Prairie Farms Granite City - Vitis Machine Operator at Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc. – Granite City, Illinois

Job Posting Title: Vitis Machine Operator

Location: Prairie Farms Granite City

Employment Type: Full-time

Summary: A self-starting, multi-tasking and results‑driven Dairy Vitis (Pasteurizing) Machine Operator to oversee the handling, processing, and quality use in product manufacturing. This role ensures high standards in milk quality, regulatory compliance, and productivity through effective operation of equipment, and data. With a vast knowledge of manufacturing, the ideal candidate has experience in food or ingredient processing, understands raw agricultural materials, and thrives in a collaborative production setting focused on efficiency, quality, and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• Operate blending, product transfer, separation, pasteurization, and/other machinery and equipment as required.
• Monitor and support daily production schedules (milk receiving, pasteurizing, separating, packaging) to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness and minimize downtime.

• Maintain accurate and legible documentation during processing to include: Safe Quality Foods (SQF), HACCP, Allergen, Master Sanitation documentation, blend and batch sheets and other documents as needed to meet regulatory requirements.
• Troubleshoot and resolve basic to moderate mechanical and operational malfunctions, ensuring it is properly cleaned, in good repair and running order.
• Clean and sterilize equipment, utilizing Clean in Place (CIP) procedures.
• Work closely with supervisors and other operators to meet production demands and minimize downtime.
• Work closely with milk receivers to ensure proper product rotation of raw milk inventory.
• Work closely with the laboratory to ensure products are formulated and tested to meet quality and regulatory requirements
• Ability to work in a loud manufacturing environment with extreme temperatures. Extended hours or weekend work may be required to meet production demands
• Follow all Good Manufacturing Practices and Standard Operating Procedures.
• Follow all safety and security policies and procedures.
• Physical ability to work on production floors—standing, lifting, and operating machinery.

Preferred Experience: 3+ years of production, manufacturing experience, preferably in food manufacturing or a dairy-specific environment that adheres to strict hygiene, PPE, and safety protocols.

Salary: $32.64 per hour

Prairie Farms Dairy Inc is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.