Salary : $74,748.00 - $100,488.00 Annually
Location : Kittitas County - Other, WA
Job Type: Agency Internal - Permanent
Remote Employment: Remote Only
Job Number:
Department: Dept. of Agriculture
Division: Food Safety and Consumer Services - Food Safety
Opening Date: 07/15/2026
Closing Date: 7/29/2026 11:59 PM Pacific
Salary Information: The high end of the salary range, Step M is typically a longevity step

Description
The Opportunity:
The Food Safety & Consumer Services (FSCS) Division is one of six divisions in the Washington State Department of Agriculture. The FSCS Division serves consumers and stakeholders in the state of Washington by assuring the availability, safety, and integrity of the state's human and animal food supply. The division is made up of approximately 100+ FTEs through five statewide programs, including: Animal Feed, FSCS Laboratory, Food Safety, Organic, and Produce Safety. We also house the Rapid Response Team that manages food and feed emergency responses.

If you process, manufacture, store or handle any food or dairy products for wholesale distribution, or if you custom slaughter or custom cut meat, you need to contact the Washington State Department of Agriculture Food Safety Program for licensing and/or inspection information.
The Food Safety Program performs a variety of public health investigations in cooperation with county, state health and federal food agencies to protect public health. Our dual mission is to protect and reduce the risk to public health by assuring the safety of the State's food supply while facilitating the movement of Washington agricultural products in domestic and international markets. We do this by:

• Inspecting and analyzing food products and food processing and handling; inspecting food storage establishments and practices.
• Inspecting dairy farms and plants.
• Inspecting eggs for quality and weight standards, set and enforce sanitary standards for egg graders.
• Inspecting custom farm slaughterers, custom meat facilities.
• Licensing dairy technicians.
• Issuing Export Certificates of Sanitation and Free Sale for food products manufactured in Washington State.
• Issuing licensing for Direct Sellers.
• Issuing voluntary Hemp Extract Facility Certification.

Food businesses operating in the State of Washington that process and/or warehouse manufactured food products for distribution in commerce and resale by other food businesses must follow safe food handling and/or processing practices to protect the public from illness or injury caused by food consumed. Washington State laws, Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations adopted by WSDA, and WSDA regulations detail the specific food safety requirements. The vast majority of manufactured food firms licensed by WSDA successfully implement the required practices and maintain substantial compliance for operating in Washington State. Food Safety Compliance Specialists conduct food safety inspections of food facilities to verify the firm is operating in substantial compliance with the required laws and regulations.
The Compliance Dairy Process Improvement Coordinator reports directly to the Food Safety Program Manager and supports the program and agency by:

• Leading the program's statewide compliance and enforcement efforts to ensure equitable and consistent application of the laws, rules and requirements for all license, permit and endorsement types. Under the program's regulatory authority. This includes but is not limited to; developing legal cases in conjunction with program legal support to protect public health, develop and provide training on enforcement procedures, enforcement alternatives and other related topics.
• Leading the agency process improvement team for the Grade 'A' Dairy program to better align with the National Conference of Interstate Milk Shipments and the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO) requirements.
• Serving as a food safety, food processing and inspection process subject matter expert for Grade 'A' and manufactured dairy products to provide high level technical assistance, policy development and education to our regulated industries, stakeholders, and Food Safety Program staff.
• Assists in the development and implementation of the inspector training program for dairy farms, milk plants, pasteurizers and equipment testing to ensure a consistent and technically competent workforce in alignment with State and Federal best practices and requirements. Will require in person trainings and presentations to stakeholders and staff.

Important Notes

WSDA is recruiting for an internal full-time permanent Food Safety Compliance Specialist 5 position within the Food Safety & Consumer Services (FSCS) Division. This position is approved for a home duty station in Kittitas County, WA. This is a non-represented position.

