R&D Lab Technician

At Zentis - We are Fruit Masters!

Zentis is Europe's number one fruit processing company and one of the leading brand manufacturers of jams, sweets, and custard-based desserts. The Company's North America operations are located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Plymouth, Indiana, where we produce fruit and dairy preparations for a variety of customers including yogurt, ice cream and bakery manufacturers. We are currently looking to recruit a Lab Technician for our Philadelphia location.

R&D laboratory technicians are responsible for cooking lab samples under the guidance of scientists. They are also responsible for executing portions of sample workflows to ensure complete data capture and effective project organization. The samples shall be representative of production based on plant location. The Technician also assists Product Development scientists as needed with supporting experiments and scale-up activities. Maintaining the lab space as a clean, organized space is essential. Technicians are also responsible for organizing and keeping up with paperwork as it pertains to lab and trial cookings.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Cooks lab samples in the daily sample queue following laboratory standard operating procedures. Conducts and documents rudimentary product analyses (brix, pH, viscosity) for all cookings both at time of cooking and after 24 hours. This may include preparing sample in application (such as mixed with yogurt). Responsible for shipping samples to customers and maintaining accessible retain samples for all samples shipping externally.
• Communicates with other team members on daily project work. Collaborates with scientists and managers to prioritize deliverables effectively and troubleshoot technical issues that arise during cookings.
• Maintains a clean, organized and professional laboratory setting. Calibrates and maintains analytical equipment on a daily basis. Assists with maintenance of laboratory stock of key materials and ingredients for R&D operations.
• Supports product scale up into production by ensuring proper documentation of benchtop cooking data. Assists scientists with scale-up activities as needed, including collecting data from plant trials. Becomes familiar with manufacturing technology in production.

Formal Education Required:

• Minimum requirement is a high school diploma or GED. Associate degree in culinary science is a plus.

Specific Experience and Key Knowledge Requirements:

• 1 -2 years experience in a restaurant, retail food preparation, food laboratory or commercial kitchen, or food manufacturing plant is highly desired.

Special Skills and Abilities Required:

• Must have basic computer knowledge including Office365 applications such as Word and Excel. Must be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment and have strong communication skills. Must be able to stand for most of shift.

EOE/M/F/H/V