Principal Scientist, Technical Services

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Have a seat at our table. When you join Smithfield, you become part of something special – a company that's sustainably feeding people around the world, producing good food the right way with respect for our people, animals, communities and planet. With opportunities across locations and functions, a culture grounded in our Core Four values - gratitude, communication, respect and accountability - and a strong commitment to learning, collaboration, and innovation, Smithfield offers challenging and rewarding careers where you can grow, contribute and make a real impact. Apply Now!

Your Opportunity

Are you an ambitious, enthusiastic leader with a desire to drive to the green in achieving goals and producing good food, responsibly for families across America? If so, then join one of the country’s top consumer packaged goods companies, Smithfield Foods!  This leadership role in technical services will focus on product and process improvements to deliver improvements across our manufacturing platforms.  Responsibilities include providing technical support to our business partners, direct interaction with customer, leveraging vendors, and mentorship.

Responsibilities

Product and Process Improvements

• Primary focus will be within the plants to achieve operational excellence and continuous improvements

• Travel up to 80% of the time to meet with business partners

• Work with cross functional groups to identify operational needs pertaining to operational excellence: safety, cost, quality, customer service, production efficiencies, etc.

• Develop and execute research plans by conducting production scale tests at manufacturing plants to achieve specific goals and objectives

Prevent Process Deviations and Quality Failures

• Proactively work to prevent process or product failures

• Work within our operational framework of On the Job Trainers (OJT) to establish job aids and training documents

• Develop plans within our operational framework of MIQ to establish process controls

Project Progress Updates and Feedback

• You will also be responsible for designing and conducting experiments, analyzing data, writing protocols and summaries, and presenting your findings and recommendations to executive leadership

• Regularly present progress updates to members of Technical Services, Operations, Sales, Marketing, and Quality Assurance

• Communicate with external parties such as customers, vendors, and third parties

Leadership and Mentorship

• Drive organizational capability by developing, nurturing, leading and mentoring junior team members.

• Help identifying emerging leaders, driving investments in new talent, and ensuring high levels of employee engagement across the group

• Stay up-to-date on the latest advances in food science and technology

• Provide leadership and mentorship to individuals within organization

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. May perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals to perform the essential functions.

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university in Food Science, Meat Science, or related field and 12+ years of experience in the food industry; preference towards meat; or equivalent combination of education and experience, required.

• 5+ years’ experience in a position of leadership to include working in teams and mentorship

• Solid understanding of end-to-end processes of meat packing to solve complex problems and develop innovative solutions

• Excellent writing, interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal)

• Demonstrate organizational, time manag