Calibration Technician
Orca Bio · Sacramento, CA
- Level
- Technician
- Team
- Quality
- Degree
- Required (or equivalent experience)
- Experience asked
- 4+ years
- Industry
- Pharma & life sciences
- Posted
- 30+ days ago
The role in 30 seconds
A technician-level quality role at Orca Bio (pharma & life sciences) in Sacramento, CA. Perform calibration, adjustment, and repair of equipment used in GMP Production and Quality Control Lab testing (mechanical, electrical, electronic, and dimensional).
- They ask for
- 4+ years · degree required (or equivalent experience)
- Tools it names
- ISO 9001, FDA / GMP
- Day to day
- some off-shift / weekend coverage
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
From the plant jobs report · week of October 19, 2026
Quality Technician roles in the US: typical posted base $50k–$70k.
Median of the low and high ends of 23 live postings that list pay, out of 401 quality technician openings in the US, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.
California plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →
How this role compares
Against 37 other live quality postings in California.
- Experience asked
- Typical (4+ years)
Similar roles usually ask 4+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- Team leadership 47%
- Root cause 47%
- GD&T 24%
- ✓ ISO 9001 24%
- AS9100 21%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
Stands out: this posting asks for FDA / GMP, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.
At a glance
Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.
How to get in at this plant
Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.
- 1
Pick 2–3 people on the Quality team at Orca Bio
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
- 2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
- 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Which standards drive the work here: ISO 13485, IATF 16949, AS9100?
- How much of the job is customer complaints versus prevention?
- How does off-shift and weekend coverage work?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
- 4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
- 5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.
This plant: Orca Bio in Sacramento
1 other open role at this site.
- Senior Engineer, Process Validation - Cell Therapy · Quality · Senior
Full description from Orca BioAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
Key Responsibilities
- ◆Perform calibration, adjustment, and repair of equipment used in GMP Production and Quality Control Lab testing (mechanical, electrical, electronic, and dimensional).
- ◆Maintain calibration records in accordance with quality standards (ISO, ANSI, NIST, etc.).
- ◆Utilize and maintain a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) to accurately track, plan, and document asset calibration, repairs, and inventory, ensuring data integrity for regulatory compliance.
- ◆Troubleshoot equipment performance issues and recommend corrective actions.
- ◆Ensure all Calibration Standards meet required tolerances and specifications.
- ◆Author and update calibration procedures.
- ◆Assist with internal and external audits.
- ◆Maintain a clean and organized calibration lab.
- ◆Coordinate with production and engineering teams to minimize downtime.
Qualifications
- ✓Associate degree or technical certification in Electronics, Engineering Technology, or related field (or equivalent experience).
- ✓4 years of calibration experience in a GMP environment, preferably in the cell therapy, biotechnology or pharmaceutical manufacturing facility.
- ✓Strong knowledge of measurement principles and standards (ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 17025 preferred).
- ✓Experience with Calibration Standards such as multimeters, temperature sensors pressure gauges, torque tools, tachometers, calipers, and other precision instruments.
- ✓Experience with GMP regulatory standards, and documenting work per GDP requirements.
- ✓Ability to read technical drawings and schematics.
- ✓Strong attention to detail, documentation, communication, and interpersonal skills.
- ✓Proficiency in Microsoft Office, maintenance management, and calibration management software.
- ✓Familiarity with NIST traceability requirements.
- ✓Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
- ✓Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- ✓The position requires on-site presence and typically involves regular hours but may require on-call availability and after-hours presence for planned or unplanned work, or emergency response.
- ✓Gowning for cleanroom access.
- ✓Ability to lift up to 40 lbs.
- ✓Manual dexterity for handling small components.
Show full description ↓Show less ↑
More than one million people in the United States today are fighting blood cancer. While a traditional allogeneic stem cell transplant has been the best hope for many, the transplant itself can prove fatal or lead to serious conditions, such as graft vs. host disease. Orca Bio is a commercial-stage biotechnology company redefining the transplant process by developing next-generation cell therapies with the goal of providing significantly better survival rates with dramatically fewer risks. With our purified, high-precision cell therapies we hope to not only replace patients' blood and immune systems with healthy ones, but also restore their lives.
We have built a state-of-the-art, 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Sacramento, CA (7910 Metro Air Pkwy) to ensure the consistent and reliable delivery of our high-precision cell therapy products. This site is essential to advancing our clinical pipeline and supporting future commercial availability of our life-saving therapies.
Summary of Position: The Calibration Technician is responsible for inspecting, testing, calibrating, and maintaining measurement and test equipment to ensure accuracy and compliance with industry standards and company quality requirements. The Calibration Technician works closely with other departments to support the overall goals of the organization.
Physical Demands & Work Conditions
- •Production Associates: Must have visual acuity of 20/20 (corrected or uncorrected) and normal color vision to safely perform critical tasks such as visual inspection of materials, equipment, and labeling, including distinguishing color-coded components in a GMP environment.
- •Must meet cleanroom gowning requirements, including wearing full gowning (face coverings, gloves, hoods, goggles) for up to 3 consecutive hours at a time, minimal movement in the cleanroom, and working with or around human blood, blood-derived materials, cells, other biological materials, and alcohol-based sprays. Use of cosmetics (makeup, painted nails), jewelry, or facial piercings is not permitted in the cleanroom, and any skin conditions that cause shedding must be disclosed.
- •Must be comfortable regularly participating in video-based meetings.