Fermentation Technology Lead at Cargill in Blair, Nebraska

Job Description:

Want to build a stronger, more sustainable future and cultivate your career? Join Cargill's global team of 160,000 employees who use new technologies, dynamic insights and over 154 years of experience to connect farmers with markets, customers with ingredients, and people and animals with the food they need to thrive. 

JOB PURPOSE AND IMPACT

The Fermentation Technology Lead will collaborate with multidisciplinary teams in three large scale fermentation biorefineries in Nebraska and Iowa to exploit the latest in process technology. This position will require deep fundamental knowledge of microbial systems, coupled with practical knowledge of process engineering and plant operations and a proven track record of safety leadership. In this role, you will deliver innovative solutions, champion process improvement, scale up and implement new technologies, drive cost savings and maintain exceptional product quality.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Contribute to the continuous improvement of our global fermentation processes by developing and implementing novel technology.


• Act as liaison between the operations and research group and have a strong voice in setting research group objectives in line with cost reduction, productivity and yield improvements.


• Collaborate with global and regional fermentation teams on optimization, development and startup of new processes for new and existing product lines.


• Partner with other fermentation staff in the development of protocols and best practice guidelines as well as the development of strategies to minimize process problems and monitor the fermentation processes to ensure consistency and sustainability.


• Administrate program growth through mentoring, training, engagement and budgeting functions while leading and participating in safety, environmental and regulatory compliance activities.


• Provide timely communication to key stakeholders within operations, business leadership, technology and engineering on commercial performance and technology efforts.


• Independently handle complex issues with minimal supervision, while escalating only the most complex issues to appropriate staff.


• Other duties as assigned

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MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in biochemical engineering, chemical engineering, microbiology or related field


• Minimum of four years of related work experience


• Experience in fermentation experimentation


• Ability to travel regionally up to 25%

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master's degree or PhD in a related field


• Experience in an industrial ethanol setting


• Industrial experience in fermentation and maintaining pure culture systems


• Aptitude in microbial physiology


• Industrial experience with application of Lean Six Sigma principles


• Experience with Python or other computational algorithm tools