QA Lab Technician $19.30 12 hr shifts rotating/flexible shifts

Overview

At Eagle Foods we are builders.  We are builders of brands, categories, and people.  Eagle Foods enjoys a rich heritage with brands that have proven category leadership for more than 150 years.  Eagle is a diversified food company producing and marketing sweetened condensed and evaporated milk, snacks and convenient meal solutions products.  As a company, Eagle Foods is passionate about fostering an entrepreneurial spirit that boldly builds better people and better brands while focusing on the positive impact our company, our products and our people have on the world.  Eagle Foods has a bold family of brands that consumers have come to rely on for decades, including Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk and Evaporated Milk, Magnolia® Sweetened Condensed Milk, PET® Milk, Popcorn Indiana, Cretors Popcorn, Helper and Suddenly Salad.  Eagle Foods products are marketed and distributed across all U.S. retail channels, including grocery stores, club stores and mass-merchandisers, as well as foodservice and export, U.S. military, and private label business.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

· Level I technicians are responsible for completing all tasks outlined in the entry level position with expert proficiency and keen detail to the tasks. They are expected to demonstrate knowledge of the plant using both core/noncore skills along with common knowledge to trouble shoot and resolve issues that arise during production/facility in a safe manner.

· Safety: Level I technician performs all tasks in a manner which is safe. They are aware of the plants GMP and PPE policies and understand their importance in the plants production. They work closely with all departments to educate and enforce the policies and participate in the daily Behavior Observation Survey (BOS) discussions during transition meetings. They are knowledgeable of all the lab safety policies and able to locate and train others on safe practices necessary for lab and the chemicals used for daily testing.

· Core Skills: Level I technicians are proficient in the everyday testing associated with analytical aspect of lab as well as those tasks dedicated to the production floor. They are responsible for completing test associated with quality control points as well as critical control points defined in the HACCP & Quality Plan. Daily test completed by the technicians includes:  pH testing, total acidity, verification of lactose addition, and brix testing. Level I technicians must be able to aid process in verifying results if requested. They have also achieved Charm certification at the IA level and are able to test incoming milk for antibiotics. LIT are able to run samples from the silos as well as monthly samples shipped from MA and DQCI on the FT120. They are responsible for reporting results back to level II technicians and/or the QA lead. Level I techs are able to operate and understand the basic knowledge of lab equipment. They are responsible for completing oxygen head space test prior to start up by using the O2 head space analyzer. They are also responsible for water activity testing using the aW meter on all finished product samples 24 hours after packaging. LIT understand limits and the importance of each and report any out of spec results to QA leader. Technicians also take part in the plants sanitation program through inspecting packaging filler room and cryovac prior to start up and using the Novalum to verify proper CIP and sanitation of equipment, and release for use as appropriate. Technicians understand the requirements for packaging evaporated milk including completion and evaluation of pilot test, and evaluate the product post retort for critical factors such as temperature, appearance, pH, weight and vacuum. Hourly line inspection which evaluate packaged product for packaging, label, case and code quality. If ever product does not meet any specifications the product must be placed on hold. LIT will work with packaging and warehouse to ensure that the necessary product is accounted for, create hold place cards, see that the hold is completed accordingly in warehouse and in the hold data base.

· Non Core Skills: Level I technicians are familiar with the different products and the labels that are produced for our customers. They are able to accurately create certificates of analysis (COA) and prepare and evaluate pre-shipment samples. They understand the standard for the products and are able to identify any issues as well as trouble shoot possible explanations. They are able to present product cuttings and understand the significant of monitoring the product through shelf life, complete retain evaluation of the product, and understand and follow the product sampling procedures. Level I technicians are also responsible for participating in monthly critical and quarterly non critical glass and hard plastic inspections for their c