Vat Room Operator- 2nd Shift

Job Title

Michael Foods, Inc. located in Norwalk, Iowa is a southern suburb in the Des Moines, Iowa metropolitan area. We are known for knowing our neighbors and enjoying a great quality of life! Our location produces high quality precooked egg patties as well as various French Toast products.

Responsibilities

Position duties include running of computerized process systems, hooking up silos, performing CIP's of silos and equipment, blending and sanitation tasks in a manner that results in the optimum production of quality products while maintaining a safe, sterile and efficient operation. This position has the responsibility to comply with Safety work rules at all times as well as an obligation to reinforce Safety as a Core Value. Ensures that all policies, procedures and activities, related to Food Safety & Quality, are followed and complied with uniformly, in an effort to reduce product and process variability.

Duties and responsibilities include:

• Ability and willingness to assist in other areas of the business as needed.
• Ability to operate the HTST processing system, CIP system and records all time, temperature, pressure, and flow rates as required by the company. Detects and reports or acts upon any system abnormality to reduce the risk of and damage to the system or product.
• Understanding of how a processing system operates and how sanitation, bacterial control, and sterilization are related to it in the process as well as work area to achieve the high-quality standards set by the company.
• Ability to troubleshoot equipment issues and perform minor maintenance repairs.
• Coordinated with the packaging lead person the status of the system to allow timely hook up and startup of the production line.
• Clean silos, mix room, totes, pumps, UHT press, hooking up all CIP lines necessary.
• Monitor and troubleshoot CIP systems to ensure they are operating properly. Check the chemical concentration to make sure that the concentration is in line to clean all equipment satisfying the company and USDA standards.
• Monitors the chemical usage in the chemical rooms making sure all drums have chemical in them and operating correctly to meet the correct PPM for each chemical cycle set by the company.
• Prepare written reports and maintain assigned logs, records, and other documentation required by the company and USDA.
• Have complete knowledge of mix room and equipment. Blend mixed products using outlined mix procedures.
• Fosters open communications and a good attitude toward work and fellow employees.
• Maintains regular and consistent attendance.
• Assume personal responsibility to ensure a safe and healthy workplace for everyone. Adhere to all safety policies and procedures and incorporate safety and health in all jobs and tasks.
• Adhere to Quality work practices, follow all GMP's, maintain sanitary conditions and ensure that product quality is maintained. Report to management any conditions or practices that may adversely affect food safety and quality.
• Ensure regulatory compliance at all times.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Education and experience required:

• Must have the ability to work in high and confined spaces while following safety procedures.
• Must be able to work overtime and/or weekends when required

Preferred education, experience and skills:

• High school diploma or general education degree (GED) or equivalent.
• Three to six months related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.
• Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.
• Ability to speak effectively before groups, customers/vendors or employees of the organization.
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.
• Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.
• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form.
• Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.
• Ability to prioritize and follow directions with little/no supervision.
• Must have ability to do multi-functional tasks. Must be able to work overtime and/or weekends when required.
• Bi-lingual (Spanish-English) is a plus.