Senior Product Safety Laboratory Engineer
About the role
A Senior Product Safety Laboratory Engineer will be based in our R&D Product Safety Laboratory in Erlensee, providing analytical chemistry testing for Group R&D, strategic innovation projects and major business projects.
You will take a lead role in designing, executing, and analysing experiments (and data) in-line with agreed milestones and deliverables. You will be able to perform root cause analysis & other troubleshooting activities, understanding issues quickly and implementing resolutions to enable developments in a timely manner. You will have a mixture of analytical testing and analysis, in addition to developing new test methodologies and product technologies, supporting the Group R&D team.
Key responsibilities:
* Utilise chemical knowledge + experience in taking a proactive approach to Health, Safety & Well-Being by reporting any defects or unsafe acts, being involved in Kaizen & Continuous Improvement initiatives to enable preventive measures to be put in place.
* Actively engage in Risk Assessment, Safe Systems of Work, and COSHH activities to enable safe working.
* Advanced competence in fundamental laboratory skills required to support research and development, including but not limited to laboratory practises & techniques, analytical chemistry instrumentation, and some guided use of more advanced methodologies.
* Act as a subject matter expert (SME) on analytical chemistry / food testing laboratory instrumentation such as GC-MS, HPLC-FID, LC-MS, ICP-OES, FTIR, TGA, DSC for product safety testing such as migration, quantification of known impurities (including metals & PFAS), and NIAS testing. Ideal candidate would have technical knowledge and experience in food contact regulatory environment.
* Perform laboratory testing, analyse, and interpret data to reach sound technical conclusions, planning additional studies to solve any encountered problems to deliver key data to R&D directors and key stakeholders across the business.
* Perform troubleshooting activities, including root cause analysis, to understand deviations and implement corrective actions.
* Active, positive, and effective collaboration within cross-functional project groups and have effective verbal and written communication to document their scientific work, which includes completing reports, presentations, batch records and other manuscripts or quality documents.
* Record results according to ALCOA and good documentation practises, using an online electronic lab notebook + LIMS.
* Understand and maintain high levels of professionalism and confidentiality in respect of the commercial/technical sensitivity of the work being conducted. From time to time, it may be necessary to sign a personal Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) or Materials Transfer Agreement (MTA).
* Provide accurate test results via both verbal updates and written reports on data and considerations, as per the test protocols, as soon as possible following test completion.
* Ensure test reports are filed/reported in the correct manner to a good standard of written English.
* Ensure any relevant information regarding the tests is recorded and highlighted within the report.
* Be aware and respect of the strict reporting protocol and approval process for release of reports and data.
About you
* Educated to at least BSc in a relevant technical university, preferably Food Chemistry or Analytical Chemistry.
* Ideal candidate would have a PhD in a science discipline and would preferably be a qualified food chemist, although not essential.
* A minimum of 3 years in a laboratory analytical technical role within a scientific industry, for an analytical department, R&D / NPD utilising analytical techniques such as HPLC, GC-MS, ICP-OES, LC-MS/MS.
* A minimum of 1 years’ experience in new method development, verification / validation for quantitative analyte determination.
* Must be able to speak and write English to a professional standard.
* Understanding of troubleshooting methods including root cause analysis, multi-variable analysis, and some statistical methods.
* Demonstrate experience in conducting experiments, data analysis, conclusions and new product development / research and development.
* Working knowledge of ISO laboratory standards / certifications (9001 & 17025)
* Experience in utilising electronic laboratory notebooks, laboratory information management system (LIMS) and contributing to quality management system(s) including writing standard operating procedures, method work instructions and risk assessments within a regulated environment (e.g. GxP).
* Competence with Health & Safety practises and procedures including writing risk assessments, safe systems of work & COSHH assessments (ideally working with chemicals, solvents, dyes for 3+ years).
* Experience with food chemistry or paper / packaging industry would be an advantage although any experience in a quality position in large manufacturing industry would also be suitable.
About us
DS Smith are a leading provider of sustainable packaging solutions, paper products and recycling services in more than 30 different countries. It’s a very exciting time to join, as we have committed to investing in our future across our strategic growth enablers within Innovation (R&D), Sustainability and Digital & Data.
To fulfil our purpose of redefining packaging for a changing world, we aim to build a diverse, motivated, and engaged workforce. Our goal is to create a culture of inclusion where everyone is treated fairly, differences are valued, and everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.
Our people come from diverse backgrounds, bring different perspectives, ideas and experiences to generate unique solutions focused on present and future sustainability challenges. We welcome all candidates to apply, even those not meeting all criteria.