food Safety & Quality Management (FSQMS) and HACCP systems to ensure adherence to External Approval Standards such as SALSA & other relevant third‑party requirements.
• Ensure adherence to production specifications within the factory and ensure any deviations are identified, actioned, and escalated where required.
• Conduct microbiological and chemical sampling of surfaces and products as required.
• Involvement during factory trials of new products.
• Audit the factory and its processes to verify compliance to technical and quality related policies and procedures.
• Act where non‑compliances are identified.
• Involvement during customer and third‑party visits and SALSA audit, demonstrating QA related tasks where required.
• Participate in the investigation of complaints to identify root cause and monitor any corrective actions to prevent reoccurrence.
• Place non‑conforming stock on hold following company procedure, taking responsibility for any stock placed on hold.
• Escalate non‑conforming stock to relevant parties and seek authorisation before releasing any stock on hold.
• Conduct all in‑house weekly, fortnightly, monthly audits as per schedule and highlight issues with the QA Manager.
• Ensure all factory paperwork is up to date, filled on a daily basis, printed accurately and issued in a timely manner.
• Escalate any issues with paperwork which are not in line with company procedure to the QA Manager.
• Communicate, liaise & escalate issues where necessary.
• Participate in site projects and ensure that food safety & quality requirements are considered, implemented, and maintained.
• When required, represent the site in matters related to factory food safety and quality systems to third‑party auditors, external regulatory bodies, and customers.
• Participate in in‑house training as and when required.
• Undertake other tasks relating to the effective operation and continual improvement of the FSQMS, Quality and Operational activities and customer standards and directives that may be required from time to time or as a permanent addition to accountabilities and responsibilities.
• Work cross‑functionally to promote food safety culture across the business.

Person Specification

Qualifications (preferable)

• Level 2 Food Safety
• Level 2 HACCP

Experience

• Minimum 2 years in a Food Manufacturing environment (preferable).
• Previous experience working in a QA function considered essential.
• Demonstrable experience of managing a team and developing people.
• Good knowledge of cleaning practices.

Skills

• Good communication skills and attention to detail, able to influence at all levels.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Good IT skills and ability to use Microsoft Office applications.
• Ability to communicate professionally at all levels from customers and auditors to factory colleagues and company management.
• Able to prioritise & organise own workload and work to time deadlines.
• Initiative‑taking and highly resilient.
• Ability to problem solve and influence in a challenging environment with sometimes conflicting priorities.

Benefits

• Discounted Meal while on shifts.
• Employee Discounts.
• Friends and Family Discount App.
• Award‑winning training, apprenticeships and development programs.
• Health & Wellbeing Support.

Feel like you could belong at Rail Gourmet? Apply now and join us as a Quality Assurance Assistant. Rail Gourmet is proud to be an equal‑opportunity employer who seeks to recruit and retain talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, skills and perspectives.