laboratory technician

production scheduler

mechanic

office manager

maintenance technician

Givaudan

A typical day at work is that it is never typical; it could consist of culinary innovation, segment strategy, customer interaction and presentations, product work sessions, sensory, food service and retail marketing initiatives. new flavor development and customer sales. I have key managing accounts that reach into the retail, food service and QSR business groups. I provide new product innovation, marketing, trend guidance and support when they are approaching their customer. I develop new products that fit white space on menu boards to building authenticity through flavor profile and regional cooking cues. Internally my peers consist of food technologists, food scientists, meat scientists, flavor chemists, application and chef's. I also work closely with marketing to learn consumer habits, flavor trends, trend forecasting and industry movement. Information gained is then directly translated into new product innovation. There are always challenges when supporting a fast moving industry from staying current,to beating the competition to product submissions or market roll out. The challenge is combining research, innovation and strategy while trying to meet very tight timelines; but when accomplished it's most rewarding. The part I enjoy most about my current job is that it's all about being current in today's market. It challenges you to stay one step ahead of the competition and allows anybody with the initiative to become a market leader through innovation. I use as much experience from the past to help guide business decisions today but it's really about understanding today. Through my travel, industry readings and marketing data I get to experience food on all levels from analysis to eating at top restaurants across the US. Food has been my journey and it's allowed me to have a successful career in development, guidance and forecasting. This job allows me to reach into my diverse background from restaurant chef, culinologist and food technologist which makes me effective in my current role as Senior Development Chef. I have the opportunity to lead cross functional teams, learn from the industries best and soak up relevant information that pertains to today's commercial food industry. I feel with the above combination of experience it makes me a strong candidate to lead, build and grow any foodservice, QSR or retail team while staying focused to meet business objectives in a timely manor.

Pros
You will grow quickly because you’ll have to. The operational environment forces strong analytical thinking, staffing strategy, and crisis management skills.
Frontline supervisors and operators are resilient and often perform in spite of leadership gaps.
High exposure to cross-functional coordination, audits, and performance metrics.

Cons
There is a persistent pattern of deflecting operational concerns into critiques of communication style rather than addressing the substance of the issue.

Accountability is inconsistent. Policies, write-ups, attendance standards, and documentation expectations do not appear to be applied uniformly across peers or shifts.

Unpopular or high-friction decisions are frequently pushed down to supervisors without shared ownership from higher leadership, leaving frontline leaders to absorb the morale impact alone.

Professional concerns have, at times, been met with dismissive remarks, sarcasm, or personal commentary instead of constructive dialogue. This erodes trust and discourages open communication.

Confidential HR-related discussions did not consistently feel protected, creating hesitation around raising legitimate workplace concerns.

Feedback culture is reactive rather than developmental. Performance narratives can shift unexpectedly despite prior positive evaluations and forward-looking leadership discussions.

Operational follow-through on equipment risks, staffing shortages, and scheduling conflicts often relies heavily on frontline escalation rather than proactive management oversight.

Advice to Management
If you want to retain strong supervisors, model the accountability you expect. Address operational data directly instead of reframing it as personality conflict.

Apply standards consistently across all employees. Share ownership of difficult decisions and communications. Protect confidentiality.

Leadership credibility is built through fairness, transparency, and follow-through,  not by delegating conflict downward.

Overall
The department succeeds because frontline teams work hard and problem-solve constantly. Long-term retention and morale will continue to struggle unless leadership culture becomes more consistent, equitable, and accountable.

- I took this job and stuck with it because I had little experience and they were willing to take me and hire me permanently (I was entry level/temp). So this is a great opportunity if you need the experience
- I have been with the Quality Department for four years and have had four managers - our last manager was great but she got fired due to negative response to some "feedback", so there goes our chance of getting promoted
- There are way too many inexperienced engineers trying to delegate and tell people what to do. If your results show that their sample fails, they'll tell you that you're testing wrong or that something's wrong with your instrument even though they don't know how it works
- Because we don't have a steady manager, we often times have production people come into the lab, interrupting our work to make us do some other work that's supposedly a rush even though a batch may not be marked as a rush or wasn't submitted into the lab
-Sometimes production  guys come into the lab to talk to the women. They can be very creepy sometimes
-A lot of walking involved: Great if you don't like to sit down a lot but bad if you have feet or leg problems
-24 Hour run facility - you can choose to modify your hours
-Opportunities to get to know people in the company: BAPP program, 5K run, Christmas Party,

My time with Givaudan was my initiation to the industrial waste water field.  I met an assortment of mature, professional people who where pivotal in my interest in the field.

My duties, other than running the WWTP (Waste Water Treatment Plant), by myself from 6 pm to 6 am included ensuring the BIOTON (plant wide biological air filtration system)  is working and its emissions being under safety code. 

Additionally we dealt with DEP inspections and residential odor complaints.  Both were handled with courtesy and respect but deferred to our supervisor or HES head if further action required.  

