A leading retail conglomerate in Dubai, UAE is seeking an experienced Food Safety Compliance Officer to oversee food safety, quality assurance, regulatory compliance, supplier quality, and hygiene standards across supermarket and retail operations.
The role is responsible for ensuring that food and applicable non-food products sold through retail outlets comply with relevant UAE food safety regulations, Dubai Municipality requirements, company quality policies, HACCP principles, and applicable international and regional standards.
This opportunity is well suited to an experienced Food Safety, Food Quality, QA/QC, or Compliance professional with a strong background in supermarket, food retail, FMCG, or large-scale food operations.
Job Responsibilities
Regulatory Compliance
- Ensure compliance with applicable Dubai Municipality food safety regulations, UAE requirements, health authority requirements, and internal company quality policies.
- Monitor regulatory requirements applicable to food products, retail operations, storage, handling, hygiene, and food safety.
- Support the organization during regulatory and health authority inspections.
- Ensure applicable product standards, specifications, and regulatory requirements are followed.
- Monitor compliance with relevant GSO, UAE, ESMA, SASO, HACCP, ISO, and Halal requirements, where applicable.
- Keep updated with changes in UAE and regional food safety legislation and communicate relevant requirements to store and operational teams.
Food Safety & Quality Control
- Ensure food products meet established quality, safety, and regulatory requirements before being made available to customers.
- Implement, monitor, and maintain HACCP-based food safety systems across retail operations.
- Monitor food handling, preparation, storage, transportation, and display practices.
- Verify compliance with hygiene, sanitation, pest control, temperature control, and contamination prevention requirements.
- Identify food safety risks and recommend appropriate preventive and corrective actions.
- Monitor compliance with company food safety policies and standard operating procedures.
Product Inspection
- Inspect incoming products and deliveries from suppliers for quality and food safety compliance.
- Verify product expiry dates, shelf life, packaging integrity, labelling, product condition, and temperature requirements.
- Check products against approved specifications and purchasing requirements.
- Identify damaged, expired, contaminated, or otherwise non-conforming products.
- Reject, segregate, or quarantine non-conforming products in accordance with company procedures.
- Monitor product conditions throughout storage and retail display.
Storage, Handling & Retail Hygiene
- Monitor FIFO and FEFO inventory practices across relevant departments.
- Ensure appropriate storage temperatures are maintained for chilled, frozen, and ambient products.
- Verify appropriate product segregation to prevent cross-contamination and allergen-related risks.
- Monitor food handling and display practices in supermarket departments.
- Ensure appropriate sanitation and cleaning procedures are implemented.
- Conduct regular inspections of food preparation, storage, display, and handling areas.
- Identify potential food safety hazards and ensure timely corrective action.
Supplier & Vendor Quality Management
- Monitor supplier performance and compliance with approved quality and food safety requirements.
- Review supplier documentation, product specifications, certificates, and compliance records.
- Coordinate with suppliers regarding product quality issues, non-conformances, customer complaints, and recalls.
- Support supplier evaluation, approval, and monitoring processes.
- Conduct or participate in supplier audits and quality assessments.
- Follow up on supplier corrective and preventive actions.
- Investigate recurring supplier-related quality and food safety issues.
Internal Audits & Documentation
- Conduct regular food safety, hygiene, and quality audits across supermarket departments and retail operations.
- Prepare inspection reports, audit reports, and corrective action records.
- Maintain accurate records including:
- Temperature monitoring logs
- Product inspection records
- Hygiene inspection checklists
- Supplier compliance reports
- Non-conformance reports
- Corrective and preventive action records
- Audit documentation
- Food safety monitoring records
- Identify trends, recurring non-conformities, and potential food safety risks.
- Prepare quality and food safety reports for management.
- Follow up on corrective actions until satisfactory closure.
Customer Complaint Management
- Investigate customer complaints related to product quality, food safety, hygiene, packaging, expiry, or other compliance concerns.
- Conduct root cause analysis for significant or recurring complaints.
- Coordinate with relevant departments and suppliers during investigations.
- Recommend and monitor corrective and preventive actions.
- Maintain appropriate complaint investigation and resolution records.
- Escalate serious food safety incidents according to company procedures.
Food Safety Training
- Train supermarket and retail employees on food safety and hygiene requirements.
- Conduct awareness sessions covering:
- Personal hygiene
- Food handling
- Temperature control
- Cross-contamination prevention
- Cleaning and sanitation
- FIFO/FEFO
- Product inspection
- Food safety procedures
- Monitor employee compliance with established food safety practices.
- Support the development and implementation of food safety training programs.
Food Recall & Non-Conformance Management
- Support the implementation of product withdrawal and recall procedures when required.
- Coordinate with suppliers and internal departments during product recalls.
- Ensure affected products are identified, segregated, and removed from sale.
- Investigate significant product non-conformities and food safety incidents.
- Monitor corrective actions and verify their effectiveness.
Job Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Microbiology, Quality Management, or a related discipline.
- Typically 7–10 years of relevant experience in food retail, supermarket operations, FMCG, food manufacturing, food safety, or quality control.
- Strong practical knowledge of HACCP and food safety management systems.
- Good understanding of UAE food safety requirements and Dubai Municipality regulations.
- Knowledge of relevant GSO, ESMA, SASO, Halal, and ISO standards is an advantage.
- Experience conducting internal food safety and quality audits.
- Experience in supplier quality management and vendor compliance.
- Strong understanding of food hygiene, sanitation, storage, temperature control, and food handling practices.
- Experience handling customer complaints, non-conformities, corrective actions, and product recalls.
- Strong documentation, reporting, and record-keeping skills.
Preferred Certifications
- HACCP Certification
- ISO 22000 Food Safety Management Systems
- Food Safety Level 3 or equivalent
- Internal Auditor / Lead Auditor certification
- Other relevant food safety, quality, or retail compliance certifications
Key Skills
- Food Safety Management
- HACCP Implementation
- Dubai Municipality Food Safety Compliance
- Food Quality Control
- Retail Food Safety Auditing
- Supplier Quality Management
- FMCG Quality Assurance
- Food Hygiene & Sanitation
- Regulatory Compliance
- Product Inspection
- Temperature Control
- FIFO & FEFO Management
- Root Cause Analysis
- Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA)
- Customer Complaint Investigation
- Food Recall Management
- Staff Training
- Audit & Inspection Reporting
- Risk Assessment
- Quality Documentation
Career Opportunity in Dubai
This Food Safety Compliance Officer position in Dubai offers an opportunity for an experienced food safety or quality professional to work within a large-scale retail environment and contribute to food safety compliance across supermarket operations.
Candidates with experience in food retail, FMCG, supermarket quality control, supplier quality, HACCP implementation, and UAE food safety regulations may be particularly suited to this role.
How to Apply
Interested candidates with relevant food safety, quality assurance, retail, or FMCG experience can apply through the employer’s designated recruitment channel.
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Industry: Retail / FMCG / Supermarket
Job Function: Food Safety / Quality Assurance / Regulatory Compliance
Job Title: Food Safety Compliance Officer
Experience: 7–10 Years
Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Microbiology, Quality Management, or related field
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