Laboratory Technician Lead - Nights

fairlife, LLC is a Chicago-based nutrition company that creates great-tasting, nutrition-rich and dairy products to nourish consumers.

With nearly $3B in annual retail sales, fairlife’s portfolio of delicious, lactose-free, real dairy products includes: fairlife® ultra-filtered milk; Core Power® High Protein Shakes, a sports nutrition drink to support post-workout recovery; fairlife® nutrition plan™, a nutrition shake to support the journey to better health.

A wholly owned subsidiary of The Coca-Cola company, fairlife, LLC has been recognized by both Fast Company and Nielsen for its industry leading innovation.

To learn more about fairlife and its complete line of products, please visit fairlife.com.

Shift: Rotating shift schedule - 3,2,2 (work 3 days, off 2 days, work 2 days, then it rotates)

Schedule: is a 12 hour shift from 6pm to 6am

job purpose:

The Quality Team Lead will provide key support for the Quality Assurance Department. The lead technician must demonstrate knowledge and proficiency in the screening of raw milk and in the testing of raw, in-process, and finished products. Conduct plant inspections to monitor sanitation and ensure compliance with cGMP practices. Conduct sanitation and cleaning effectiveness inspections including environmental monitoring and testing. The Team Lead will assist in coordinating, administrating, and providing daily collaboration between departments. Generate daily shift reports and assist with data entry, collection, and KPI reporting as needed. The lead technician will assist in establishing and implementing testing protocols, provide training, and conduct lab equipment maintenance and calibration as required. Assist in receiving lab supplies and monitor inventory of consumables. Conduct training of new employees and technicians as required.

 

responsibilities:

• Oversee and lead the activities of the laboratory technicians, including daily tasks and additional projects (such as: trial run protocols, sample retesting and requests, etc.). Ensure completion of master sanitation schedule (MSS) tasks and tablet upload.
• Monitor technician/team and task efficiencies and assist QA management team in improving task efficiencies.
• Ability to operate correctly and properly lab testing instrumentation including moisture, protein, and fat instrumentation, microscope, aseptic microbiological plating technique, Foss analytical equipment, pH meter, and other laboratory instrumentation as needed.
• Assist with performing daily quality line audits, evaluations and testing on plant floor as needed.
• Assist with conducting investigations per the direction of the QA supervisor or QA manager.
• Fill out required laboratory data worksheets and logs in an accurate manner. Assist the lab analyst with ensuring data entry spreadsheets are utilized and filled our properly.
• Enforces the quality program to reduce or eliminate off spec product and financial losses; enforces the quality systems and programs of the company.
• Must keep area stocked with sufficient supplies to perform job responsibilities. Assist the QA supervisor in maintaining adequate levels of supplies and performing inventory when necessary.
• Maintain all results and reports in a confidential manner in accordance with the Company Letter of Confidentiality.
• Computer skills including MS Office, Word, and Excel.
• Communication of results to the proper individuals in a timely, confidential, and professional manner.
• Recognize and notify Quality Assurance Manager and appropriate operations supervisors of any unusual results or product defects. Perform the necessary re-checks for analytical and microbiological test.             
• Report immediately to supervisor or manager of any damage, irregular activity, or unsafe conditions concerning the plant equipment or lab instrumentation.
• Follow all safety, work, and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and GLP’s rules.
• Perform other duties as assigned by management.

 

skills/qualifications required:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Dairy, Food Science, Management or related discipline is required. A minimum of 2-3 years laboratory experience is preferred.
• College level verbal and written communication skills.
• Advanced computational skills required. Advanced math reasoning required.
• Must be able to operate laboratory instrumentation effectively.
• Ability to work different shifts, including off-shifts.
• Ability to read, write, and understand English is required as the spoken language. Other languages are a definite asset.

 

working conditi