Quality Assurance Technician Nights

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Date: 14 Jul 2025

Location: Leek, GB, ST13 5SP

Company: Ornua Co-operative Limited

Job Title:             Quality Assurance Technician 

Location:            Ornua Foods UK - Leek (ST13)

Hours:                Sunday to Thursday 10pm – 6am

Salary:               up to £33,000 per year (depending on experience).

 

Company Background

 

Ornua is a dairy co-operative which sells dairy products on behalf of its members, Ireland’s dairy processors and, in turn, Irish dairy farmers. It is Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy products, exporting to 110 countries worldwide. Headquartered in Dublin, Ornua has annualised sales of over €3.5 billion and a global team of 3,000 employees.

 

Ornua is structured across two divisions: Ornua Foods and Ornua Ingredients. We operate from 10 business units worldwide, including 16 production facilities, and have sales and marketing teams working in-market across the globe in Africa, Asia, Germany, Ireland, the Middle East, Spain, the UK, and the US.

 

You may know us by our brands Kerrygold, Dubliner, Pilgrim’s Choice, Avantage, Forto, and BEO.

 

Ornua’s Values

 

At Ornua, our Values lie at the core of everything that we do and how we behave both individually and as a business. Our five values, and their underlying behaviors, encourage us to Seek and Embrace New Ideas, Make It Happen, Be Our True Selves, Show You Care and Achieve Great Things Together.

 

Ornua’s Growth

 

At Ornua, our co-operative ethos lies at the heart of how we do business. We care passionately about driving sustainable, profitable growth, underpinned by our ambitious ‘Path to Prosper’ strategy. We have delivered significant growth in our core business, and we have ambitious plans for continued growth over the next five years.

 

WHY THIS ROLE IS VALUABLE

 

The successful candidate will play a key role in ensuring factory standards are consistently achieved, it is these high standards which support us in producing a safe product for our end consumer.

You will be responsible for completing the Technical KPIs which support the site with good manufacturing practices (GMP) and ensure we are always ready for our customers and third-party audits.

 

 

KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY:

 

  • Auditing people, products, systems, procedures, and documentation to identify areas of (possible) non-compliance and ensure the necessary corrective action is taken.
  • Completing scheduled KPIs on time and in full, including T2 checks, GMP audits, GHP audits and swabbing.
  • Maintaining calibration of all critical site equipment.
  • Maintain quality related records in an orderly manner to allow efficient filing, retrieval, and archiving.
  • Answering the radio and supporting at line side when required.
  • Identification and isolation of potential non-conforming stock, pending decision based on risk assessment.
  • Reading laboratory results and escalating as appropriate.
  • Maintenance of the retained sample database, and organization of saved samples.
  • Support with key information for shift handover.
  • Ensure the site meets legal compliance in relation to weight legislation.

 

KEY REQUIREMENTS:

  • Must have experience working in a food production environment and be confident in handling numerical information.
  • Must be computer literate with a good working knowledge of Microsoft applications.
  • Have a basic understanding of microbiology.
  • Have a basic understanding of HACCP.
  • Have a basic understanding of weigh legislation.
  • Audit quality procedures against factory processes to ensure compliance.

 

ORNUA COMPETENCIES:

 

 

Seek and embrace new ideas

Curiosity

Includes: Learning, Growth Mindset, Knowledge Sharing, Continuous Improvement, Innovative Thinking

Forward Looking

Includes: Social Conscience, Working Proactively, Flexibility, Change Management, Competitor Market Knowledge, Strategic Thinking

Developing - Open to asking questions, and willing to learn and drive continuous improvement.

Developing - Responds quickly to change and looks ahead to anticipate tasks, ensuring benefits to others.


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Make it happen

Expertise

Includes: Technical/Functional Skills, Analysis, Problem Solving & Decision Making, Decisiveness, Planning, Prioritising & Reviewing

Ownership

Includes: Action Focus, Empowerment, Accountability & Quality, Tenacity, Sustainable Growth, Managing Performance

Developing - To ensure excellence in own work, applies effective professional skill, analysis, problem solving, decision making, prioritising, planning and reviewing.

Developing - Takes responsibility for and ownership of results, takes pride in delivering quality; acts promptly and is tenacious.

 

 

Be our true selves

Integrity

Includes: Empathy & Respect, Inclusivity, Authenticity, Ethical Standards, Constructive Attitude, Role Model

Communicative

Includes: Listening, Impact, Informing, Honesty, Psychological Safety, Adapting Communication Style, Influencing, Leadership Style

Developing - Shows integrity and humility, demonstrates respect for others in own behaviour and values diversity.

Developing - Communicates openly and clearly, listens respectfully to others.

 

 

Achieve great things together

Working Together

Includes: Co-operating, Active Collaboration, Encouraging Others, Relationship Building, Team Effectiveness

Customer Focus

Includes: Customer & Members’ Needs, Customer Ownership, Customer Relationships, Commercial Awareness

Proficient - Encourages co-operation in own team and ensures cross-functional working.

Developing - Gives high priority to customer needs and delivers to their standards, showing awareness of Ornua's purpose.

 


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