Career Opportunities at Yokogawa Fluid Imaging Technologies

Quality and Operations Manager

About the Role: 

As the Quality and Operations Manager, you will be responsible for delivering safe, reliable, compliant, and quality products that meet customer expectations. Reporting to the Engineering/Ops Director, you will be responsible for leading all quality, manufacturing, and operation functions at Yokogawa Fluid Imaging Technologies. This role involves ensuring products meet stringent quality standards, improving operational efficiency, and implementing technical solutions to enhance product reliability and performance. The successful candidate will be focused on driving continuous improvement to ensure products are manufactured and delivered on time and with the highest levels of quality.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

• Quality Strategy: Develop, implement, and manage a comprehensive quality strategy that aligns with the company's mission and objectives, ensuring continuous improvement in quality and overall operational efficiency.
• Quality Systems: Manage the quality management system, including ongoing re-certification of ISO9001, and internal and external (customer) audits.
• Operations: Lead the Operations department to ensure products and processes meet defined quality requirements, customer expectations, and on-time delivery metrics. Ensure all finished goods meet product requirements before shipment.
• Metrics: Develop and monitor key quality and operational performance metrics, utilizing data-driven insights to drive process and product improvements that will support growth and scalability.
• Supplier Quality Management: Collaborate with supply chain and procurement teams to establish and maintain supplier quality standards and ensure the integrity of the supply chain, including the development of a robust incoming part inspection program.
• Regulatory Compliance: Stay abreast of all relevant regulations and standards (e.g., FDA, ISO, CE) and ensure that all quality processes and systems meet or exceed these requirements.
• Risk Management: Implement robust risk management practices throughout the product lifecycle and quality system, identifying potential risks and mitigating them effectively.
• Audits and Inspections: Oversee supplier quality audits and inspections, ensuring compliance with all relevant regulations and standards.
• Continuous Improvement: Champion a culture of continuous improvement by promoting Lean and Six Sigma methodologies, fostering a proactive approach to problem-solving.
• Design Quality: Collaborate closely with Engineering to drive design and process improvements that enhance product quality and performance.
• Communication: Effectively communicate quality and operational goals, progress, and challenges to senior leadership and cross-functional teams.
• Supervisory Responsibilities:
  • Lead and supervise staff; manage the performance of the quality and operations team.
  • Develop hiring profiles, interview, and make hiring recommendations.
  • Coach, grow, mentor, and develop the quality and operations team.
  • Identify and support professional development needs and/or goals and seek strategies to address them.
  • Performance management: conduct performance reviews and resolve performance issues.
  • Immediately report concerns regarding the health, safety, or welfare of individuals or coworkers, resolve conflicts, and establish a sense of team within the unit.

Experience and Technical Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field, preferably in Engineering, with 10+ years professional experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of progressive quality management experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of managerial experience.
• Proven track record of successful leadership in a global quality organization.
• Thorough understanding of regulatory requirements and quality standards relevant to analytical instrumentation manufacturing or related devices.
• A growth mindset approach, with a track record for understanding changing methodologies that will yield continuous improvement.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with Lean and Six Sigma experience.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a cross-functional environment.
• Ability to lift an instrument (up to 50 lbs.)
• Certified Quality Manager certification is a plus.

This position involves working in and moving around an office environment. It involves extensive use of computer and telephone in an environment with some background noise. It involves substantial communication with employees, corporate partners, customers, visitors, vendors, contractors, and others. On occasion, work outside of regular business hours may be required. With or without reasonable accommodation, be able to:

• Work in office environment
• Lift an instrument (up to 50 lbs.)
• Use telecommunication tools

Manager, Analytical Sciences

About the Role: 

As a key leader in the Marketing Team, you will be responsible for advancing existing and developing new applications for FlowCam technology in all markets, including biotherapeutics, biotechnology, aquatic, environmental, and materials sciences. In this capacity, you will work closely with our customers and cross-functionally with our customer-facing teams to develop the five-year applications roadmap. You will lead, develop, and mentor a team of application scientists and oversee all aspects of our application laboratory.

You will be responsible for creating compelling scientific content to communicate the value of FlowCam with our customers at conferences, trade shows, seminars, and other user-facing events.

Key competencies include extensive experience with biophysical characterization methods and analytical instrumentation; experience with particle sizing methods and FlowCam would be ideal.

