Quality & Microbiology Laboratory Technician

Quality & Microbiology Laboratory Technician Position Summary The Quality & Microbiology Laboratory Technician supports compliance with Carolina Canners procedures, PepsiCo microbiological sampling plans, PepsiCo sanitation requirements, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), food safety programs, regulatory expectations, customer quality standards, and continuous improvement initiatives. The work area consists of the laboratory, production floor, sanitation, processing, utility, and warehouse areas to verify process control and ensure product quality and food safety requirements are consistently met. Requirements Associate degree or Bachelor degree in Microbiology, Biology, Food Science, Chemistry, or a related scientific field preferred. Two or more years of experience in food/beverage manufacturing, quality assurance, microbiology, laboratory testing, sanitation, water treatment, or production quality preferred. Equivalent combination of education, training, and hands-on experience may be considered. Experience in beverage manufacturing, hot-fill, bottled water, carbonated soft drinks, non-carbonated beverages, or micro-sensitive products preferred. Must be 18 years of age or older. High school diploma, GED, or equivalent required. Must be able to read, write, communicate, perform basic math calculations, and complete accurate quality and laboratory records. Must be able to work safely in a manufacturing, laboratory, wet-processing, and production-floor environment. Must be able to work scheduled shift, weekends, overtime, and holidays as required by business needs. Strong attention to detail and ability to accurately complete lab, micro, quality, and production records. Ability to prioritize work across the laboratory, production floor, and sanitation/processing areas. Ability to communicate clearly with Quality, Production, Sanitation, Maintenance, Warehouse, and Leadership teams. Ability to recognize quality or food safety risk and escalate concerns quickly and professionally. Ability to interpret test results, compare results to specifications, identify trends, and support root cause analysis. Ability to work independently with minimal supervision while maintaining compliance with approved procedures. Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Office, spreadsheets, databases, and electronic quality systems where applicable. Ability to maintain confidentiality of customer, company, and proprietary quality documents. Essential Duties and Responsibilities - Microbiology Program Execute microbiological sampling and testing in accordance with Carolina Canners procedures and applicable PepsiCo microbiological sampling plans for carbonated, non-carbonated, bottled water, and hot-fill beverage operations. Collect, prepare, plate, incubate, read, enumerate, document, and report routine micro samples, including but not limited to environmental air plates, dry swabs, wet swabs, equipment surface swabs, rinse waters, packaging samples, raw ingredient samples, sweetener samples, water samples, and finished product samples. Perform microbiological testing and verification for ingredient water, treated water, source water, post-treatment water, RO/permeate systems, UV/post-UV water, carbon tower water, and other defined water-system sample points. Collect and test sweetener-system samples, including HFCS, sucrose, liquid sweetener deliveries, silo samples, and in-house sucrose or simple-syrup samples as required by internal and customer programs. Collect and test raw ingredients, concentrates, juice blends, flavor systems, closures, bottles, cans, packaging materials, and other materials as required by the approved sampling plan or customer requirement. Collect and plate filler valve rinse water, final rinse water, closure-system rinse water, rinser verification samples, batching rinse water, CIP reclaim water, cooler/tunnel samples, and sanitation verification samples as required. Support Category 3 and Category 4 microbiology requirements, including heightened control for micro-sensitive products such as teas, hot-filled beverages, bottled water, and other non-carbonated beverages. Read plates accurately and distinguish target organisms, including total plate count organisms, yeast, mold, acid bacteria, coliform indicators, and other microorganisms identified by approved procedures. Use aseptic technique during sampling, sample handling, plating, incubation, media preparation, and result documentation to reduce false positives and protect sample integrity. Maintain accurate incubation logs, media logs, sample logs, micro result databases, retain records, and supporting documentation. Track, trend, and escalate microbiological results to demonstrate process control, identify adverse trends, and support corrective action before issues become product, audit, or customer failures. Immediately escalate out-of-specification, out-of-trend, or abnormal microbiological results to Quality leadership and support root cause investigation, product disposition, sanitation review, resampling, and corrective/preventive actions. Essential Duties and Responsibilities - Quality Technician / Line Quality Support Monitor production lines for quality, food safety, package integrity, labeling, coding, net content, sensory, analytical, and process-control issues. Perform routine line quality checks and product/package evaluations at required frequencies and document results accurately in paper or electronic systems. Perform analytical testing on finished products and in-process materials using approved methods and equipment, including TOA/TA testing, titration, brix, pH, CO2, Carbo QC/Carbo QX, density, torque, seam, package, and water-quality testing as applicable. Operate and maintain laboratory instruments such as Carbo QC/Carbo

