Facility Supervisor

Job Title: Facility Supervisor

About US:

Queensland Berries is a commercial grower and supplier of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, with berry-growing, production and packing operations in South East Queensland, including the Caboolture and Stanthorpe regions.

Our post-harvest operations involve receiving freshly harvested berries, assessing product quality, grading, packing, cold storage and dispatch. As berries are delicate and highly perishable, our facilities rely on careful product handling, consistent grading standards, accurate traceability records and effective cool-chain management to meet customer requirements.

We are seeking an experienced Facility Supervisor to supervise daily grading and packing activities, allocate facility resources, train and supervise personnel, and coordinate with farm management, maintenance and dispatch personnel to maintain product quality and an efficient flow of fruit through the facility.

Required Qualifications:

·At least a Certificate III or IV in Horticulture qualification, or equivalent; or

·At least three years of employment experience as a Facility Supervisor, together with relevant formal training; or

·At least five years of employment experience as a Facility Supervisor where no relevant formal training has been completed.

Required Experience:

At least two years of full-time experience, or equivalent, as a Facility Supervisor on a commercial strawberry farm, including supervising fruit receival, grading, packing, cold storage and dispatch; allocating and training facility staff; maintaining quality-assurance and traceability records; and managing the product cool chain.

Required Skills:

1. Strawberry grading and defect identification, including ripeness, size, bruising, mould and mechanical damage.

2. Punnet weight checks and verification of packaging, labels and customer grading specifications.

3. Labour and packing-capacity calculations based on fruit volumes, processing rates and order deadlines.

4. Basic troubleshooting of grading and packing equipment, including identifying faults that cause fruit damage.

5. Product-temperature measurement and interpretation of cool-room temperature logs.

6. Batch coding and reconciliation of harvest, packing and dispatch records for product traceability.

7. Order reconciliation, carton and pallet quantity checks, and dispatch-document verification.

8. Practical knowledge of food-contact hygiene, cleaning procedures and waste segregation.

9. Practical assessment of workers’ fruit-handling, grading and packing techniques.

Proposed tasks:

1. Ensuring correct product handling to meet customer requirements

Supervise the handling of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries from the time harvested fruit is received at the facility through to grading, packing, cold storage and dispatch. Ensure that fruit is handled carefully to minimise bruising, contamination, temperature exposure and other forms of product deterioration. Ensure that packed products meet applicable customer specifications relating to quality, presentation, packaging, hygiene and delivery condition.

2. Assessing incoming products and determining grading resources

Assess incoming consignments of harvested berries for general condition, maturity, firmness, colour, size, visible defects, contamination and mechanical or weather-related damage. Based on the quality and volume of incoming fruit, production requirements and customer orders, determine the labour, grading-line capacity, equipment and packing resources required to process the product efficiently.

3. Monitoring product quality throughout the grading and packing process

Monitor product quality throughout the different stages of the production shed, including product receival, washing where applicable, first grading, second grading and final grading. Check that unsuitable fruit and foreign material are removed, that berries are graded consistently according to the required specifications, and that the final packed product meets the relevant quality, weight, presentation and packaging requirements.

4. Rectifying mechanical damage and grading-quality issues

Identify and respond to problems involving mechanical damage, incorrect grading, excessive product rejection, inconsistent pack quality or other production-line issues. Where appropriate, adjust product flow and handling practices, isolate non-conforming products, arrange for affected fruit to be regraded and coordinate with the Maintenance Services Department where machinery or equipment may be contributing to product damage or reduced grading accuracy.

5. Liaising with relevant operational departments and managers

Communicate regularly with the Farm Managers, the Maintenance Services Department and relevant Packaging Shed personnel responsible for dispatch regarding incoming harvest volumes, fruit condition, production priorities, labour requirements, machinery performance, maintenance issues, cool-room capacity, customer orders and dispatch deadlines. Coordinate these activities to maintain an efficient flow of product from harvest through to final dispatch.

6. Maintaining accurate Quality Assurance and traceability records

Ensure that Quality Assurance records associated with product receival, grading, packing, cold storage and dispatch are completed accurately and in accordance with company procedures. Check relevant batch, harvest, packing, quality-control and dispatch information so that products can be traced through the production process and back to the relevant source records when required. Follow up on incomplete or inaccurate records and ensure that corrective actions are properly documented.

7. Managing the product cool chain

Oversee the maintenance of the correct cool chain during the handling, storage and dispatch of berries. Ensure that products are transferred into the appropriate temperature-controlled environment without unnecessary delay, monitor relevant cool-room and product-temperature records, minimise exposure during handling and loading, and take or report corrective action where a temperature variation may affect product quality or shelf life.

8. Training and supervising facility personnel

Ensure that personnel working within the facility receive appropriate instruction and training in product handling, grading standards, packing requirements, hygiene, Quality Assurance procedures, workplace health and safety requirements and the company’s standard operating procedures. Allocate work, explain production requirements, monitor employee performance and provide further guidance or corrective instruction where work is not being performed to the required standard.

9. Managing waste products in accordance with procedures

Ensure that rejected fruit, damaged products, packaging waste and other waste generated during the grading and packing process are identified, separated, recorded and handled in accordance with the company’s standard procedures. Monitor work areas to ensure that waste does not create contamination, hygiene or safety risks and that production areas are maintained in an orderly condition.

10. Ensuring dispatches comply with standard procedures

Oversee the final preparation of products for dispatch. Check that customer orders have been graded, packed, labelled and assembled correctly; that cartons, trays and pallets are in an acceptable condition; that relevant Quality Assurance and traceability requirements have been completed; and that products are maintained within the required cool chain during loading and dispatch. Liaise with relevant Packaging Shed personnel responsible for dispatch to ensure that the correct products and quantities are dispatched to the correct customers within the required timeframes.

Proposed Annual Earnings for the position: $70,000 - $75,000