Production Engineer

Description

The Production Engineer supports day-to-day manufacturing operations, ensuring equipment and processes run safely, efficiently, and reliably. This role focuses on real-time troubleshooting, daily optimization, and supporting both immediate operational needs and short-cycle continuous improvement initiatives. The Production Engineer partners closely with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, and Engineering to improve throughput, reliability, yield, and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).

• Monitor production performance and troubleshoot issues impacting safety, quality, cost, and throughput.
• Serve as the first engineering point of contact for operators, maintenance, and shift supervisors.
• Provide on-the-floor support during startups, shutdowns, changeovers, and abnormal operating situations.
• Support rapid response to equipment failures, process disruptions, and variability events.
• Track and communicate short-term production losses.

• Analyze machine and process performance to identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and reliability gaps.
• Optimize equipment settings, control parameters, and operating conditions to improve output and reduce variability.
• Support preventive and predictive maintenance planning with Maintenance and Reliability teams.
• Assist in developing and updating SOPs, work instructions, troubleshooting guides, and operator best practices.

• Collaborate with Quality to investigate defects, deviations, and customer complaints.
• Lead or support short-term root cause analysis using structured methods (5
  
  Why, Fishbone, DMAIC).
• Implement corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) to reduce repeat issues.
• Ensure compliance with safety, environmental, and quality standards (ISO, GMP, internal policies).
• Maintain accurate production documentation and support audit readiness.

The Production Engineer plays a key role in ensuring safe daily operations by maintaining compliance with established operating limits, supporting frontline hazard mitigation, and reinforcing a strong safety culture. While the Process Engineer owns process design, PSI, and long-term process safety governance, the Production Engineer ensures that daily operations remain within those engineered constraints.

• Maintain Safe Daily Operation:
  Ensure the unit operates within established operating envelopes, safe operating limits (SOLs), and critical process parameters defined by the Process Engineer.
• Frontline Hazard Identification & Mitigation:
  Identify unsafe conditions, abnormal trends, and early indicators of process upsets. Escalate deviations promptly and support Operations in implementing immediate corrective actions.
• Support PSM Execution (Operations-Facing Elements):
  Participate in PHAs/HAZOPs as an operations representative; support MOC implementation by reviewing operational impacts, training operators, and validating readiness; ensure procedures, SOPs, and operator instructions reflect current safe practices.
• Abnormal Situation Management:
  Provide real-time engineering support during upsets, shutdowns, startups, and emergency situations.
• Incident Response & Short-Term RCA:
  Lead or support immediate investigations for safety-related deviations, near misses, and minor incidents. Implement short-term corrective actions and hand off chronic/systemic issues to the Process Engineer.
• Operator Training & Safety Reinforcement:
  Coach operators on safe operating practices, alarm response, and recognition of abnormal conditions.
• Field Presence & Safety Leadership:
  Maintain strong presence on the production floor to observe conditions, verify safe behaviors, and support safe execution of work.

• Lead improvement projects to increase efficiency, throughput, yield, and reduce downtime and waste.
• Apply Lean tools such as 5S, Kaizen, value stream mapping, and waste elimination.
• Utilize Six Sigma, SPC, DOE, and data analysis to reduce variability and enhance quality.
• Support initiatives to improve OEE and other operational KPIs.

• Support small to medium engineering projects, including equipment upgrades, layout changes, process improvements, and automation enhancements.
• Participate in commissioning, SAT/FAT, startup, and operator training for new equipment or process changes.
• Work cross-functionally on new product introductions (NPI) or process transitions to ensure manufacturability and smooth startup.

• Track, analyze, and communicate performance metrics, including throughput, downtime, scrap, OEE, cycle time, and efficiency trends.
• Prepare daily/weekly production reports, identify performance gaps, and recommend corrective actions.
• Leverage data to prioritize improvement activities and guide decision-making.

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, Industrial, Manufacturing, Chemical, or related Engineering.
• 1–5+ years of experience in production,…