Extruder Operator Nights

Mars•Temple, TX

About The Position

The Extruder Operator works as part of a shift team and owns the operation of extruding, drying, and coating equipment and processes. The role involves safely setting up and operating equipment to meet or exceed daily production requirements while maintaining Mars safety and quality standards and contributing to a culture of excellence. Routine tasks include start-up and shutdown, monitoring, cleaning, basic changeovers, minor repairs, routine checks, reporting, inspections, and use of ancillary equipment and computer programs. The operator monitors production and equipment performance, performs food safety and quality checks, follows hygiene and manufacturing practices, and communicates disruptions, downtime, quality issues, and material deficiencies. The position follows a 2-2-3 schedule from 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 a.m.

Requirements

Fluent English.
High school diploma or equivalent.
Medium-level math, communication, computer, and problem-solving skills.

Nice To Haves

Spanish language skills.
Associate degree or higher in an engineering- or manufacturing-related discipline.
Two or more years of experience in a food-related manufacturing environment with automated processes, including HMI.
Experience in a lean manufacturing environment or equivalent.
Strong math, communication, computer, and problem-solving skills.
Experience in a TPM environment.

Responsibilities

Safely operate and set up extruding, drying, and coating equipment to meet or exceed daily production requirements.
Follow Lockout/Tagout requirements and all applicable safety procedures.
Operate and control extruders to meet food safety temperature and gelatinization requirements.
Complete required food safety and quality checks and act or report when results do not meet specifications, including temperature, kibble size, moisture, density, color, texture, and foreign-material standards.
Monitor equipment running efficiency, downtime, throughput, and food safety requirements.
Read and execute the daily production run schedule.
Communicate disruptions to the production plan, quality failures or issues, equipment downtime, and material deficiencies.
Maintain functional knowledge of all equipment in the processing area and run the extruder in accordance with global standards and monitoring regimes.
Follow good hygiene and manufacturing practices while being accountable for the performance of assigned machines, processes, and equipment.
Report downtime promptly to a Supervisor, Maintenance, or Quality Assurance when the operator cannot correct it.
Coordinate with leads and operators to complete timely changeovers, optimize production lines, perform quality checks, meet schedules, and reduce or manage waste.
Escalate issues as appropriate and provide complete, accurate verbal and written handovers.