Laboratory Technician

Be a part of the Glen-Gery team! We have an exciting opportunity for an entry-level laboratory technician our corporate Technical Services Center. The ideal candidate will work as part of a team of technicians, engineers, and other manufacturing professionals to perform raw material and finished goods testing, new product development, and other projects aimed at improving manufacturing and testing processes, and ensuring the efficient production of high quality masonry materials. Training will be provided regarding the operation of test equipment and standard operating procedures.

ABOUT THE COMPANY:

Glen-Gery Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Brickworks Limited. Brickworks Limited (“The Group”) is a large Australian-listed group of companies. The Group has been in operation since the early 1900s, has a market capitalization exceeding $2.5 billion, and operates across 3 core business segments: Building Products, Land & Development, and Investments. The Group employs more than 2,000 FTE employees and operates nationally across Australia, recently acquiring Glen-Gery Corporation to add operations in the USA.

Founded in 1890, Glen-Gery Corporation is one of the nation’s largest brick manufacturers and operates eight brick manufacturing facilities. Glen-Gery products are sold nationally through a network of over 500 distributors as well as in Canada. Since entering the USA in 2018, Brickworks have acquired Sioux City Brick, Redland Brick and the distribution business of Southfield Corporation in Illinois and Indiana (Illinois Brick, Indiana Brick). The combined North American business now has more than 900 employees, operates across 40 locations, including 8 brick plants, 26 masonry supply/retail locations and 3 design studios.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

This Laboratory Technician role is a full-time position at the Glen-Gery Technical Services center, located at its Mid-Atlantic campus near Shoemakersville, PA. The responsibilities of this role include shipping, receiving, and inventorying samples, coordinating sampling and testing with manufacturing facilities and other laboratories, preparing and testing material specimens, performing experimental trials for product and process development, recording experimental data and performing data entry, and cleaning and maintaining the lab and its equipment.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBITIES:

• Shipping, receiving, logging, labeling, and organizing raw material and finished goods samples.
• Performing appropriate sample preparation, including crushing, grinding, splitting, and sieving clay and shale, and cleaning and sawing brick and tile.
• Performing meticulous laboratory testing protocols on clay, shale, brick, tile, rock, concrete and additive specimens using assorted chemical reagents.
• Using, cleaning, and maintaining equipment including drying chambers, lab-scale jaw crushers, shale pulverizers, dust mitigation hoods, gas and electric lab kilns, bench-top extruders, freeze-thaw chambers, water absorption tanks, mixers, hot plates, gas burners, sieves, screens, shakers, compressive strength testers, carbon and sulfur analyzers, spectrometers, spectrophotometers, hydraulic presses, laser diffractometers, and dilatometers.
• Cleaning, maintaining, and taking precise measurements with scales, balances, rulers, calipers, graduated cylinders, penetrometers, hydrometers, and other measurement tools.
• Accurately recording and reporting results, including computer data entry.
• Maintaining databases and spreadsheets for compiling laboratory results.
• Effectively and accurately communicating results, tasks, accomplishments, and detractors.
• Professionally interacting with all levels of personnel at the Technical Services Center, Corporate Headquarters, other laboratories, and all manufacturing plants.
• Assisting with training new Laboratory Technicians as the company grows.
• Being dependable, punctual, and working efficiently.
• Working safely, wearing appropriate personal protective equipment, and adhering to and helping to enforce all company safety policies.
• Maintaining a clean, safe, and organized work environment.

REQUIRED SKILLS/ABILITIES:

• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Proficiency in standard office computing software, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• Avid attention to detail, with good organization and time management skills.
• General mechanical aptitude and abilities.
• Ability to stand, bend, stoop, kneel, climb ladders, and lift and carry up to 51 pounds.
• Ability to wear all required personal protective equipment.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• High school diploma or Vocational/Technical School graduate, or equivalent.
• Experience in a manufacturing laboratory or production environment preferred.

This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive and as such, the employee will also be required to perform other reasonably-related business duties as required and as may be assigned by the immediate supervisor and/or other management personnel.

Glen-Gery offers a competitive salary and benefits including medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, as well as a 401(k) plan.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

2024