The base pay offered will take into account internal equity and may vary depending on the preferred candidate's job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The typical starting salary range for this position is: Range 62 $74,748 Step A $74,748 - Step L $98,064 annually.
Duties

Some of the various responsibilities within this role:

Compliance and Enforcement Leadership

• Prepare, coordinate, and initiate enforcement actions on violation by food manufacturers, dairy farms and plants, custom meat, eggs, cottage food, marijuana infused edibles and hemp extract processors. Actions include, but are not limited to, suspension, revocation, civil penalties and
  administrative hearings.
• Serve as the program representative between state and federal public health partners to achieve mutual reliance for better utilization of resources for the protection of public health at the state, national and international level.
• Develop and provide training on enforcement principles, formal compliance and adjudicative procedures, alternatives to enforcement actions, compliance agreements and other related topics.
• Establish policies and provide training on the collection, documentation, presentation and preservation of inspection evidence to support appropriate enforcement actions.
• Consult with the Attorney General's office, agency executive management and administrative regulations staff to conduct enforcement actions to protect public health.
• Assist field staff and the Food Safety Management Team with compliance case development leading to firms successfully completing corrections and implementing long-term sustainable changes to manage food safety risks.

Dairy Program Oversight and Process Improvement

• Serve as subject matter expert on the Grade 'A' Dairy regulatory program to ensure continued sales of dairy products across state lines
• Interact with representatives of the FDA Grade "A" Milk Safety Program for the triennial reviews of the state's dairy program and other dairy issues.
• Represent the program at the National Conference of Interstate Milk Shippers.
• Communicate with internal and external stakeholders. Demonstrate leadership and manage change.
• Assist in the development of goals and objectives to ensure project deliverables and operational requirements of the dairy program are met.
• Monitor staff resources and provide updates to program management as needed.
• Direct the development of the dairy training program to ensure field and office staff are competent in each system use. Identify training risks and communicate to program management and the training coordinator. Training may be conducted off site and in person utilizing state agency vehicle for transportation.
• Identify, formulate, and apply program policies and procedures for inspection staff to ensure a highly trained and confident inspection staff.
• Represent the program in industry outreach and education activities.
• Attend required training.

Qualifications

Who should apply?
Professionals with:

Required Qualifications:

• A bachelor's degree involving major study in business, microbiology, food science, food technology, biochemistry, dairy science, or environmental health in a closely allied field.

OR

• Related experience may substitute for education on a year-for-year basis.

AND

• Four (4) years of professional experience in a public health regulatory food manufacturing environment.
• Must have the ability to qualify for and obtain FDA Commissioning as required. FDA Commission qualifications (subject to change, discretion, and further inquiry by FDA):
  • Meets qualifications for FSCS position duties.
  • Citizen of US.
  • No felonies/misdemeanors (excluding minor traffic offenses) or pending trials/investigations for such.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a valid driver's license prior to employment to conduct agency business as required.

In addition to the above qualifications, the following desired knowledge, skills, and abilities would make your application more competitive:

• Two (2) years of equivalent public health regulatory - related experience and/or three (3) years of quality control experience in a food or dairy processing plant.
• Experience in inspecting, educating, and enforcing state and federal regulations in a regulatory food safety program focused on retail food, food processing or dairy processing.

Supplemental Information
Employee Benefits

• A healthy work/life balance, which may include flexible work schedules, and teleworking.
• WSDA provides an excellent benefits package beyond traditional benefits. State employment offers Dependent Care Assistance, Flexible Spending Accounts, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Tuition Waiver, Deferred Compensation, Employee Recognition Leave; click here for more information.
• 12 paid Holidays & Vacation and Leave Accruals.
• All Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) required will be provided by the agency.

How to apply
You must complete your careers.wa.gov profile and answer the supplemental questions. In addition to completing the online application, and supplemental questions applicants must attach the following documents to their profile to be considered for this position:
• A resume detailing experience and education

• A cover letter describing how you meet the specific qualifications for this position

• Three professional references
By submitting these materials, you are indicating that all information is true and correct. The state may verify information. Any untruthful or misleading information is cause for removal from the applicant pool or dismissal if employed.
If you are having technical difficulties creating, accessing, or completing your application, please call NEOGOV toll-free at (855) 524-5627 or email
The initial screening will be solely based on the contents and completeness of your application and the materials submitted. All information may be verified, and documentation may be required. Applications received via e-mail will not be accepted in lieu of applying through the state's on-line recruitment system.

WSDA uses a I-9 formto determine Employment Eligibility and Verification, once hired. This document is the authorization of an individual's ability to be hired for employment within the United States. Applicants must be eligible to work in the United States.