at Actalent in EAST SAINT LOUIS, Illinois, United States
Job Description
Description:
This client is the leading global company for industrial coating resins, crosslinkers, and additives- specialized chemicals. They offer a range of products, including innovative liquid resins and additives, radiation-cured, powder-coating resins, and crosslinkers for use on wood, metal, plastic, and many other surfaces. In St. Louis, they have a Quality Lab that supports a high-throughput production plant. R&D is located at their HQ in Louisville, KY. In 2022-2023, they revamped their entire facility, investing over $12M in new equipment, facilities, and automation designed to protect the chemicals they work with and, more importantly, the people who work with them. They are a people-first company and have invested a lot into additional layers of management and Safety Leads to implement new processes and procedures for chemical testing within the last year. They are at a point of expansion after the fire in 2022 and want to add a second shift Quality Lab to their team and maybe one more person by the end of the year.
+ This is a QC Lab within the production plant. 90% of their time is spent in the lab, performing routine testing, including titrations, viscosity, measuring non-volatiles, auto-titrations, evaluating acidity, and raw material testing from bulk samples. This is not an all-inclusive list, as some products may require specialty tests that will be trained. Many of these tests require the Quality Tech to use math- proportions, fractions, ratios- to weigh resins and add solvents as needed to get the appropriate ratios if a product is out of spec in any way. Some testing is visual (ex: looking at the number of particles/check particle size, etc. to discern contamination levels. Math skills are very important in this job- though nothing super complicated, they need to be able to work backward to determine what went wrong with a sample and correct it for the next batch, at times communicating heavily with operators and plant personnel.
+ Sometimes they may go out into the plant to grab their own samples- to do this, candidates must be able to lift up to 50 lbs, close the latch afterward, and walk up and down stairs. As needed, they will be provided with respirators and PPE for these tasks.
+ Act as an intermediary between R&D and Production regarding new plant introductions and scale-ups. Perform the function of and cover all Quality Control Technician absences on shifts.
+ The main responsibilities will be to keep up with samples from the plant. They have six reactors manufacturing as many as 200 different products. The technician will sample materials. Fully test these batches.
+ Make calculations on how to adjust samples using math calculations. Approve batches for filtration; at the same time, they will be working with oils and solvents.
+ Adjust and perform required testing on all raw materials used, intermediates, and finished products made in production, maintain accurate records of these products, manage analytical instrumentation and laboratory stock, and contribute to and participate in quality improvement initiatives and projects.
Top Skills Details:
Chemistry, lab, chemical, quality control, raw materials, Quality control, Titration, and viscosity
Additional Skills & Qualifications:
+ Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry or any science-related field is strongly preferred. Previous laboratory experience from school or industry is a plus. I need to demonstrate work experience in a fast-paced environment. Open to no degree IF they have relevant experience and the math skills necessary to do the job- again, PROPORTIONS, FRACTIONS, RATIOS…
+ Must be computer literate. Familiarity with operating systems and basic Office suite software. Experience with proprietary software is a plus, particularly SAP.
+ Self-starter with good written and verbal communication skills to work in a fast-paced, multitasking environment.
Must be able to do some conversions from grams to lbs quickly- they will ask about this in the interview with a couple of quick “surprise” questions along those lines- basic algebra- so candidates need to be able to do this and prepared to do so on the spot
Does not need to be well versed in any physical testing or analytical testing instrumentation; will train them on all aspects so long as they had exposure during school or on the job (demonstrated on the resume)
About Actalent:Actalent connects passion with purpose. Our scalable talent solutions and services capabilities drive value and results and provide the expertise to help our customers achieve more. Every day, our experts around the globe are making an impact. We’re supporting critical initiatives in engineering and sciences that advance how companies serve the world. Actalent promotes consultant care and engagement through experiences that enable continuous development. Our people are the difference. Actalent is an operating company of Allegis Group, the global leader in talent solutions.
The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regards to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.
