Senior Analytical Chemist

PURIS Proteins•Dawson, MN

3d•$77,000 - $96,000•Onsite

About The Position

At PURIS, we're dedicated to cultivating a better food system and making a positive impact. How do we do it? By transforming high-quality, USA-made ingredients into essential components for a wide range of everyday products. From cereals and snacks to protein beverages and beyond, our ingredients are powering a healthier future. This is more than just a job; it's an opportunity to be part of a growing food industry. You'll work with state-of-the-art engineering and work together with your peers to build a better food future. The Enterprise Senior Analytical Chemist leads and oversees a comprehensive analytical strategy required to produce safe, high quality food products that meet the regulatory requirements and expectations of our customers. The Senior Analytical Chemist role provides direction and motivation to a team of Quality Technicians. The Senior Analytical Chemist is an SQF practitioner and PCQI certified. This individual develops SOPs, programs, specifications, and protocols necessary for analytical operation. They oversee method lifecycle management and ensure harmonization across sites.

Requirements

Degree in Food Science, Chemistry, Microbiology, Quality Engineering or other related field.
5+ years Production, Laboratory, or Food Safety Management experience.
PCQI/HACCP, SQF certified
Team leadership, organization and time management skills
Excellent communication, interpersonal skills and cooperative attitude
Strong analytical, investigative and critical thinking skills
Strong sense of integrity and goal setting
Ability to lead and integrate FSQR into manufacturing activities
Familiarity with commercial food processing
Strong Microsoft Office experience
Capable of working at elevated heights
Lift up to 50#
Adapt to temperature and environmental extremes from hot to cold, noise, dust, dirt and chemicals
Ability to sit or stand for long periods of time working on the computer.
Travel to off-site training and sites for support as needed.

Responsibilities

Owns co-man & Plant B product release and ensures harmonization between co-man, Plant B and enterprise product release practices, included LIMS, and ERP implementation.
Serves as a backup for product release at Dawson.
Ensure the accuracy and timeliness of Food Safety and Quality reporting, product test results, product release information, and PCQI daily batch record review. Ensure product sampling is completed and lot retains are maintained.
New product and commercialization scale up.
Develops and implements leadership strategies. Can lead and develop high-performing teams. Regulatory reviews and updates leadership approaches to stay competitive. Frequently seeks feedback to improve leadership skills.
Coach and validate Analytical and Grains Lab Technicians on job tasks to ensure capability on all testing protocols. Validate Lab Technician Capability minimum every 6 months at Harrold and Dawson.
Recommend predictive Food Safety KPIs that will allow Puris to proactively meet our food safety ambitions.
The Senior Analytical Chemist is a Member of the Dawson Quality Leadership Team working collaboratively to set direction and positively build the culture of the plant. Serves as a backup for the QA Manager and QA Team Lead. Provide required support during regulatory, certification and customer site audits.
Build, lead, and develop a team of food safety and quality professionals, promoting a culture of excellence and continuous learning.
Recommend the most proficient equipment to optimize ingredient analysis.
Support Plant Operations on Problem solving requirements
Provide analytical expertise for Customer and Regulatory inquiries.
Manage cost to minimize analytical cost of overall product production.
Manage consumables and material required in the analytical lab to meet budget and ensure no downtime.
Calibration and preventative maintenance of all laboratory equipment including NIR Analyzers for ingredient and grain composition.
Lead and manage routine analytical testing at the Dawson site, including use of combustion protein equipment, pH meters, rapid moisture analyzers, particle size analyzer and allergen testing and reporting.
Coordinate 3rd party laboratory testing, support and qualification.
Represent PURIS as a testing SME on industry panels for example ISO TAG member, AOAC, etc.
Lead and collaborate on site and product validation/verification efforts, including but not CIP, ATP, Allergen, etc.
Evaluate products and assign appropriate disposition, review PCQI, Augmentir, product data, and create COAs to ensure a timely product release process that meets specified KPIs for product release.
Use analytical expertise to identify, assess, and mitigate food safety and quality risks throughout the supply chain.
Actively participate in Management of Change process regarding analytical and SOP processes and ability to execute.
Serves as a key member of the Risk Assessment Team to recognize risks and appropriately categorize and communicate about them.
Uses data to create thought leadership positions for PURIS that elevate PURIS from features and benefits discussions to true industry paradigm shifting conversations.
Recommend predictive Food Safety KPIs that will allow Puris to proactively meet our food safety ambitions.
Assess product specifications for raw materials and finished goods and ensure compliance to relevant requirements.
Track and investigate product complaints within defined timeframes. Provide investigative report and response as needed.
Represent PURIS in customer/product interactions, application support and follow-ups.