Pilot Plant Manager

Who We Are

At Voyage Foods, our mission is to make delicious, sustainable, and accessible foods that are better for people and the planet. All of our products work together to support and sustain a food system designed for everyone, now and into the future. We're a team of food scientists, CPG experts, and professionals with a passion for making good food available for generations to come.

What do peanut butter, chocolate, and coffee have in common? They're some of our favorite foods but are often inaccessible and unsustainable. That's why we created our Nut-Free Spreads, Cocoa-Free Chocolate, and Bean-Free Coffee. From food allergies to climate change and unjust labor practices, the foods we love are in serious need of an upgrade. Our future-proofed foods are always top-9 allergen-free, vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO, affordable, and most importantly, utterly delicious.

How We Work

We’re a rapidly growing team of people who value diversity in all its forms. We love adding new perspectives and appreciate those who ask questions that help us challenge assumptions, explore new directions, and improve what we’ve already built. We are a group of like-minded difference makers. Curiosity drives our development. We have tenacity and a risk-taking mentality at every level of our organization to keep challenging normalcy. We believe it’s our responsibility to create an environment in which every person can bring their full, authentic selves to work. We push each other to be our best and do our products proud.

We are seeking a pilot plant manager to join our quickly evolving research and development team. Voyage Foods is a food technology company that prides itself on scaling product innovations early and often in the development process. This means that there is a large focus on machine scale-up from bench to pilot scale. This role will focus on managing that equipment, building preventative maintenance schedules, finding new equipment that will enable better development of our team’s technology, and general inventory and organization of the lab and pilot plant facilities. This role will also support our analytical and research teams, so general lab management such as chemical safety and analytical equipment management will be part of the responsibilities.

This is an exempt position based at our Oakland, CA HQ location and will report directly to the VP of R&D. 

Job Responsibilities & What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Ownership of lab and pilot equipment. This includes keeping inventory, creating preventative maintenance schedules, performing routine maintenance, and being a key troubleshooting expert for all equipment.
• Baseline understanding of different pieces of equipment in the food industry and analytical research 
• Go-to subject matter expert in equipment safety and operation
• Assist R&D team members in completion of experiments with a keen eye toward what materials or equipment could make them more successful
• Ability to perform general repairs on equipment and facility utilities
• General sanitation of equipment and pilot plant area
• Impeccable attention to detail
• Active participation in expanding the capabilities of the lab and pilot plant by assisting in seeking out additional equipment or other items that could make R&D more efficient and effective
• Inventory management of lab chemicals, consumables, and ingredients.
• Adherence to safety, and regulatory requirements as needed to maintain compliance with lab certifications and local requirements
• Partner with vendors to maintain a continuous supply of laboratory consumables and R&D needs
• Develop standard operating procedures to ensure that lab equipment and instrumentation are in good repair and kept current with respect to cleaning, preventive maintenance, calibration, and inspection, coordinating with lab users, and external service providers
• Track incoming and outgoing shipments to ensure timely delivery
• Develop automated workflows for the lab

Requirements

Requirements

• 3+ years in a lab or production environment
• Degree in engineering, food science, or related field a plus
• Strong leadership, project management, and interpersonal skills
• Ability to utilize independent judgment to solve problems
• Experience in quality control, production scheduling, maintenance and management of processing equipment, knowledge and experience in food plant sanitation, HACCP, and GMP’s a plus
• Bias to action

Benefits

Compensation

United States-based roles only: The Annual salary for this role is between $80k-$108k plus immediate participation in our benefits program (health, dental, 401k and many others), utilization of our generous paid time off and, where applicable, participation in our incentive programs. All employees are owners of Voyage Foods and receive an equity grant as part of their total package. At Voyage Foods, we approach each individual's compensation with a promise of fair market value and internal equity commensurate with experience and specific skill set.

Benefits

●      Medical, Dental, Vision Plans

●      STD/LTD, Life and AD&D policies

●      FSA, HRA, and Mental Health Program Benefits

●      401K Program

●      Commuter Benefits

●      20 Paid Days Off + 9 Company Holidays

●      Paid Family Leave Program

●      Ongoing Team Events, including Weekly Friday Lunches

Voyage Foods is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information. Voyage Foods is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities.

Voyage Foods will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States for this opening. Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a background check.