Position Overview:

The Lead Butcher, Training & Development strengthens shop-floor capability by delivering hands-on butchery training, coaching production staff, and standardizing cutting practices. This role combines expert pork fabrication skills with strong technical knowledge of pork carcass anatomy, fabrication techniques, and customer expectations to support product quality, yield, consistency, and practical, repeatable training on the floor.

Working closely with operations, QA, sales, and leadership, the Lead Butcher, Training & Development helps build team skill, confidence, and consistency while supporting clear product standards and continuous improvement.

- Training product specifications
- Troubleshooting quality and yield issues
- Elevating butchery standards through hands-on training

Key Responsibilities

Training & Capability Building

- Deliver hands-on training in:
- Knife skills and safety
- Fabrication techniques
- Yield optimization

- Support onboarding and upskilling of butchers and production staff
- Create practical training materials, job aids, and reference guides to support consistent instruction on the floor
- Act as a subject matter expert and mentor across the floor

Quality Assurance & Continuous Improvement





- Investigate and respond to product quality concerns and customer complaints
- Identify root causes (cutting technique, yield loss, trim standards, etc.) and implement solutions
- Partner with QA to ensure alignment with food safety, traceability, and regulatory standards
- Support development and documentation of standard operating procedures (SOPs)

Specifications & Standardization

- Support the creation and continuously improve product specification documents
- Create visual guides, explicit cutting standards, and establish tolerances
- Ensure consistency across teams

Qualifications & Experience

- Extensive hands-on experience in butchery (typically 8-10+ years or equivalent expertise)
- Deep knowledge of pork carcass anatomy and fabrication
- Strong understanding of food safety standards (e.g., HACCP, CFIA requirements)
- Experience training or mentoring others in a production environment
- Formal certification

Core Competencies

- Problem-solving and root cause analysis
- Communication and teaching ability
- Collaboration across operations and QA

Salary: $75,000 to $90,000

We do not use AI in any stages of the recruitment and selection process.

This posting is for a new position.

📌 Lead Butcher – Training & Development (Canada)
🏢 Northern Farms
📍 Canada