This position requires excellent problem-solving skills, a strategic mindset, attention to detail, exceptional communication skills, the ability to multitask and navigate changing priorities, and the ability to work cross-functionally with sales, customer service, and engineering teams.

This position requires approximately 25% travel by air or car, including overnight, domestic, and international.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead, mentor, and develop our team of application scientists.
• Develop, update, and maintain the 5-year applications roadmap. Map out existing and future applications and collateral, identify gaps, and create plans to address them. Ensure the applications roadmap is linked to our strategic vision and annual business plan goals.
• With the team, develop new applications for FlowCam, within biotherapeutics, biotechnology, aquatics (freshwater, marine, aquaculture), environmental, and materials science industries, and other emerging areas.
• Become proficient in running FlowCam hardware and software, conducting your own experiments, and acquiring, analyzing, and interpreting complex data sets.
• Create and present compelling scientific content such as application notes, white papers, eBooks, presentations, and webinars for key FlowCam applications.
• Work closely with users and in-house customer-facing teams to gather the voice of the customer. Be seen and known in the industry as a subject matter expert.
• Make recommendations and create requirements for new product development and improvements. Provide expertise and scientific input to engineering teams.
• Assist with product demonstrations and participate in trade shows.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Leads and supervises a team of up to 5 application scientists.

Education Level:

• Ph.D. degree with 5+ years of professional experience in Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Bioengineering, or a related field.

Experience and Technical Requirements:

• 5+ years of hands-on expertise with biophysical characterization techniques and analytical instrumentation in the biotechnology industry.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a desire to work with customers.
• An analytical mindset, excellent problem-solving skills, and attention to detail.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to work cross-functionally, prioritize, and multitask.

Managerial Experience:

• A minimum of 3 years supervisory experience.
• Project management experience is highly desired.

This position involves working in and moving around an office environment. It involves extensive use of computer and telephone in an environment with some background noise. It involves substantial communication with employees, corporate partners, customers, visitors, vendors, contractors, and others. On occasion, work outside of regular business hours may be required. With or without reasonable accommodation, be able to:

• Work in office environment
• Lift an instrument (up to 50 lbs.)
• Use telecommunication tools

Software Quality Assurance Analyst

About the Role:

We are seeking a Quality Assurance Analyst to join our Software Team and play a crucial role in delivering safe, reliable, compliant, and quality software products. The ideal candidate will have an analytical mindset and enjoy the challenge of finding and preventing software issues.

As a QA Analyst, you will work closely with our Software Team to develop and execute manual and automated tests, ensuring product quality throughout the development lifecycle. This position is integral to our product development process, focusing on conducting thorough testing to ensure our software meets customer needs while maintaining quality standards.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

• Review design specifications to understand the scope, requirements, and function of the software product.
• Collaborate with the development team to ensure the products are designed and created with the highest quality standards.
• Develop and run manual and automated test for all Fluid Imaging software and firmware.
• Manage tests to ensure appropriate test coverage.
• Develop test reports.
• Improve testing processes and methodologies to ensure delivery of high-quality software to the customer.
• Review and edit software release notes.
• Triage incoming software support requests.
• Assist in documenting software changes.
• Assist in requirements gathering.
• Act as second reviewer and backup for instrument QC.
• Meet or exceed established department key performance indicators.

Experience and Technical Requirements:

• A degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, a related field, or equivalent work experience
• 3+ years experience in Software QA
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills
• Strong knowledge of Software QA methodologies, tools, and processes
• Experience writing clear, concise, and comprehensive test plans and test cases
• Experience writing automated tests
• Experience with test management and reporting software
• Solid knowledge of SQL and scripting
• Experience working with Jira is a plus
• Experience with performance and/or security testing is a plus
• Experience testing embedded systems is a plus
• Laboratory experience is a plus

Physical Requirements:

This position involves working in and moving around an office environment. It involves extensive use of computer and telephone in an environment with some background noise. It involves substantial communication with employees and others. With or without reasonable accommodation, be able to:

• Work in office environment
• Lift an instrument (up to 50 lbs.)
• Use telecommunication tools

Field Service Engineer

About the Role: 

We are looking for a key member of our Customer Service team with a background in chemical or biomedical engineering, physics, chemistry, biochemistry, or aquatic sciences. We are an innovation leader and manufacturer of analytical instruments and software used in the biopharmaceutical, aquatics, and materials industries.

