{"id":3068458,"url":"https://alion.io/job/certis-biologicals-pilot-plant-operator","title":"Pilot Plant Operator","company":{"id":2265958,"name":"Certis Biologicals","domain":"certisbio.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/certisbio","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Paycor","truth_index":null},"role":"Field & Service","role_family":"Field & Service","seniority":"staff","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Wasco, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":63000,"max_usd":151000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":335},"experience_years_min":10,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"CAPA","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-22T08:42:40Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-22","last_verified_at":"2026-10-23T23:23:41Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":1,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":1},"description":"Job Title: Pilot Plant Operator\n\nReports to: Operations Manager\n\nDepartment: Production\n\nLocation: Wasco\n\nI. Job Description Summary:\nThe candidate provides technical and operational support for manufacturing and bioprocessing operations across multiple production, lab and pilot plant areas. This role is responsible for ensuring safe, efficient, and reliable operation of production equipment and processes, including fermentation, formulation, granulation, spray drying, and utilities systems. The position involves hands-on troubleshooting, preventive maintenance coordination, equipment inspections, and operator training, as well as participation in process improvements and scale-up activities. Working closely with the Operations Manager and cross-functional teams, the role supports continuous improvement, minimizes downtime, and helps maintain product quality, compliance, and operational readiness.\nII. Duties and Responsibilities:\nProvide critical technical support and operational guidance for the setup, operation, troubleshooting, and maintenance of complex bioprocessing equipment including fermenters, spray dryers, evaporators, centrifuges, steam generators, and air compressors.\nDeliver hands-on training to production personnel on proper operation, assembly, and maintenance of processing equipment and components such as filters, spray dryer nozzle assemblies, pumps, valves, O-rings, gaskets, and related mechanical parts.\nLead equipment troubleshooting, tank inspections, and overhauls by conducting root cause analysis and implementing effective mechanical or process-related corrective actions.\nSupport routine production activities as well as developmental and scale-up projects, including laboratory-scale, pilot-scale, and production-scale fermentation operations.\nExecute and oversee preventive maintenance programs to ensure equipment reliability, minimize downtime, and maintain production continuity.\nConduct daily equipment and deck inspection audits to assess mechanical integrity and operational performance; initiate corrective and preventive actions as required.\nGenerate, manage, and track maintenance work orders resulting from inspections and operational needs, ensuring timely completion and verification of repairs.\nPerform daily inspections of glucose storage tanks and distribution systems to ensure mechanical integrity and prevent contamination risks.\nManage inventory of critical production and maintenance components, including steam filters, air filters, spray dryer nozzles, valves, O-rings, gaskets, and analytical probes.\nOversee procurement, maintenance, and service scheduling for fermenter air and steam filtration systems, including coordination with external vendors for specialized cleaning or replacement services.\nInstall, calibrate, troubleshoot, and maintain dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH probes to ensure accurate monitoring and reliable process control.\nOrder replacement parts, filters, and process instrumentation; negotiate with vendors to obtain competitive pricing and favorable service terms.\nDemonstrate a high level of initiative and independence by proactively identifying and implementing process improvements to enhance efficiency, quality, and operational reliability.\nSupervise special projects and assigned personnel while maintaining a positive, respectful, and safety-focused work environment.\nWork closely with the Production Manager and cross-functional departments to communicate process developments, improvements, efficiencies, and deviations\nWork Environment:\n20% office/lab, 70% process areas under supervision and 10% pilot plant.\nIV. Education/Experience:\nEducation\nPreferred: Associate’s degree in a technical field (e.g., Bioprocess Technology, Industrial Maintenance, Engineering Technology, or related discipline).\nMinimum Required: High School diploma or equivalent.\nExperience\nRequired:A minimum of 10 years of hands-on experience in a plant-level fermentation manufacturing environment.\nExtensive practical experience supporting bioprocessing operations, including fermentation, formulation, spray drying, utilities, and packaging systems.\n\n Preferred:Demonstrated experience in project development, including process improvements, equipment upgrades, or scale-up activities.\nProven background in troubleshooting, preventive maintenance, equipment inspections, and operator training within a manufacturing or bioprocessing setting.\nExperience working cross-functionally with production, maintenance, and engineering teams to support continuous improvement and operational reliability.","description_format":"text","description_chars":4580,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":10,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"high_school","optional":true},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Farming & Agriculture","Agricultural Biotechnology","Crop Protection"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-22T08:42:40Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":0,"expected_fill_days":31,"reasons":["conf:1","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-10-23T05:54:15Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/certis-biologicals-pilot-plant-operator","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/certis-biologicals-pilot-plant-operator.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-24T02:22:38Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":3901,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-25T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":2265958},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=2265958"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fcertis-biologicals-pilot-plant-operator"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fcertis-biologicals-pilot-plant-operator"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fcertis-biologicals-pilot-plant-operator"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/certis-biologicals-pilot-plant-operator\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fcertis-biologicals-pilot-plant-operator"}]}