Chemistry Technician II

State of North Carolina•Wake County, NC

5d•Onsite

About The Position

The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services provides services that promote and improve agriculture, agribusiness, and forests; protect consumers and businesses; and conserve farmland and natural resources for the prosperity of all North Carolinians. The Department employs approximately 2,000 employees. The Food & Drug Protection Division (FDPD) has five functioning sections, including the Food Section, the Dairy Section, the Feed Section, the Drug Section, and the Administrative Services Section. In addition, analytical support is provided to the Food & Feed Sections by the Food & Drug Protection Division’s three laboratory sections, i.e., the Inorganic Chemistry Section, Organic Chemistry Section, and Microbiology Section. The Division protects the health, welfare, and economic interests of consumers of foods, drugs, livestock feeds, fertilizers, and medical devices by ensuring, through inspections and analysis, that these products are wholesome and properly labeled. The FDPD Inorganic Chemistry Section provides compositional analyses of food, animal feed, and fertilizer samples. Specifically, this section quantifies nutrients, minerals, and heavy metals in samples using a variety of instrumentation and analytical chemistry techniques. The Inorganic Chemistry Section is comprised of 5 laboratories: the Microanalytical Laboratory; the Core Analytical Laboratory; the Ion Chromatography Laboratory; the Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry Laboratory; and the Wet Chemistry Laboratory. This position is specifically located in the Core Analytical Laboratory, which is responsible for the determination of minerals in fertilizer, feed, and forage using microwave assisted acid digestion, hot block acid digestion, atomic absorption spectrometry (AA), continuous flow analysis, and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). This laboratory analyzes feed, forage, and fertilizer samples as a service to the farmers of North Carolina and to support regulatory actions by the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Plant Industry Division and the FDPD Feed Section.

Requirements

Experience performing sample digestions and / or chemistry testing
Ability to prepare analytical standard solutions and reagents while applying knowledge of inorganic chemistry methodology and laboratory safety practices
Ability to understand and follow complex oral and written instructions
Ability to lift up to 50 pounds
Ability to work with matrices such as grass, hay, and nut
Bachelor's degree in one of the chemical, biological, microbiological, environmental or natural resource sciences including related chemistry laboratory coursework from an appropriately accredited institution; or Associate's degree in one of the chemical, biological, microbiological, environmental or natural resource sciences or a closely related curriculum including related chemistry laboratory coursework from an appropriately accredited institution and two years of directly related chemistry laboratory experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Nice To Haves

Employment is contingent upon the ability to pass a respirator medical and fit test.

Responsibilities

Performing basic elemental analysis of feed, fertilizer, and forage samples
Performing laboratory support activities such as preparing samples for analysis, preparing reagents and washing labware
Documenting all activities per ISO 17025 requirements and FDPD quality management system procedures.
Understanding, performing, and evaluating a wide-range of standard wet chemistry and instrument-based methods and procedures, including Kjeldahl titration, continuous flow analysis, gravimetric analyses, and elemental analysis by combustion.
Completing analyses within established turnaround times.
Verifying and maintaining instrumentation and ensuring adequate laboratory supplies are available.