Senior Plant Technologist — Food Tech & Optimization

Plant Senior Technologist – Foggia Plant

Barilla G. & R. Fratelli wants to recruit a Plant Senior Technologistfor Foggia Plant.

The individual will report to the Plant Director and functionally to the Industrialization Director/Regional Industrialization Associate Director.

Job Purpose

Guarantee the plant’s food technology expertise to ensure full compliance with Barilla quality standards for both products and technological processes, as well as full governance of line capabilities and statistical process monitoring.
Provide specialized technical support during industrial trials conducted in the plant, in collaboration with Product Development, Packaging Development, Process Development and Industrialization, covering new products, new technologies, growth initiatives (including DTV and PCM) and upgrades of existing items.
Strengthen the team’s technical know-how in alignment with category technological experts, while fostering a strong technological process culture through active involvement and training of plant personnel.

Key Accountabilities

Technological Process Governance and Managment

• Define, maintain and continuously improve the plant’s technological and process standards, ensuring alignment with category experts, Product Development, Packaging Development, Process Development and Industrialization.
• Identify opportunities to optimize product quality through the evolution of process standards. Maintain responsibility over technology & process standards, while quality control plans remain under Quality ownership.
• Ensure efficient operation and continuous optimization of packaging lines by monitoring performance parameters, identifying deviations, and implementing corrective and improvement actions to guarantee packaging quality, line reliability and adherence to operational standards.
• Proactively identify process improvement opportunities and contribute to projects aimed at enhancing quality, efficiency and process capability, in line with the Continuous Improvement / CS Program.
• Propose process evolutions to improve stability, capability and adherence to the quality set point, in synergy with Quality (which owns compliance measurement), Industrialization and Packaging Development.

Technical Support to Industrialization

• Provide technological expertise to support industrial trials and tests on new products, new technologies, raw materials, packaging materials, and growth initiatives (including DTV and PCM).
• Ensure the proper preparation, execution and documentation of industrial trials in collaboration with Product Development, Packaging Development, Process Development and Industrialization.

Process Monitoring & Anomaly Management

• Monitor standard process parameters, analyze product hold records, identify anomalies and process drifts, perform diagnostics and root cause analyses, and recommend corrective actions on process conditions.
• Escalate significant process deviations to Plant Quality for the usage decision and contribute to the definition and execution of recovery plans when deviations require technological interventions.
• Contribute to the CAPA plan together with Quality, Industrialization and Packaging Development, ensuring that Industrialization and Packaging are always informed of significant deviations.
• Conduct periodic checks of production processes using technical instruments (e.g., data loggers, data trace systems, anemometers) and ensure accuracy and maintenance of technological specifications.
• Manage and test molds, dies and other tooling; support line restarts after maintenance in collaboration with the technical team; evaluate line capability

Technological Culture & People Development

• Strengthen the plant’s technological culture through active involvement, coaching and training of plant personnel, with joint reviews of anomalies, product hold records, samples and non conformities.
• As a member of the plant’s leadership team, actively participate daily activities and decision-making, operating in close collaboration with all other relevant plant functions..

Essential Skills / Competencies (e.g.: analytical, communication, negotiation, strategic thinker, team builder):

• Master’s degree in Food Science and Technology, Chemistry, Food/Chemical/Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline.
• Minimum 4 years of experience in technical or technological roles within production environments and/or RDQ functions, with demonstrated leadership in cross functional initiatives.
• Good leadership presence with the ability to influence, guide, and align diverse stakeholders.
• Proven track record of delivering results in complex, fast paced operational contexts.
• Excellent ability to manage multiple priorities and drive structured execution across simultaneous projects.
• Strong analytical mindset with advanced problem solving and decision making capabilities.
• Solid experience in project management and competence development of technical teams.
• Proficiency in statistical analysis and data driven process evaluation.
• Lean or Six Sigma training/certification as a plus, with the ability to promote continuous improvement principles across the plant.
• Fluency in Italian and English, with strong communication skills across organizational levels.