Quick Cpmmerce Industry in Dubai is looking for a Quality Specialist to oversee food quality, food safety, and operational standards across its fresh and ultra-fresh product categories, with particular emphasis on Fruits & Vegetables.
This role involves leading quality assurance activities across dark stores and distribution centres, ensuring that products meet freshness, safety, storage, and handling requirements before reaching customers. The successful candidate will lead a team of quality controllers and supervisors, monitor supplier performance, strengthen cold chain management, and drive continuous improvements across quality operations.
The position requires a hands-on quality professional with strong knowledge of fresh produce handling, warehouse quality control, HACCP principles, and UAE food safety regulations.
Job Responsibilities
- Oversee quality assurance, food safety, and cold chain management across fresh and ultra-fresh product categories, particularly fruits and vegetables.
- Establish, implement, and maintain quality standards for product freshness, shelf life, storage conditions, transportation, and handling.
- Lead, supervise, train, and develop a team of quality controllers and supervisors operating across dark stores and distribution centres.
- Conduct regular quality inspections and audits to verify product freshness, appearance, condition, storage temperatures, and handling practices.
- Monitor cold chain operations and ensure appropriate temperature control throughout receiving, storage, picking, packing, and distribution activities.
- Investigate customer complaints, product-related refunds, and quality concerns to identify recurring issues and determine their root causes.
- Develop and implement corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) to minimise product defects, food safety risks, wastage, and customer complaints.
- Assess supplier quality performance through inspections, product evaluations, and compliance reviews.
- Collaborate with Commercial, Procurement, and Supply Chain teams to address supplier-related quality issues and maintain agreed product specifications.
- Monitor quality performance indicators and prepare reports covering product rejection, freshness, complaints, wastage, and operational compliance.
- Identify opportunities to improve quality control processes through new technologies, monitoring systems, and operational tools.
- Develop and maintain product specifications, quality checklists, inspection records, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and food safety documentation.
- Ensure compliance with applicable UAE food safety regulations, hygiene requirements, and internal quality management standards.
- Promote a strong quality culture across frontline operations, ensuring that quality teams have the authority and resources to prevent non-conforming products from reaching customers.
Job Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Food Safety, Microbiology, Agriculture, or a related discipline.
- Minimum 3–5 years of experience in food quality assurance or food safety management.
- Experience in fresh produce, fruits and vegetables, fresh grocery retail, quick commerce, food distribution, or FMCG operations is highly desirable.
- Previous experience managing quality control activities in warehouses, distribution centres, dark stores, or fulfilment operations.
- Strong understanding of fresh produce quality parameters, product freshness, shelf life, storage requirements, and cold chain management.
- Good knowledge of HACCP principles, food hygiene practices, and UAE food safety regulations.
- Advanced food safety qualifications or relevant professional certifications will be an advantage.
- Demonstrated ability to lead, supervise, and train frontline quality control teams.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience conducting root cause analysis and implementing CAPA.
- Ability to interpret quality data, prepare performance reports, and recommend operational improvements.
- Excellent communication and coordination skills, with the ability to work effectively across quality, commercial, and supply chain functions.
Recommended Certifications
Candidates looking to strengthen their profile for food quality roles in quick commerce and fresh grocery operations may consider:
- HACCP Level 3 or Level 4.
- Food Safety Management Systems – ISO 22000.
- Internal Auditor or Lead Auditor – ISO 22000.
- Fresh Produce Quality Management and Handling.
- Cold Chain Management and Temperature Control.
- Root Cause Analysis and Corrective & Preventive Action (CAPA).
Experience working with imported food products, particularly Italian and European food categories such as dairy products, cheese, meat, seafood, bakery products, frozen foods, sauces, specialty ingredients, and other premium food items, would be advantageous