Plant Manufacturing Engineering Manager

Job Description

Location:

Grand Island NE

Reports to:

Plant Manager

Dotted Line:
Sr. Director, Manufacturing Engineering - Plant Network

Scope:
Site-level leadership of Manufacturing Engineering, Maintenance, and Facilities functions

The Plant Manufacturing Engineering Manager provides hands‑on leadership for all manufacturing engineering, maintenance, and facilities functions within the plant. Reporting directly to the Plant Manager with a dotted line to the Sr. Director of Manufacturing Engineering, this position ensures the consistent execution of automation, digitalization, process improvement, and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) systems in alignment with the ASD Lean Operating System.

This role combines technical and operational leadership—managing process optimization, equipment reliability, and capital execution to deliver year‑over‑year improvements in safety, quality, delivery, cost, cash, and people (SQDCCP). The Plant Manufacturing Engineering Manager partners closely with production, materials, and quality to strengthen the plant’s technical capability, process stability, and continuous improvement culture.

• Lead the site’s manufacturing engineering strategy focused on improving process capability, throughput, and cost efficiency.
• Deploy and sustain standardized work methods, process documentation, and best practices established by the corporate Manufacturing Engineering team.
• Partner with Plant Leadership and Product Engineering to ensure manufacturability, scalability, and quality of new product introductions.
• Manage capital investments, layout optimization, and equipment upgrades in coordination with enterprise standards.
• Lead daily Tier 3 meetings to align engineering support with production priorities and SQDCCP metrics.

• Implement automation and digital manufacturing solutions aligned with corporate strategy to improve consistency and labor productivity.
• Support integration of MES, IoT, and smart factory technologies for real‑time equipment monitoring and process visibility.
• Drive predictive and data‑driven maintenance initiatives leveraging analytics and digital tools.
• Evaluate and implement robotics, vision systems, and advanced automation to improve safety and reduce waste.

• Own plant-level maintenance and reliability performance, ensuring TPM systems are deployed effectively.
• Implement preventive and predictive maintenance programs to minimize unplanned downtime and optimize asset utilization.
• Lead the maintenance team to ensure adherence to safety standards, work order completion, and CMMS accuracy.
• Drive MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) and MTTR (Mean Time to Repair) improvements through disciplined root cause analysis.
• Partner with operators and supervisors to embed basic equipment care and autonomous maintenance practices.

• Oversee facility infrastructure, utilities, and building systems, ensuring reliable and safe operation.
• Manage capital budgets for maintenance, facility improvements, and new equipment installation.
• Ensure all facility and capital projects meet regulatory, environmental, and safety standards.
• Support energy efficiency and sustainability initiatives in partnership with EHS and corporate engineering.

• Develop and execute a technical capability roadmap for engineers, technicians, and maintenance teams.
• Lead structured problem‑solving (RCCM’s, PDCA, 5-Why, Fishbone) to eliminate chronic issues and improve process stability.
• Partner with Lean, Quality, and Operations to ensure standard work and visual management systems are sustained.
• Integrate engineering and maintenance metrics into plant SQDCCP and Tier review meetings.
• Support cross‑functional Kaizen events to drive safety, quality, and productivity improvements.

• Acts as a technical leader and coach—developing engineering and maintenance talent through hands‑on mentorship.
• Operates as a system integrator, ensuring alignment between operations, maintenance, and engineering.
• Models servant…