Lab Technician II

Lab Technician

Founded over 35 years ago, First Quality is a family-owned company that has grown from a small business in McElhattan, Pennsylvania into a group of companies, employing over 5,000 team members, while maintaining our family values and entrepreneurial spirit. With corporate offices in New York and Pennsylvania and 8 manufacturing campuses across the U.S. and Canada, the companies within the First Quality group produce high-quality personal care and household products for large retailers and healthcare organizations. Our personal care and household product portfolio includes baby diapers, wipes, feminine pads, paper towels, bath tissue, adult incontinence products, laundry detergents, fabric finishers, and dishwash solutions. In addition, we manufacture certain raw materials and components used in the manufacturing of these products, including flexible print and packaging solutions.

Guided by our values of humility, unity, and integrity, we leverage advanced technology and innovation to drive growth and create new opportunities. At First Quality, you’ll find a collaborative environment focused on continuous learning, professional development, and our mission to Make Things Better®.

We are seeking a Lab Technician for Nutek Disposables located in McElhattan, Pa.  This position will be responsible for assisting in the development of new and proprietary materials and products to meet business, consumer and retailer requirements.  This position would perform product and material lab testing, assist with consumer use testing and plant trials, and generate product prototypes when necessary.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Provide support to Product Development personnel to promote new products from concept through commercialization; execute projects in timely, diligent, safe, and professional manner, and contribute to the growth of the team and department. 
• Responsible for understanding and performing lab tests on prototype, competitive, and upstream products and materials.
• Test products to assess product performance and attributes, new raw materials to evaluate their properties and determine their impact on finished goods, and Competitive products (benchmarking), maintain a historical database, and provide summaries as needed.
• Responsible for coordinating, analyzing, & documenting Product Development trials.  Provide trial support to manufacturing as required, and test new or experimental trial products.
• Establish effective working relationships with other departments (Engineering, Quality, Production Planning, & Production) to achieve product improvement, new product development, cost saving, and/or quality initiatives.
• Document work procedures and test results accurately and completely in a laboratory notebook.
• Summarize test results, statistical analysis, conclusions, and recommendations in technical reports. Responsible to interpret data for such purposes as quality control, process control, cost savings, and/or product development. 
• Manually assemble prototype products. Prepare product samples for Sales, independent lab assessments, and product safety evaluations.
• Support corporate proprietary technology by documenting novel ideas.
• Develop and document new lab test methods to better predict and understand product performance in use.
• Provide recommendations for improvements to our products, testing methods, processes, and potential cost savings.
• Ensure that all pertinent FQ GMP and Design Control requirements are met and maintain the necessary records.
• Assist the Product Development Manager/Director with other responsibilities, as requested.

The ideal candidate should possess the following:

• Bachelors or Associates degree in engineering, textiles or science preferred.
• Experience: Two to five years in R&D or college lab testing.
• Highly organized and able to manage multiple tasks, hands on mechanical aptitude, experience using basic lab equipment, including high school lab science classes.
• Able to speak, read and write the English language Attention to detail and strong written and oral communication skills.
• Flexibility to adapt to rapidly changing priorities and workloads.
• Proven team player with strong interpersonal skills.
• Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
• Proficiency with computer applications, including Microsoft Office.
• Knowledge of statistical applications preferred.
• Knowledge of GMP, FDA, ISO 22716, and other applicable quality standards and regulations is preferred

What We Offer You

We believe that by continuously improving the quality of our benefits, we can help to raise the quality of life for our team members and their families. At First Quality you will receive:

• Competitive base salary and bonus opportunities
• Paid time off (three-week minimum)
• Medical, dental and vision starting day one
• 401(k) with employer match
• Paid parental leave
• Child and family care assistance (dependent care FSA with employer match up to $2500)
• Bundle of joy benefit (year's worth of free diapers to all team members with a new baby)
• Tuition assistance
• Wellness program with savings of up to $4,000 per year on insurance premiums
• ...and more!

First Quality is committed to protecting information under the care of First Quality Enterprises commensurate with leading industry standards and applicable regulations.  As such, First Quality provides at least annual training regarding data privacy and security to employees who, as a result of their role specifications, may come in to contact with sensitive data.