Project Management Engineer; Food Industry - Orleans, Louisiana

Mission Hires is seeking a Process & Project Management Engineer with deep food manufacturing experience to drive throughput, reduce waste, and lead capital projects (up to $5MM) across cooked foods, sauces, and seasoning operations. This role will standardize processes, implement Lean, strengthen food safety and regulatory compliance, and help establish a structured daily management system while partnering cross-functionally to modernize and stabilize a high-change facility.

• Analyze, optimize, and standardize manufacturing processes for cooked foods, sauces, and seasoning blends
• Lead Lean initiatives (5S, SMED, waste elimination, process simplification) to improve throughput and line reliability
• Apply structured root-cause analysis to eliminate repeat failures and stabilize operations
• Develop and maintain SOPs, work instructions, and technical documentation
• Implement and support a structured daily management system (tiered meetings, KPI boards, process discipline)
• Use data (Excel, KPIs, process trends) for fact-based decisions and continuous improvement
• Lead capital projects up to $5MM from scope and design through procurement, installation, and commissioning
• Develop financial justifications, budgets, cash flow forecasts, and ROI analyses with Finance
• Track project spend, manage forecasts and variances, and deliver on time and on budget
• Oversee equipment layouts, process flows, utilities, and technology integration
• Manage contractors, integrators, and engineering firms for safety, quality, cost, schedule, and performance
• Provide engineering support for batching, blending, thermal processing, packaging, and sanitation
• Recommend and implement automation, controls, instrumentation, and process monitoring enhancements
• Ensure compliance with FDA, USDA, FSMA, customer standards, sanitary design, and site food safety programs
• Collaborate with Operations, Quality, R&D, Supply Chain, and Maintenance on trials and readiness
• Identify cost-reduction opportunities, validate savings, and support financial justifications
• Provide data-driven insights on cost drivers, throughput, labor impacts, and efficiency
• Lead or support commissioning of new equipment and technology transfers
• Train operators and supervisors on new processes, equipment, standards, and documentation
• Model ownership, reliability, accountability, and continuous improvement in a modernization environment

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Chemical, Industrial, or related engineering field
• 5+ years of experience in food manufacturing
• Proven project management capability in fast‑changing environments
• Demonstrated success applying Lean in a plant setting (e.g., 5S, SMED, waste elimination)
• Experience leading capital projects up to $5MM total installed cost
• Hands‑on problem‑solving with strong cross‑functional communication skills
• Knowledge of food safety, sanitation, regulatory compliance, and sanitary design principles
• Strong Excel and data analysis skills, using KPIs to drive decisions
• Experience creating technical documentation and process standards
• Preferred:
  Experience with thermal processing, batching, blending, or RTE cooked systems
• Preferred:
  Experience with WMS, MES, or digital plant‑performance tools
• Preferred:
  Background in high‑change, fast‑paced, or turnaround facilities
• Preferred:
  Experience training frontline teams or supervisors
• Preferred:
  Six Sigma Green Belt or higher
• Preferred:
  Experience with structured daily management systems (DMS, SQCDP, MOS, tiered accountability) and continuous improvement frameworks
• Leadership expectations: ownership mindset, collaboration, positive accountability, innovation, financial discipline, clear translation of technical decisions to business impact, strong planning/prioritization, effective plant‑floor presence, and excellence in a fast‑paced, transformation‑focused facility