What does a senior manufacturing technician do?
A senior manufacturing technician is responsible for the manufacturing of commercial products of the company. You have to troubleshoot problems and provide necessary solutions with your creative skills. You also need to have an associate degree to apply for this job. You must have gained proficiency in the manufacturing industry. The job also requires you to maintain a consistent record of production. To qualify for this post, you need to have five to seven years of related experience. In this job, you have to train and maintain new technicians as well. You must be proficient in reading diagrams and understanding the blueprints of manufacturing.
Senior manufacturing technician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior manufacturing technician resumes:
- Manage unit operations HPLC, UFDF, centrifugation, and homogenization.
- Manage a team of 16 technicians on all phases of the Fab start up: from process formation to manufacturing readiness.
- Produce and prepare statistical process control documentation and reports for engineering evaluation in a GMP, FDA and ISO regulate environment.
- Ensure procedural compliance; ISO9000, ESD, SPC, and OSHA regulations.
- Follow all safety and ESD procedures.
- Organize and file all HACCP paperwork.
- Assemble, clean and sterilize BB bioreactors.
- Experience in cGMP and ISO compliant production labs.
- Develop safety programs and audits to keep the company OSHA compliant.
- Pick and pack orders and prepare for shipping using RF scanners WMS system.
- Train production staff on mechanical alignment and testing varies type of RF modules.
- Assist with ISO implementation to new facility by updating and creating ISO specific documents.
- Insure all CIP of equipment is done and ready for schedule and unschedule production campaigns.
- Confirm quality of all new molds and gages using CMM's and static measuring instruments.
- Ensure facility follow all FDA regulations relate to manufacturing and are kept in constant state of inspection readiness.
Senior manufacturing technician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 9% of Senior Manufacturing Technicians are proficient in Troubleshoot, Harvest, and GMP. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Senior Manufacturing Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Troubleshoot, 9%
Evaluated equipment troubleshoot and/or preventive maintenance improvement.
- Harvest, 7%
Performed manufacturing activities of full scope, including but not limited to work functions in Cell Culture, Harvest and Recovery.
- GMP, 5%
Produced and prepared statistical process control documentation and reports for engineering evaluation in a GMP, FDA and ISO regulated environment.
- Production Equipment, 5%
Adhered to written procedures in operating production equipment and processing steps for compliance, accuracy and completeness.
- Process Equipment, 5%
Fabricated and implemented new process equipment for manufacturing and QC operations to improve production effectiveness.
- Continuous Improvement, 4%
Organized numerous cost saving and continuous improvement projects including automating a process that eliminated 3 operators from manually loading spacers.
Most senior manufacturing technicians use their skills in "troubleshoot," "harvest," and "gmp" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential senior manufacturing technician responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a senior manufacturing technician to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "industrial engineering technologists and technicians assess changes in conditions, operations, and the environment to help industrial engineers figure out how systems should work." Senior manufacturing technicians often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "used oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzer, and digital meter to analyze the specific problem on each printed circuit board (pcb)"
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform senior manufacturing technician duties is communication skills. Senior manufacturing technicians responsibilities require that "industrial engineering technologists and technicians must listen carefully to instructions from engineers and must clearly articulate problems to their supervisors." Senior manufacturing technicians also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "tool preventative maintenance created vertical cavity surface emitting laser diodes enhanced teamwork and communication skills"
Detail oriented. senior manufacturing technicians are also known for detail oriented, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to senior manufacturing technician responsibilities, because "industrial engineering technologists and technicians must record precisely what they measure and observe." A senior manufacturing technician resume example shows how detail oriented is used in the workplace: "maintained detailed field-testing documentation, and established manufacturing specifications and qc stardards to optimize unit performance in the field. "
Math skills. A big part of what senior manufacturing technicians do relies on "math skills." You can see how essential it is to senior manufacturing technician responsibilities because "industrial engineering technologists and technicians use mathematics and statistical techniques to analyze data collected from studies." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical senior manufacturing technician tasks: "monitor and troubleshoot all plant system idocs, insuring inventory integrity and reliability of bi statistics. "
The three companies that hire the most senior manufacturing technicians are:
- Ernst & Young42 senior manufacturing technicians jobs
- Sanofi US12 senior manufacturing technicians jobs
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.11 senior manufacturing technicians jobs
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Compare different senior manufacturing technicians
Senior manufacturing technician vs. Engineering assistant
An engineering assistant is responsible for supporting the engineering department's operations under the supervision of a head engineer. Engineering assistants help with operating tools and equipment, developing and analyzing designs, communicating with clients by responding to their inquiries and concerns, creating project plans, and identifying business opportunities to generate revenues and increase profitability. An engineering assistant must have excellent knowledge of the engineering disciplines and processes to carry out tasks within strict deadlines and under minimal supervision.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a senior manufacturing technician are more likely to require skills like "harvest," "gmp," "process equipment," and "continuous improvement." On the other hand, a job as an engineering assistant requires skills like "c++," "html css," "worksheets," and "java." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Engineering assistants tend to make the most money working in the energy industry, where they earn an average salary of $79,013. In contrast, senior manufacturing technicians make the biggest average salary, $78,096, in the technology industry.The education levels that engineering assistants earn slightly differ from senior manufacturing technicians. In particular, engineering assistants are 2.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a senior manufacturing technician. Additionally, they're 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior manufacturing technician vs. Validation technologist
A validation technologist works with a process chief and applies validation methods to complete tasks and carry out installations. They perform operational protocol duties and do reviews daily. They also analyze the validation test data to make sure it meets the necessary criteria for validation. They may have to generate and conduct all the phases in the validation process. These include IQs, OQ's and PQ's.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real senior manufacturing technician resumes. While senior manufacturing technician responsibilities can utilize skills like "harvest," "process equipment," "continuous improvement," and "cell culture," validation technologists use skills like "python," "test results," "data collection," and "linux."
On average, validation technologists earn a lower salary than senior manufacturing technicians. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, validation technologists earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $54,319. Whereas senior manufacturing technicians have higher pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $78,096.validation technologists earn similar levels of education than senior manufacturing technicians in general. They're 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior manufacturing technician vs. Process technician lead
Quality specialists are quality assurance professionals who make sure that the organization's standards are constantly maintained in their products. They are employed in various industries, like technology and manufacturing. Their duties include planning quality standards, directing audits, providing recommendations to management on improving operations, as well as evaluating employee performance. It is their responsibility to ensure the current product quality specifications meet the client's requirements. Additionally, they identify product defects, conduct product tests and assessments, together with recording and reporting the issues.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a senior manufacturing technician is likely to be skilled in "troubleshoot," "harvest," "cell culture," and "media preparation," while a typical process technician lead is skilled in "lean six sigma," "sterilizers," "java," and "sigma."
Process technician leads make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $112,235. On the other hand, senior manufacturing technicians are paid the highest salary in the technology industry, with average annual pay of $78,096.When it comes to education, process technician leads tend to earn higher degree levels compared to senior manufacturing technicians. In fact, they're 7.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Senior manufacturing technician vs. Quality technician engineer
Even though a few skill sets overlap between senior manufacturing technicians and quality technician engineers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a senior manufacturing technician might have more use for skills like "troubleshoot," "harvest," "production equipment," and "process equipment." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of quality technician engineers require skills like "corrective action," "quality standards," "supplier quality," and "quality system. "
Quality technician engineers enjoy the best pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $94,345. For comparison, senior manufacturing technicians earn the highest salary in the technology industry.quality technician engineers reach similar levels of education compared to senior manufacturing technicians, in general. The difference is that they're 0.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of senior manufacturing technician
Updated January 8, 2025
