Job Description

Come make your difference in communities across Canada, where authenticity, trust and making connections is valued – as we shape the future of Canadian retail, together. Our unique position as one of the country's largest employers, coupled with our commitment to positively impact the lives of all Canadians, provides our colleagues a range of opportunities and experiences to help Canadians Live Life Well®.

At Loblaw Companies Limited, we succeed through collaboration and commitment and set a high bar for ourselves and those around us. Whether you are just starting your career, re-entering the workforce, or looking for a new job, this is where you belong.

Role Mandate:

Reporting to the Sr. Manager, Quality Assurance – Food Safety Importer of Record (FSIOR), the Senior Specialist, Quality Assurance – FSIOR is responsible for executing and strengthening the Food Safety Importer of Record program to ensure all imported food products comply with Loblaw’s food safety standards and applicable regulatory requirements.

This role serves as a senior technical subject matter expert (SME) within the FSIOR program, providing regulatory interpretation, operational oversight, and system governance expertise. The Sr. Specialist partners closely with the Sr. Manager to support compliance under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) and corporate quality standards.

The position is accountable for managing key relationships with vendors, internal stakeholders, and Managed Service Providers (MSPs), ensuring effective communication, issue resolution, and adherence to food safety importer requirements. The Sr. Specialist provides technical guidance and compliance support to vendors to facilitate alignment with Loblaw’s food safety programs and regulatory obligations.

Through cross-functional collaboration and proactive oversight of data integrity, platform performance, and vendor compliance, this role contributes to safeguarding imported food safety and delivering a consistent, compliant consumer experience.

Accountabilities:

• Serve as a senior technical SME for the Food Safety Importer of Record (FSIOR) program, ensuring compliance with SFCR and internal quality standards.
• Support the development and execution of the IOR strategy by designing structured processes and scalable frameworks that enhance product delivery and regulatory compliance.
• Lead efficiency and continuous improvement initiatives across the IOR program by identifying process gaps, streamlining workflows, and implementing operational enhancements that create measurable value.
• Act as a change agent, driving transformation in how the IOR team manages workflows, resolves issues, and leverages systems to improve performance.
• Plan and manage key cross-functional projects from initiation through implementation, resolving impediments, coordinating stakeholders, and ensuring timely and successful delivery.
• Oversee and optimize multiple IT platforms supporting food safety import programs, ensuring system integrity, performance, and alignment with business objectives.
• Maintain oversight of data governance and integrity across all IOR-related systems; manipulate and analyze complex datasets to extract actionable insights that support data-driven decision-making.
• Develop testing plans and coordinate validation activities during system updates and enhancements.
• Manage vendor and MSP relationships, exercising direct escalation authority to the Sr. Manager when compliance risks arise.
• Monitor regulatory developments and assess operational impacts; ensure regulatory claim certificates and required documentation remain current and compliant.
• Manage the annual collection and review of non-food factory audits, ensuring third-party supplier compliance and driving corrective action follow-up where necessary.
• Conduct research on industry best practices, emerging tools, and regulatory trends; develop documentation and implementation plans to support program enhancements.
• Create and maintain training materials, templates, tools, and standard operating procedures (SOPs); facilitate training sessions to improve stakeholder understanding and compliance.
• Prepare and deliver clear, impactful presentations and reports to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, enabling informed decision-making.
• Build and maintain strong partnerships with internal and external stakeholders to achieve strategic program objectives.
• Participate in QMS governance activities, supporting program oversight and continuous improvement.
• Provide technical expertise and leadership on special initiatives spanning compliance, systems, process development, and strategic transformation.
• Any other duties as assigned.

Role Requirements:

• University education or equivalent in Food Science, Chemistry, Engineering, or equivalent discipline
• Minimum 4 years related work experience in retail or manufacturing environment
• Proven ability to oversee and optimize complex, multi-platform IT environments supporting FSIOR programs
• Leverages advanced data analytics (Power BI, MicroStrategy, Excel) and QMS frameworks to drive system integrity and continuous technological adaptation.
• Working knowledge of Quality principles and Management Systems
• Strong understanding of Canadian regulatory landscape and Health Canada regulations
• Able to work effectively as an individual with minimal supervision and as a team member
• Able to influence and interact effectively with all levels at retail/distribution, vendor and office locations.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Effective problem-solving skills
• Straightforward practical way of thinking and problem solving.
• Results oriented.
• Highly organized with a strong focus on detail and accuracy
• Computer skills to produce effective reports, documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
• Communicates well in writing by composing clear documents; ability with editing and/or proof-reading is required.

Our commitment to Sustainability and Social Impact is an essential part of the way we do business, and we focus our attention on areas where we can have the greatest impact. Our approach to sustainability and social impact is based on three pillars – Environment, Sourcing and Community – and we are constantly looking for ways to demonstrate leadership in these important areas. Our CORE Values – Care, Ownership, Respect and Excellence – guide all our decision-making and come to life through our Blue Culture. We offer our colleagues progressive careers, comprehensive training, flexibility, and other competitive benefits – these are some of the many reasons why we are one of Canada’s Top Employers, Canada’s Best Diversity Employers, Canada’s Greenest Employers & Canada’s Top Employers for Young People.

If you are unsure whether your experience matches every requirement above, we encourage you to apply anyway. We are looking for varied perspectives which include diverse experiences that we can add to our team.

We have a long-standing focus on diversity, equity and inclusion because we know it will make our company a better place to work and shop. We are committed to creating accessible environments for our colleagues, candidates and customers. Requests for accommodation due to a disability (which may be visible or invisible, temporary or permanent) can be made at any stage of application and employment. We encourage candidates to make their accommodation needs known so that we can provide equitable opportunities.

Please Note
Candidates who are 18 years or older are required to complete a criminal background check. Details will be provided through the application process.

Hiring Range / Échelle salariale à l’embauche :$68,000.00 - $93,500.00 / 68.000,00$ - 93.500,00$ (per year / par an)A candidate’s experience and knowledge as well as the geographical region in which the position is located may be factored into the pay a candidate receives for this position. This posting is for an existing vacancy. The Company uses artificial intelligence for the purpose of screening, assessing and/or selecting applicants for this position. / L’expérience et les connaissances d’un candidat ainsi que la région géographique dans laquelle le poste est situé peuvent être prises en compte dans la rémunération qu’un candidat reçoit pour ce poste. Cette offre d’emploi concerne un poste vacant existant. L’entreprise utilise l’intelligence artificielle dans le but de filtrer, d’évaluer et/ou de sélectionner les candidats à ce poste.

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