QX, HPLC

where applicable, densitometers, titrators, pH meters, balances, thermometers, water-testing equipment, incubators, and other Quality Department equipment. Calibrate, verify, clean, and maintain lab equipment and analytical instruments according to approved procedures and required frequencies. Perform sensory evaluations including taste, odor, appearance, carbonation, sweetness, color, and comparison against approved reference samples where applicable. Perform package-quality checks, including closure checks, torque/pull-up checks, seam evaluations, label and code verification, fill-height/net-content checks, container integrity checks, and other line-specific tests. Perform review of production paperwork, quality records, sanitation records, micro records, and line documentation for completeness, accuracy, and compliance. Manage or support nonconforming finished product, incoming material, packaging material, raw ingredient, and analytical/micro holds according to company procedures. Communicate quality concerns to Production, Maintenance, Sanitation, Warehouse, and Quality leadership and expedite issues when product quality or food safety may be at risk. Work with Production and Maintenance to troubleshoot quality defects, analytical failures, equipment-related quality issues, process upsets, package defects, and sanitation-related concerns. Operate and monitor assigned production line equipment or quality equipment efficiently and safely when required to support line flow and quality verification. Remove, shift, or stage materials and finished products as needed to support proper flow, sampling, inspection, hold control, and quality disposition. Food Safety, Sanitation, Audit, and Continuous Improvement Responsibilities Perform GMP, food safety, sanitation, glass/brittle plastic, foreign material, pest-control, line-clearance, allergen where applicable, and audit-readiness inspections. Support sanitation verification through visual inspection, ATP testing, allergen verification where applicable, chemical concentration checks, final rinse verification, pH/conductivity checks, and microbiological verification. Participate in CIP, flavor changeover, sanitation, formula setting, pre-operational inspection, and post-sanitation verification activities as required. Support compliance with internal procedures, customer standards, PepsiCo requirements, AIB/GMP expectations, regulatory inspections, and Quality/Food Safety Management System requirements. Create, revise, and train frontline and salaried employees on SOPs, quality procedures, sanitation requirements, sampling methods, and quality expectations when assigned. Conduct quality and food-safety related training with frontline associates as directed by Quality leadership. Participate in Lean Six Sigma, TPM, root cause analysis, corrective action, continuous improvement, yield improvement, and new product innovation projects. Support new product trials, product qualifications, CIP extensions, micro hold-time evaluations, water-system verification, and customer-driven validation/verification projects. Maintain a clean, organized, safe, and audit-ready laboratory and work area through good housekeeping practices. Clean equipment and areas during and after shift as required by procedure and business need. Follow all safety, GMP, PPE, chemical handling, lockout/tagout, and food safety requirements. Maintain regular, reliable, predictable attendance and perform additional duties as assigned based on business needs. Apply today! CCI is committed to celebrating diversity and is dedicated to creating an increasingly inclusive environment for individuals from all backgrounds. We actively foster a culture that supports inclusion, ensuring our workplace is a safe and welcoming space where everyone can be themselves. We truly believe in taking care of our employees and their dependents. This is why we offer a total rewards package to help everyone create work and life balance, maintain wellness, and plan for their future.

Our plan highlights include:

Medical, dental and vision plans. Paid time off. Health savings and flexible spending accounts. Basic and voluntary life and AD&D coverage plans. Short and long term disability plans. Employee wellness and assistance programs. 401k offering a company match. Noteworthy Thank you for your interest in applying for this role. Please be aware, the successful candidate will be required to complete a background check and a drug test as a condition of employment for this role. Carolina Canners, Inc. reserves the right to change, modify or add to the duties and essential functions at any time. Carolina Canners, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer.