Operations Technician - Filler

fairlife LLC; New York, Mount Joy Township (NY, PA); On-site; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player in the nutrition sector is seeking an Operations Technician to support and optimize manufacturing operations. This full-time role involves maintaining equipment, ensuring product quality, and adhering to safety standards. You'll play a crucial role in troubleshooting technical issues and contributing to continuous improvement initiatives. The position offers a dynamic work environment with opportunities for professional growth, making it a perfect fit for those passionate about operational excellence and team collaboration.

Qualifications

• Experience with high-speed production lines in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong mechanical aptitude with troubleshooting and maintenance experience.

Responsibilities

• Diagnose and resolve equipment issues promptly to ensure smooth production.
• Support cleaning and maintaining equipment to ensure audit readiness.

Skills

Mechanical Aptitude

Troubleshooting

Communication Skills

Problem-Solving

Basic Computational Skills

Education

High School Diploma or GED

Bachelor's Degree (Preferred)

Tools

SOPs

Preventive Maintenance Tools

Job description

fairlife, LLC is a Chicago-based nutrition company that creates great-tasting, nutrition-rich and dairy products to nourish consumers.

With nearly $3B in annual retail sales, fairlife's portfolio of delicious, lactose-free, real dairy products includes: fairlife ultra-filtered milk; Core Power High Protein Shakes, a sports nutrition drink to support post-workout recovery; fairlife nutrition plan, a nutrition shake to support the journey to better health.

A wholly owned subsidiary of The Coca-Cola company, fairlife, LLC has been recognized by both Fast Company and Nielsen for its industry leading innovation.

To learn more about fairlife and its complete line of products, please visit fairlife.com.

The construction of fairlife's manufacturing facility in Webster, NY is underway. This state-of-the-art, 750k sq ft, greenfield plant is expected to be operational in late 2025 and will lay the foundation for fairlife's next phase of growth as the leading dairy nutrition provider. While coupling the industry's latest technologies and fairlife's operational excellence to build this world-class facility, fairlife plans to hire 250 new employees and bring in approximately 5 million lbs. of milk a day, with room to grow over the coming years.

*Our target start date for this position is March 2025; however, we are flexible with start dates on a case-by-case basis*

job purpose:

To support and optimize manufacturing operations by maintaining equipment, ensuring product quality, and adhering to safety and compliance standards. The Operations Technician plays a critical role in executing production processes, troubleshooting technical issues, and contributing to continuous improvement initiatives to achieve efficiency, reliability, and organizational goals.

This is a full-time Mon-Fri days position with responsibilities that include receiving troubleshooting calls on off hours and occasional off-shift work to facilitate training.

responsibilities:

• Diagnose and resolve equipment issues promptly, performing minor repairs using appropriate tools. Reset machines, clear jams, and escalate malfunctions to supervisors to expedite complex repairs.


• Monitor, using visual observation of gauges and listening to mechanical sounds to ensure the equipment works properly; work quickly and efficiently to ensure production flows smoothly.


• Develop and maintain SOPs and training materials to standardize processes across shifts and improve operational consistency.


• Support cleaning the packaging equipment and surrounding areas to maintain an audit-ready condition during production


• Create metrics and measures to support the optimization of the equipment and process


• Conduct first-level preventive maintenance (PM) activities, ensuring machinery operates at peak efficiency. Review and optimize PM schedules and Master Sanitation Schedules (MSS) to drive productivity.


• Review and align on approval of Preventive Maintenance (PM) and Master Sanitation Schedule MSS for effectiveness and drive productivity.


• Collaborate in in Root-Cause-Analysis (RCA), Continuous Improvement (CI) and metric development


• Participate in production trials, prepare for inspections and audits ensuring all necessary paperwork is complete for internal and regulatory agencies


• Provide technical support, leadership, and mentorship to team members, including applying complex troubleshooting techniques utilizing all resources available, including HMI, P&IDs, etc.


• Provide and enable a safe environment by following all safety procedures: including the use of safety equipment to produce a quality product that meets all quality specifications


• Follow all safety, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), and workplace rules


• Work as the technical liaison between the plant, engineering and suppliers as needed

skills/qualifications required:

• 18 years or older


• High School diploma or General Education Degree (GED) is required Bachelor's degree preferred


• Basic computational skills required. Simple math and reasoning required


• Experience with high-speed production lines (fast-paced production environment)


• Strong mechanical aptitude with experience in equipment troubleshooting and maintenance.


• Familiarity with SOPs, preventive maintenance, and sanitation standards.


• Excellent communication and problem-solving skills.


• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced production environment.


• Commitment to safety, quality, and continuous improvement.

working conditions and physical requirements:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• Sitting/Standing/Walking/Lifting/Carrying:The technician stands throughout their shift and walks on uneven concrete and tile surfaces. Lifting up to 60 pounds on a frequent basis and 80 pounds on anoccasional basis. Two or more employees' complete lifts of greater than 80 pounds.


• Pushing/Pulling/Bending/Stooping: The technician pushes/pulls rolls of materials on the equipment and stacks collapsed boxes on a pallet or recycle container. The packaging technician pushes/pulls while using brooms, dust mops and brushes during clean-up duties. The packaging technician bends and stoops occasionally throughout the workday for varying lengths of time.


• Squatting/Kneeling/Crawling/Twisting/Turning:The technician may squat to pick up product from the floor, or during various clean-up duties. Occasional slight twisting and turning at the waist when loading material, or when performing responsibilities.


• Climbing/Balancing/Reaching:Thetechnician steps on and off the platforms and steps. The packaging technician reaches below and/or above shoulder level when removing or adding boxes to a pallet, loading materials or dumping and climbs on ladders to access equipment.


• Grasping/Manipulation:Frequent use of the hands and fingers is required.

food safety requirements:

• Notify supervision of any repairs or adjustments that are required that may affect product quality or food safety.


• Understand, observe, and comply with the handling and usage of the color-coded container policy while in the Production Areas.


• Perform all duties necessary to meet Company, Customer and/or Government requirements/standards as prioritized by the Company.


• Ability to initiate action to prevent the occurrence of nonconformities relating to Food Safety and the Quality of the product, processes, quality system, or safety system.


• Identify and record any problems relating to Food Safety and the Quality of the ingredients, processes, quality system, or safety system.


• Control further processing or delivery of nonconforming product in terms of Food Safety and Quality issues until the deficiency or unsatisfactory condition has been corrected.


• In the event of absence, another employee with the same skill level will assume the duties and responsibilities as required.

position location: Webster, NY

reports to: Sr Packaging Manager

travel requirements:

exempt/nonexempt: nonexempt

base pay range: $35/hr

*Base pay offered may vary depending on geography, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. A full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the position, is offered.

fairlife, LLC is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis ofrace, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. All qualified applicants and employees will be given equal opportunity. Selection decisions are based on job-related factors.

In addition to its nondiscrimination commitment, the Company will also provide reasonable accommodation of qualified individuals with known disabilities unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the Company. If you have a disability and would like to request accommodation in order to apply for a position with us, please [e-mail].