Quality Assurance Technician

CONA Services • Bedford, OH

25d • Onsite

About The Position

The QA Laboratory Technician conducts qualitative and quantitative testing of beverages, syrups, water, packaging, and raw materials throughout the production process. The role supports product quality, food safety, regulatory compliance, water-treatment operations, microbiological testing, environmental monitoring, and accurate quality documentation. The position is based in Cleveland, Ohio, with a Monday-through-Friday schedule starting at 5:30 AM.

Requirements

• High school diploma or GED.
• One to three years of general work experience.
• Ability to perform basic laboratory, water-quality, and microbiological testing, accurately record results, and follow written procedures.
• Ability to read and understand Safety Data Sheets and safely handle laboratory chemicals and production materials.
• Ability to operate or learn manufacturing, laboratory, water-treatment, and quality-inspection equipment.
• Strong attention to detail, organization, problem-solving, data-entry, and communication skills.
• Comfort working in a fast-paced, high-speed manufacturing environment.
• Ability to stand, walk, bend, and occasionally lift materials as required.
• Applicants must complete a pre-employment background verification process; the check may include drug screening and driving records.

Nice To Haves

• Associate’s or bachelor’s degree in food science, chemistry, biology, microbiology, physical science, environmental science, or a related field.
• Experience in quality assurance, laboratory work, microbiology, environmental monitoring, water treatment, food-and-beverage manufacturing, or industrial production.
• Experience conducting environmental monitoring, collecting swabs, or handling microbiological samples.
• Experience using SAP or a comparable enterprise resource planning system.
• Working knowledge of GMPs, sanitation practices, food safety, microbiological controls, water-treatment principles, and quality-control processes.

Responsibilities

• Perform and document laboratory analyses of syrup, beverage, and water attributes according to approved procedures.
• Monitor and maintain the water treatment system so water quality meets production, food-safety, and regulatory requirements.
• Conduct routine water-treatment testing and operational checks, document results, and promptly report deviations.
• Perform microbiological testing of finished products, raw materials, water, environmental samples, and other applicable samples.
• Collect, prepare, incubate, evaluate, and document microbiological samples and test results.
• Conduct Environmental Monitoring Program activities, including collecting swabs from designated production, equipment, and facility areas.
• Maintain EMP records, trend environmental-monitoring results, and communicate positive findings, adverse trends, and other concerns to QA leadership.
• Support investigations and corrective actions related to microbiological results, environmental-monitoring findings, and other quality deviations.
• Inspect and audit container rinsers, air blowers, filters, coding equipment, and other production-line systems to verify proper operation.
• Conduct package-quality inspections and routine quality audits throughout production.
• Identify, document, and isolate nonconforming product according to site quality procedures.
• Receive, sample, inspect, and test CO₂, HFCS, nitrogen, and other incoming raw materials before production use.
• Complete SAP transactions accurately and on time, including raw-material receipts, quality holds, inspection results, inventory adjustments, product releases, and other assigned transactions.
• Maintain accurate laboratory records, inspection results, water-treatment logs, microbiological-test results, EMP documentation, SAP transactions, and corrective-action records.
• Follow GMPs, food-safety procedures, safety requirements, and quality-system standards.
• Maintain a clean, organized laboratory and production environment to help prevent microbial contamination.
• Promptly communicate quality concerns, water-treatment deviations, microbiological findings, environmental-monitoring results, equipment issues, and out-of-specification results to QA leadership and production personnel.
• Support continuous-improvement initiatives related to product quality, food safety, environmental monitoring, water use, and process performance.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: High school or GED