Associate Quality Engineer I

Job title: Associate Quality/Validation Engineer I

Department / Division: Quality Assurance

Salary Range: $62,774 – 77,544 per year, plus Bonus

Location: Ada, MI

What do we need:

We are seeking a driven, ambitious entry-level engineer who is interested in working across the life cycle of consumable products.  We are seeking team members who are interested in equipment qualification, process validation, and cleaning/sanitizing validation for a variety of product formats and equipment type. Our team is looking for someone who can collaborate across multiple functions, problem-solve, and advocate for the resolution of issues early. 

Your ability to work collaboratively and problem solve will be valued in this role as you work broadly with many internal and external partners.  This role will be supporting the tech transfer of many products and production equipment to our Ada, Michigan facility.  You will join a team of 8 Validation Engineers responsible for leading validation studies in support of the tech transfer.   You will use a broad application of validation practices and principles to ensure studies are designed and executed with quality and our end consumer in mind.  You will have the opportunity to manage, lead, and/or participate in complex cross-functional efforts to improve product quality or processes.

Your initial focus will be supporting the influx of new equipment and new products.  This will entail authoring and overseeing equipment qualification, process validation, and cleaning/sanitizing validation studies.  We are looking for a team member who is excited to learn these areas and who will drive appropriate risk taking to ensure studies are efficient and effective.

In this role you will collaboratively or independently provide solutions to a wide range of difficult technical issues.  During or after the transfer completion, you will also have the opportunity to learn and execute a broad range of additional quality functions, including:

• Analyze supplier, operation, and customer data, complaints and defective products to determine trends and recommend corrective / preventative actions
• Interface with suppliers, manufacturing, affiliate QA, product development, and regulatory representatives concerning quality problems; ensure effective corrective action is implemented and develops prevention-based quality improvement programs
• Lead or participate in quality improvement initiatives
• Represent customer to resolve product design and quality issues
  Ensure that products and materials comply with established specifications and technical requirements through application of quality tools and principles

Required qualifications:

• BS degree in Chemical Engineering or related engineering field
• Interest in validation, process engineering, plant engineering, manufacturing, and/or Quality Assurance in the nutrition, CPG, and dietary supplement industry
• Ability to collaborate with manufacturing, product development, global engineering, and operations engineering to effectively and efficiently resolve issues
• Ability to learn and execute validation studies in the following areas:
  • Process/packaging validation
  • Cleaning and sanitizing validation
  • Equipment qualification (IQ/OQ/PQ)
• Internship or Co-Op experience in manufacturing, research, or engineering is desired

Skills to be successful in the role:

• Drive to learn processes and contribute to the team; ability to problem solve and work independently
• Ability to work within a GMP manufacturing environment
• Ability to learn our internal quality standards and hold cross-functional partners accountable to these standards
• Ability to learn and implement Design for Quality
• Experience with data analysis and statistical techniques

This role is not eligible for sponsorship.

What’s special about this team:

The Nutrition Quality Engineering group is a hardworking team of over 25 engineers across two Amway sites (Ada, Michigan and Buena Park, California).  The team works in a fast-paced environment, supporting internal and external manufacturing sites to ensure that quality products are produced and supplied to our customers.  Our team works heavily with cross-functional partners such as engineering, product development, planning, suppliers, and manufacturing to prevent and address product quality issues.  Our team also works with our global QA counterparts in over 10 markets across many countries.