Dairy Process Improvement Specialist

Agropur; Lake Norden (SD); On-site; USD 70,000 - 87,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

401(k) with 7% company contributions

3 weeks Paid Time Off

Paid holidays and 2 floating holidays

Paid parental leave

Advancement Opportunities

Job summary

Agropur in Lake Norden, SD is seeking a Process Specialist to help improve operating efficiencies in cheese and whey production. You will work with management across functions to reduce waste, control process variation, and enhance customer and employee experiences.

The role requires troubleshooting of production equipment, identifying improvement opportunities, and implementing corrective actions using AOS tools and ERP systems such as SAP/MES.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Operations Management or Engineering required.
• Minimum three years of dairy or manufacturing process improvement experience.
• Extensive dairy experience and leadership development preferred.

Responsibilities

• The Process Specialist works as part of a collaborative team to help improve operating efficiencies in the production of high-quality cheese and/or whey ingredients and works with management across all functional areas to eliminate waste, reduce process variation and improve the customer and employee experience.
• Performs advanced troubleshooting on all machines and processes in the assigned plant location.
• Identify problem areas or areas for improvement in production.
• Determine a course of action.
• Help implement improvement and corrective actions in these areas.
• Utilize AOS tools to identify process improvement opportunities, analyze data, implement solutions, and monitor results to drive continuous improvement.
• Work closely with cross-functional teams, including safety, production, quality, and maintenance, to drive improvement initiatives and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
• Obtain and maintain good knowledge of cheese make, cheese conversion, whey and permeate process and procedures as assigned.
• Collaborate with training specialists, operators and leaders to develop and document standard work procedures, ensuring consistency and efficiency in operations.
• Understand and comply with all Quality Assurance policies; immediately reporting any potential food safety issues to management.
• May work with ERP (SAP, MES, AOS) system for product disposition and formulation updates/changes for the plant.
• Engage and lead applicable AOS activities, such as centerline and CIL management, loss tree, and 90-day plan development, etc.

Skills

Process improvement

Dairy manufacturing

Cross-functional teamwork

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Food Science, Operations Management or Engineering

Tools

SAP

MES

AOS

Job description

Agropur in Lake Norden, SD is seeking a Process Specialist to help improve operating efficiencies in cheese and whey production. You will work with management across functions to reduce waste, control process variation, and enhance customer and employee experiences.

The role requires troubleshooting of production equipment, identifying improvement opportunities, and implementing corrective actions using AOS tools and ERP systems such as SAP/MES.