Reliability Engineering Lead

Vow is a food company - a very different one.
We create real meat products from animal cells, bringing together cutting edge innovations in science, engineering, culinary and design.
We're on a mission to feed billions with food that's good for your taste buds and your planet.
We're on the search!!!
The Role
Vow is looking for an experienced individual with strong mission alignment and a 'get it done' attitude.
The Reliability Engineering Lead will be tasked with implementing robust engineering solutions, implementing a food safety plan, and developing a quality management system in a new manufacturing environment.
This leader will effectively balance risk and accelerated timelines & drive innovations across design, process, and operations that result in a step change improvement in product quality.
They will be the connective tissue in the manufacturing team, using data and intuition to drive design, process, and operations teams towards the best solution(s).
With rapid factory expansion and upcoming global product launches across various markets, maintaining the highest levels of product quality and food safety is essential to the success of Vow.
Responsibilities
Experience building and implementing physical, chemical, and/or biological quality control processes that adhere to fluid/changing regulatory guidelines or food quality requirements (e.g., ATP swabs of critical surfaces, cell growth monitoring to predict key downstream product characteristics).
Experience solving hardware/mechanical issues and/or biological contamination issues.
Experience developing manufacturing processes and verification methods.
Experience designing Quality Management systems from scratch and/or improving existing Quality Management systems.
Experience with (or the ability to quickly learn) about HACCP/HARPC food quality systems.
Experience investigating and resolving customer concerns.
Experience organizing internal and external audits.
Experience leading a team and/or experience managing a group of cross-functional stakeholders.
Degree or qualification in engineering, food science, dairy technology, microbiology or a related discipline.
Thrive in ambiguity.
Experience developing structures and creating order to solve open-ended problems.
Ability to develop a problem-solving framework and work cross-functionally to motivate teams & drive measurable results.
Comfortable balancing risk and accelerated timelines.
Demonstrated ability to quantify risk, recommend solutions, and drive execution of deliverables with a high sense of urgency.
Scrappy mindset and experience developing fast & creative solutions that solve the fundamental problem and can be adapted for long-term program and company needs.
Data informed.
Experience using quantitative metrics to understand the quality landscape and drive actions across the organization.
Demonstrated ability to develop a metrics framework and introduce new data collection methods (e.g., instrumentation, software platforms) in a production environment.
Note:
you do not need to satisfy 100% of the points listed above.
If you have some of the skills and believe you could make an impact in this role, please apply - we want to hear from you!
First Three Months
Develop key processes and workflows to ensure Food Safety and Quality standards.
Own and implement technical solutions to minimize product risk and enhance manufacturing reliability.
Lead, develop and grow the team.
Develop a strategy to tackle current and future challenges, including hiring top talent.
First Year
Drive measurable improvements in key quality metrics (e.g., operator error frequency, contamination rates), enabling continuous factory operation and meeting production goals.
Implement systems for capturing quality metrics, both real-time and historical.
Help ensure compliance with internal and external quality and food safety standards; establish documentation & rapid response mechanisms for quality issues.
Set internal standards and achieve positive outcomes in external audits, reinforcing Vow's high-integrity reputation as a food manufacturer.
Lay the groundwork for scaling the quality team across multiple sites in Australia and support future global expansion.
A diverse, mission-led, dream team of Vowzers
Our mission is to feed billions, which means making food products for everyone.
To do this we need a team that's representative of the people we serve.
We celebrate multiple approaches and points of view and have built a culture to match.
Be yourself and come as you are.
Learn from the best
Our team includes some of the world's top scientists, innovators, operators, and creatives with decades of industry experience.
Despite our experiences, we all strive to build, break, learn, and repeat.
We see the impossible as temporary and strive to learn and support our company and fellow Vowzers' growth as much as possible.
Cutting-edge technology
We're bringing together innovations in science, engineering, and food, to create the world's most unique culinary experiences.
All without compromising on ethics or our planet.
Since our inception in 2019, we have held the title of being the first startup to cultivate meat from the cells of an undomesticated animal.
We're wild because we can be.
Backed by the best
We can make a real impact thanks to our investors Blackbird Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Grok Ventures, Tenacious Ventures, P7 Ventures, Toyota Ventures and PeakBridge VC.
Everyone is an owner
In addition to competitive base salaries, each and every 'Vowzer' owns equity in the company so we can all benefit from our hard work and future success.
Paid parental leave
For those who choose to start a family, we offer 8 weeks of paid caregiver leave and an additional 8 weeks paid leave for the birth giver.
We offer support for interstate or overseas team members, their families and, of course, their pets.
Unlimited personal leave
Sometimes you need time off to recuperate, look after your mental health, or simply deal with an emergency.
We put unlimited personal leave in place to empower you to bring your best self to work every day.
Flexible working hours and location
We value work-life balance and we recognize that everyone works differently.
We want you to do your best work, so you can choose how and where you do it.
Converted warehouse 'campus'
Complete with a glass-walled lab, manufacturing lines, snacks, a culinary centre and professional-grade coffee machine.
Heaps of tasty samples from our culinary centre
Our fantastic "food inventors" on the Vow team are always cooking up new product prototypes, and all Vowzers are given the opportunity to taste, give feedback, and learn from their culinary prowess.
Human and dog friendly office
An inclusive community and culture, in a welcoming office, we encourage you to bring your true self…and your dogs.
A variety of social clubs
It's Vowzers who make our culture.
From book clubs to hiking groups, we're always looking for ways to learn and engage with each other.
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