Dairy Standard Agency Lab Services is an integral part of the Dairy Standard Agency (NPC) established by the organised dairy industry to promote the compliance of milk and other dairy products with food safety, product composition and metrology standards. DSA Lab Services is an industry-specific laboratory service which:
- Act as an independent distributor of imported and national reference standards for the calibration of equipment used to determine fat, protein, lactose, milk urea nitrogen and somatic cell counts;
- Perform efficient testing of milk and other dairy products, including microbiological, compositional sample testing and determining metrological compliance;
- Supports the dairy industry in improving compliance with legal standards of milk and other dairy products through consultation and troubleshooting.
The ideal candidate must be able to:
- Assist in the supply of national and international calibration standards to the various dairy and food testing laboratories in South Africa, for the purpose of the calibration of laboratory measuring equipment.
- Conduct analytical functions that include microbiological and chemical analysis of samples, as well as metrological compliance determination of dairy samples (where applicable).
- Compile analytical reports and communicate reports to clients.
- Validate test methods as required by DSA Laboratory services policies.
- Maintain SANAS accreditation status.
- The laboratory analyst will be the backup for the laboratory manager in her absence and will then report to the managing director.
Primary job responsibilities but not limited to:
1. Calibration samples acquisition and distribution (Qlip as well as national standards)
1.1 Unpack and check samples on receipt.
1.2 Pack orders and distribute to different laboratories together with certificates of analysis.
2. Analysis of samples for national dairy monitoring and ad hoc samples
2.1 Preparation of media and regions.
2.2 Ensure that all controls are in place and perform verification on all equipment.
2.3 Weigh samples for metrological compliance.
2.4 Prepare sample dilutions for microbiological testing.
2.5 Be familiar with use of Biomerieux instrumentation i.e.Tempo, Vidas and Vitek.
2.6 Prepare samples for chemical/compositional analysis.
2.7 Have experience in the use of Rhine Ruhr instrumentation i.e. Cryoscope, Foss FoodScan, Foss MilkoScan, Fossomatic and Maldi-tof MS
2.8 Perform microbiological, physical and chemical analysis as per approved methodology, using the above-mentioned instrumentation.
2.9 Be able to detect instrumentation problems by looking at values obtained.
2.10 Interpret and accurately report results.
2.11 Maintain laboratory equipment.
3. Quality management functions
3.1 Assist in the compilation of methods, procedures and worksheets.
3.2 Maintain documents and records.
3.3 Validate methods in use as per the procedure.
3.4 Participate in interlaboratory comparisons as per the procedure.
3.5 Be familiar with ISO 17025 requirements.
3.6 Apply all quality procedures as required by ISO 17025 and SANAS.
3.7 Assist in the process of obtaining SANAS accreditation and the maintenance of the accreditation status.
Remuneration
Permanent position with competitive fees.
Should you have not heard from our recruitment team within two weeks, please consider your application unsuccessful.