More than anything I learned the importance of proactively being aware/involved with what is happening to the system.  Be it an influx of rain water, a toxic load, or some unforeseeable occurrence, being constantly aware of the condition of the plant is the best and only way to counteract any problems.

My time with Givaudan reinforced my conviction for the need of a cohesive team that thoroughly communicates its needs and more importantly the plants needs to its members and management. 

The hardest part of the job was during the fall/winter.  Having to take apart 1,2,or all 3 of our RAS pumps because of leaves clogging them was miserable. Especially before 6 am! The best part of the job was when my proactive efforts counteracted a toxic load so the effects where minimum.  Thats job satisfaction.

Typical days involve constant fire fighting or dealing with problems. This normally makes the jobs interesting and fun for me, since every day is different than the other, but the supply problems are getting more severe. This has meant more time that you would normally spend doing your job is spent problem solving and chasing for answers. I have to say that I have learned greatly despite all going on. My ability to problem solve has been greatly improved. Another trait I have improved greatly is my project management skills that I have taken from on job training classes in. Givaudan does a great job at providing teaching classes in most any kind of topic related to the business. Probably some of the hardest parts of the job are also the simplest to do. Inter-department communication is terrible. A lot of the time, finding out answers to simple questions  is like having to jump over Olympic sized hurdles. There is no other way to put it, but the most enjoyable part of the job is the people. Everyone is a dedicated, hard worker that takes their jobs very passionately. Everyone has a strong "customer first" mentality and does what they can to make sure that mentality if kept by others.

On a typical day I work with colleagues in nearly every department on site to understand our needs and any limitations (warehouse space, labor, etc.).  I work with vendors worldwide and colleagues outside the facility to ensure materials arrive in a cost affective way just in time (JIT) for production.  
I enjoy the fact that, although I run the same reports on a daily basis, I never know what is going to happen or who I need to work with to reach my daily objectives.  I like that Givaudan is a large international company and that I can work with people from all over the world on a daily basis.  I also enjoy working with SAP, and appreciated the extensive training Givaudan provided.  Givaudan is a very innovative company and they value the input of their employees regardless of their role.  Givaudan also offers a great benefits package for its employees.
My on site managers are receptive to my communications with them and work to implement requests that my coworkers and I make.

What is the best part of working at the company?
My Manager provides excellent leadership. Our manager views Individual strengths are a path to add to the department and weaknesses are never viewed as a failure. They’re viewed as an opportunity to do better.


Good Benefits. Excellent 401(k) very good work life balance nice atmosphere to work in. Good people to work with..

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
They don’t necessarily have the proper or correct training tools. So figuring it out yourself has its challenges.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Calm and responsive  teamwork and leadership causes for coworkers to work well together.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I work collaboratively with the marketing department and shipping sites. Providing shipping and technical. documents for international customers in 200 countries.

I worked in a fast paced food manufacturing environment testing the raw materials and final product seasoning samples in the quality control laboratory.  I was also responsible for internal auditing, GMP auditing, and safety auditing throughout the plant.  Givaudan Flavors prides itself on ensuring that all departments of the facility work together effectively to deliver a wholesome and safe final product.  I had the privilege of working along side of some great people in the quality control department as well as all departments.  I enjoyed the variety in my position the most.  This included the analytical testing of the products, internal and external auditing, communicating with the vendors and customers, and working closely with my quality control colleagues and other departments of the facility.  

Evaluate and adjust sales forecast based upon actual sales activity. Provided each global manufacturing plant with production requirements. Worked with manufacturing plants on a daily basis

Implemented FYGIR planning system that included forecasting, planning and scheduling modules. FIS / Nestle company management was superior and encouraged team bullding and supported new ideas and processes.

I can proudly say that my FIS/Nestle colleagues were the best in the industry. We worked with each other on a cross-functional basis which enabled us to learn more from each business area and the priorities of each department.

The most difficult part of the job was when the company was sold to Givaudan. Givaudan is a fine company however the sale of FIS / Nestle to Givaudan resulted in the end of a great run.

Working at Givaudan allowed me to develop a multi disciplinary team of professionals who were passionate about their work. Each member of the team shared a common vision for success:  to develop beautiful fragrances that would exceed the consumer's and our client's expectations for their brands' offering.
I was fortunate to be able to facilitate the process through the allocation of necessary sales, marketing and creative resources. I was also fortunate to be given the opportunity to create state of the art creative centers in Paris and New York to facilitate collaborative work with our clients.  I enjoyed providing unique consumer insights to our creative team and our clients to spur innovative thinking for new product development and marketing strategies.
The best part of the job is the excitement you feel when the team  competes successfully for new business.  Conversely the worst part is loosing to competition.
Fortunately, we had a consistently high win rate!!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Laboratory technician 4 salaries reported	$20.75 per hour
Production scheduler 3 salaries reported	$61,333 per year
Mechanic 2 salaries reported	$33.86 per hour
Office manager 1 salary reported	$23.00 per hour
Maintenance technician 2 salaries reported	$28.85 per hour

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