Industrial Microbiologist

Location

Brookings, SD | United States

Job description

Prairie AquaTech is a technology company based in Brookings, South Dakota that is improving animal health and nutrition by providing high quality feed ingredients and the solutions they enable. Using patented technologies licensed on a worldwide, exclusive basis from South Dakota State University and developed internally, the Company is upgrading plant-based commodities, such as soybean meal and distillers' grain, to sustainable, high-quality ingredients and their applications for use in aquaculture and other specialty animal feeds. Our company is currently experiencing rapid growth and we are seeking an experienced Industrial Microbiologist.

JOB DUTIES

As the Industrial Microbiologist, you will be responsible for the development and implementation of the site's seed train and fermentation control program in compliance with company and federal regulations. In this role you will be keeping microbiological systems operating, meeting performance goals, and maintaining the high level of quality that consumers expect from our products. This position will report to the Vice President of Technology.

Management and Leadership

• Include culture as part of everyday activities.
  • Company Core Values: safety, quality, respect, transparency, and innovation.
  • Mission: to provide better ingredients for better feed and food.
• Develop, maintain, and provide training to new team members on operational control methods, plant hygiene, sampling, analytical methods and procedures.
• Oversee teams Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) in a timely manner and motivate team in continuous improvement processes.
• Intentional application of change management principles to support a safe, productive, and fulfilled workforce.
• Provide proper communication paths through systems and processes to provide actionable information to operations.
• Maintain and continuously improve the sampling and testing program to support operations and product quality.
• Continuously improve, develop, monitor, expand, and implement controlled environment operations (including clean room and axenic operations). Development of related SOP's, checklists, and training materials.

Testing

• Oversee testing associated with fermentation (seed train, production, clean room operations) and associated upstream and downstream process sampling and testing. Review, report, and approve test results.
• Support and continuously improve specifications, expand sampling and testing plan and implement to ensure quality control through a defined change control process.
• Execute investigations on out of specification test results for rate, titer, yield, quality, and sterilization processes including upstream and downstream processing.
• Provides technical review and disposition, as required, of raw materials, in-process and finished goods regarding microbiology related issues.
• Working collaboratively with other departments to execute projects, generate protocols and investigations for the improvement and support of the manufacturing areas.
• Identify mechanisms to convert any identified reactionary activities to predictive procedures in the sampling and testing programs.
• Evaluate upstream/downstream processes, SOP's, operational data, lab data, etc. in an integrated fashion to allow for effective troubleshooting of plant operations.

Validation and Calibration

• Support development and validation of the microbiological and analytical assays for seed train and fermentation including:
  • HPLC/HPIC for ingredients, primary and secondary metabolites.
  • PCR for expression-based assays of fermentation systems.
  • Activity based assays for key fermentation outputs.
• Manages the required laboratory instruments and equipment validation and/or calibration and coordinates with calibration personnel to ensure valid and reliable results from the sampling and testing program.
• Executes microbiological related validations for the new product transfer and for changes to the manufacturing process.

Documentation

• Maintain and file all laboratory test data and reports according to defined system/process requirements and coordinate their delivery to documentation area for final record retention.
• Evaluates and maintains trend charts of fermentation and other related data within the defined systems/processes.
• Maintains traceability in production.
• Conducts investigations and generates reports for out of specifications.
• Prepare quality reports as required.
• Any required management documentation for direct reports.
• Support the corrective action process as required.

Other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM 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.

• Must have at least 5-10 years of experience with Industrial Microbiology.
• Strong leadership and communication skills.
• Strong knowledge and understanding of Good Manufacturing and Laboratory Practice.
• B achelor's degree in Biology, Microbiology, Chemistry, Engineering, or other degree with relevant quality and/or manufacturing experience.
• Previous experience working in industrial fermentation manufacturing of feed or food products.
• An understanding of how quality is integrated into the initiative process, supply chains, and manufacturing operations.
• Technical acumen including assay development, PCR, and sanitation / containment is a plus.

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