Seafood Auditor

Job ID:42255
Location:Edinburgh: Lochside Way
Position Category:Assessors
Position Type:Employee Regular

**Role purpose**:
As part of the LRQA Seafood Team, Seafood Auditors work to assess LRQA clients’ conformity with relevant seafood chain standards; where appropriate, Auditors may also conduct technical/certification reviews and witness audits.

Auditors should ensure that their audits are delivered to a consistently high level including maintaining compliance with relevant requirements and ensuring that audit programs are delivered effectively and efficiently ensuring first class service to clients.

Auditors are expected to develop and maintain a detailed technical knowledge of relevant scheme(s) and industry practices including by attending client and scheme owner meetings where required.

After scheme specific training and qualification, Auditors are ultimately responsible for ensuring that their audits are carried out professionally and their work product meets required standards.

**Key Responsibilities**:

- Become qualified to audit in relevant certification scheme(s), and thereafter to maintain that status by completing ongoing training, calibration etc. in a timely manner as required.
- Plan and carry out assigned audits across a range of seafood clients.
- Generate accurate, unambiguous, and objective audit reports which comply with applicable requirements and carry out technical and certification reviews as required.
- Ensure that audit reports are submitted, applicable corrective action evaluated, and technical and certification reviews completed within agreed timescales.
- Develop a thorough understanding of relevant schemes to provide technical support to colleagues as required.
- Build relationships with colleagues to optimise teamwork and organise any travel plans, site audits in association with travel companies and other agencies such as visa organisations.
- Develop relationships with scheme owners to keep up to date with scheme regulations, standard updates and other relevant communications.
- Participate in internal and external audits relevant to assigned schemes as required, including participating in the review and response to audit findings to ensure that they are addressed in a timely manner.
- If possible, to identify opportunities to drive operational efficiencies in administration, support processes and systems, and use initiative to implement and drive change. Any other duties as reasonably expected to effectively support the wider seafood business unit and organisation.

**Technical/Professional Qualifications/Requirements**:
**Required**:

- A good level of spoken and written English.
- Tertiary qualification in a relevant discipline (in exceptional cases equivalent practical experience may suffice).
- 2 years’ relevant aquaculture or supply chain experience.
- Well-organised with the ability to plan and schedule work effectively.
- Excellent communication and organisational skills.
- Analytical approach to work and excellent attention to detail. Able to work both individually and, where required, cooperatively as part of an audit team.

**Desirable**:

- 2 years’ relevant aquaculture or supply chain experience (minimum for consideration = 2 years, desirable = 5 years).
- 2 years’ full-time experience in a Seafood Processing Plant in a quality assurance or food safety function.
- 3 years’ experience in animal and/or aquaculture feed mills.
- A knowledge of the seafood industry and landscape in Northwest Europe (UK, Ireland, Iceland, Faroes and particularly Scotland).
- Prior experience of accredited certification schemes and auditing such as:

- Relevant auditing experience (1st, 2nd or 3rd party). Ideally,
- 25 days’ onsite auditing experience in a relevant field (e.g. aquaculture, supply chain, animal welfare, food safety or environmental compliance).
- Preferably, this would be in relevant aquaculture or supply chain schemes such as ASC, BAP, Global GAP, domestic Scottish Schemes or equivalent but alternatively in other seafood or food-related schemes (MSC, BRC, SQF etc).
- An ISO 19011-based Lead Auditor/Assessor qualification (e.g. ISO 9001. 14001, 22000 etc.).
- Auditor qualifications in a relevant scheme(s) (e.g. Global GAP, ASC, BAP, MSC Chain of Custody etc.).
- Training in HACCP principles, either as part of formal qualifications or through the successful completion of a formal course based on the principles of the Codex Alimentarius.
- Fish welfare training via an industry recognised training provider.
- Second or subsequent languages (other than English).
- As this is role involves auditing aquaculture or supply chain sites, applicants should be comfortable around water.
- As this role primarily involve audits in the region, applicants must ideally be UK-based and able to travel freely in the Schengen area or can acquire same and should be comfortable travelling by air and sea, domestically and internationally as required.

Diversity and Inclusion at LRQA: