Facilities Technician, Pilot Plant

About us

At the forefront of farming and food, Memphis Meats is innovating new ways to produce real meat, without the need to breed, feed and slaughter animals. Our process begins with an animal cell, which is cultivated and harvested as meat. Memphis Meats is a mission-driven company focused on bringing to meat lovers an authentic product that is truly humane, sustainably produced, nutritious and delicious! We are now expanding our team of dedicated professionals across disciplines to make better meat for a better world.

About this job

The Pilot Plant Facilities Technician is the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for all building infrastructure, utilities, and process equipment used to produce cell-based meat in the world’s first end-to-end production facility for this impactful product.  Utilities and production systems include technology from both bioprocess and food manufacturing systems and will be operated in a regulated environment for food production.  The Facilities Technician will ensure through performance, that the equipment and systems are started up and commissioned under the direction and guidance of the Facilities Manager, and then properly reviewed, maintained, and enhanced to support production and continuous process improvements.  You should bring hands on expertise with the relevant systems as well as experience interfacing with third party vendors to ensure the facility has maximum uptime and is ready to operate in a compliant manner.  

About you

You should have a broad hands-on experience with maintenance and operation of utilities and process equipment in either bioprocess or food manufacturing facilities.  Experience with startup and commissioning of new systems and new facilities is essential, and with entire new facilities is highly desirable.  You should be familiar with common software tools for managing equipment PM and calibration schedules.  A strong sense of ownership and proactive and transparent approach to system optimization; operational principles electrical acumen; mechanical aptitude; Instrumentation and Controls experience; desired PLC operation, troubleshooting, and code troubleshooting experience; troubleshooting fundamentals; and  maintenance principles and application are highly desirable for success.  

Duties include

• Directly perform the hands-on operation of building systems including mechanical, electrical, fire/life safety, plumbing, process utilities, and process equipment.
• Collaboratively develop, implement, execute, and document a systematic approach to ensure all aspects of the facility, utilities and process equipment are started up, commissioned, operated, and maintained.
• Execute strategic plans to continually improve the facility’s operation including repair, modification, and execution of facility capital projects, automation strategy, installation, commissioning and qualification.
• Along with Facility Manager, direct, author, test and coordinate equipment corrective, preventative and predictive maintenance procedures and protocols as necessary to ensure systems are in proper working order. (RO/DI, steam boiler, HVAC, piping, valves, air compressors, wastewater systems, and refrigeration units, sterile bioprocess equipment, food formulation equipment, etc.)
• Redline and update as necessary, engineering documents of record and manage any engineering change orders through the change control process as required to comply with Quality and Food Safety as well as good engineering practices.
• Ensure appropriate spare parts are properly ordered, managed and periodically reviewed for optimization, based on maintenance history.
• Monitor systems to identify performance risks and implement risk reduction strategies. 
• Perform post repair, Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and FMEA on failures to optimize a true condition based maintenance strategy.
• Utilize approved documents related to site Drawings, SOP's, Work Plans, and Job Aides.
• Continually review and ensure systems are installed and operating safety and comply with pertinent environmental health/safety practice, rules and regulations.
• Supervise and pair with outside contractors for the purpose of startup, commissioning, maintaining and repairing systems, manufacturing, and processing equipment in a regulated environment.
• Strong familiarity w/ instrument calibration and troubleshooting processes and objectives.
• Establish and maintain contacts with vendors and equipment manufacturers; reviews specifications and costs; orders new equipment and parts; and manages third-party vendors on all small to mid-sized facility projects.
• Helps to evaluate and ensure compliance with regulatory agencies for wastewater, storm water, hazardous waste, EPA, USDA, OSHA, and fire departments.
• Maintains timely and accurate records of inspection of boilers, pressure vessels, and other systems.
• Adheres to food safety, safety, quality and legal compliance. 
• Participates in the development and ensures compliance of policies and procedures related to safe utilization of tools and equipment.
• Interact with inspectors as necessary to demonstrate equipment maintenance and calibration through compliant documentation.

Minimum Requirements

• 6-8 years of progressive hands-on experience in a maintenance role in either utilities, facilities, or process control with direct experience in at least 3 relevant systems.
• Extensive hands-on experience operating, modifying, installing, and/or maintaining utilities and process equipment in a regulated industry such as purified water, clean steam, waste neutralization, refrigeration, HVAC, clean compressed air, sterile bioreactor equipment, food processing equipment.
• Experience supervising third party service vendors.
• Experience managing and/or participating in projects to procure, install, and startup new equipment.
• Experience with preventive and predictive maintenance.
• Knowledge of OSHA guidelines, and other federal, state and local regulations.
• Flexible, creative, and clever in technical problem solving.
• Ability to draft, enforce, and follow Standard Operating Procedures.
• Ability to relate with people at all levels within an organization, including diverse cultures.
• Comfortable working in and leading in a team-based environment.
• Comfortable presenting in front of large groups consisting of peers and/or management.
• Must be willing and able to cover evening/night hours and weekends, as needed.