As a Field Service Engineer, you will join a dynamic team with the mission to provide world-class FlowCam support and service to our diverse customer base.  You will be traveling approximately 50% to customer sites for installations, training, and service of our portfolio of FlowCam instruments. You will be interacting daily with our sales, engineering, software, manufacturing, and marketing teams, as well as our international partners. 

If you are looking for a role where you can travel and combine your technical background with your interpersonal skills and desire to work with customers, this job is for you!

This position requires approximately 50% travel, including domestically and internationally.

This position is located at our headquarters in Scarborough, Maine, or can be remote in California after completing training at our Scarborough, Maine headquarters.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

• Performing installations, validation (IQ/OQ), preventative maintenance, and repair services at customer sites, both domestically and internationally
• Training customers on how to use our instruments and software
• Providing technical support and troubleshooting instruments and software by phone and email when not traveling
• Making suggestions for product improvements based on customer feedback
• Assisting with new instrument and software testing

Experience and Technical Requirements:

• Associate degree required, bachelor’s degree preferred in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Physics, Biology, Biotechnology, Marine Sciences, or other relevant disciplines
• 2-5 years experience in a scientific, laboratory, or technical role
• Prior experience in a customer or product service role is a plus

What you Need to Succeed:

• An analytical mindset, excellent problem-solving skills, and attention to detail
• Ability to multitask and navigate changing priorities
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Proficient with Windows operating systems and Microsoft Office
• Familiarity with CRM systems and customer support software is a plus
• Willingness and ability to travel to customer sites (50%)
• Ability to lift an instrument (up to 50 lbs.)

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday, full-time, flexibility as needed

Manufacturing Technician

About the Role:

We are seeking a Manufacturing Technician to join us full-time on our FlowCam product manufacturing line in our Scarborough, Maine headquarters. The Manufacturing Technician will be assembling and testing components and sub-assemblies for our high-tech flow imaging microscopy instruments as well as providing troubleshooting and technical assistance to other team members.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

• Assembling optical and mechanical subassemblies to finished product level
• Load computer operating system and configure network settings and peripheral components
• Install VisualSpreadsheet software and configure instrument operating parameters
• Perform optical alignment for camera and laser systems
• Operate electronic test and soldering equipment
• Read and follow process instructions, schematics, and mechanical drawings

Education:

• High school diploma or GED required
• Associates Degree preferred

Experience and Technical Requirements:

• 2-4 years of experience in equivalent field
• Solid software abilities: MS Office - Word, Excel, Outlook proficiency necessary
• Ability to work with minimal assistance or supervision
• Ability to work as a member of a team
• Ability to work in environments experiencing routine and rapid change
• Excellent organization, and decision-making and problem-solving skills
• A positive attitude with a high level of energy and enthusiasm
• Technical certification in Electronics desirable
• Experience with lean manufacturing and/or six sigma desirable
• Excellent verbal communication skills
• Ability to prioritize, multi-task, and not be afraid to ask questions

Physical Requirements:

This position involves working in and moving around a climate-controlled production environment. It involves working in an assembly environment with some background noise. It involves communication with employees. This position requires the ability to lift an instrument (up to 50 lbs.)

Sales Application Lab Intern

About the Role:

The Sales Application Lab Intern will assist the Sales and Marketing teams in FlowCam application development and optimization by performing pilot experiments, analyzing data, and preparing customer-facing technical content.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

• Application development and optimization: Design and execute experiments to identify robust protocols that are easy-to-use and provide efficient results.
• Technical writing: Develop training material such as technical videos, application and technical notes to improve end-user instrument knowledge and engagement.

Education:

• High school diploma or GED required
• Associates Degree preferred

Experience and Technical Requirements:

• Current enrollment in undergraduate studies or recent graduation with a BA or BS in a STEM field.
• Experience using laboratory equipment—good pipetting skills are a plus.
• Experience with MS Office and other data analysis/visualization software programs.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience using audio/visual equipment is a plus.
• Analytical mindset and excellent problem-solving skills.
• Attention to detail
• Ability to multitask and navigate shifting priorities.

Physical Requirements:

This position involves working in and moving around an office environment, lab and assembly production environment. It involves extensive use of a computer. This position involves substantial communication with employees, vendors, contractors, and others. On occasion, work outside of regular business hours may be required. With or without reasonable accommodation, be able to:

• Work in office environment
• Use telecommunication tools
• Work in an engineering laboratory and occasional analytical laboratory and assembly production environment
• Ability to lift an instrument (up to 50 lbs.)