SBU Engineering Manager

Overview

Greif is a global leader in performance packaging located in 40 countries. The company delivers trusted, innovative, and tailored solutions that support some of the world's most in demand and fastest-growing industries. With a commitment to legendary customer service, operational excellence, and global sustainability, Greif packages life's essentials and creates lasting value for its colleagues, customers, and other stakeholders. Learn more about the company's Customized Polymer, Sustainable Fiber, Durable Metal, and Integrated Solutions at  and follow Greif on Instagram and Linked In.

The SBU Engineering Manager (SEM) is a senior engineering leader responsible for balancing business partnership, people leadership, and engineering execution across the assigned Strategic Business Unit (SBU) to include North American, Canada & Mexico. This role leads the SBU engineering organization to deliver safe, reliable, cost-effective, and scalable engineering outcomes, while serving as a trusted business partner to SBU leadership. The SEM is accountable not only for project and technical execution, but also for developing engineering capability and future leaders, strengthening cross-functional alignment, and enabling long-term organizational performance.

The SEM reports to the VP Engineering and works in close partnership with the SBU Leadership Team and other functional leaders to translate business strategy into engineering priorities, investments, and capabilities.

Local presence matters - Local candidates preferred within one of the specified locations. Significant travel is required throughout the assigned region to drive business engagement, lead teams, and support ongoing development.

• Chicago, IL
• Delaware, OH
• Atlanta, GA
• Houston, TX

• Business Engagement & Organizational Leadership:
  Serve as a key engineering and business partner to the SBU leadership team, actively contributing to strategy, capital planning, and operational priorities.
• Translate business needs into engineering roadmaps, capital plans, and resource strategies that balance near-term execution with long-term capability.
• Lead and participate in SBU, regional, and enterprise strategic planning, including growth initiatives, cost optimization, and network investments.
• Build strong cross-functional relationships with Operations, Maintenance, EH&S, Finance, Supply Chain, and other enabling functions to drive alignment and execution.
• Seek and integrate feedback from SBU leadership and peers to continuously improve engineering value delivery.
• Promote a Global Engineering mindset by leveraging the global footprint of Greif.

• Lead, coach, and develop the SBU engineering organization, creating a strong engineering bench and succession pipeline.
• Establish clear expectations, performance goals, and development plans for engineering team members.
• Create a culture of empowerment, accountability, continuous improvement, safety, and collaboration.
• Responsible for staffing, onboarding, training, performance management, and colleague engagement.
• Coach engineering teams on project management, standards, and effective cross-functional interactions.

• Ensure engineering execution across SBU delivers reliable equipment solutions, safety and regulatory compliance, quality, cost, and schedule adherence.
• Oversee selection of equipment for the right purpose and provide leadership for plant facilities, equipment, tooling, automation, and machine standards.
• Lead design, development, acquisition, installation, maintenance, and upgrades.
• Lead major SBU, regional, and network engineering projects as assigned.
• Establish and maintain a cadence of accountability for project execution, capital deployment, and engineering performance.
• Monitor engineering KPIs, project performance, and capital spend; drive corrective actions and continuous improvement.
• Own SBU engineering budget execution, variance management, and forecasting in partnership with Finance.
• Support Maintenance Excellence and Lean Manufacturing initiatives across the SBU.
• Develop and manage external engineering partners, suppliers, and contractors to support SBU priorities.
• Ensure equipment safety standards are implemented and maintained in coordination with EH&S.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

• Bachelor s degree (or equivalent) in Engineering Required
• 10+ years of engineering and project management experience in a manufacturing environment
• 5+ years of experience leading engineers or technical teams
• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional initiatives and capital programs

• Strong leadership capability with experience developing technical talent and future leaders
• Ability to balance business strategy, people leadership, and functional execution
• Strong project and capital management expertise
• Experience with lean manufacturing, maintenance excellence, and process improvement
• Financial…