Junior Industrial Engineer; Food Plant

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION:

Edesia is a non‑profit social enterprise on a mission to end global malnutrition. We manufacture and distribute life‑saving, ready‑to‑use therapeutic foods—such as Plumpy’Nut and Nutributter—to treat and prevent malnutrition among children and mothers in the world’s most vulnerable and hard‑to‑reach communities. Through strong partnerships with leading humanitarian organizations, NGOs, and Ministries of Health, we ensure our products reach those who need them most—even in the midst of the most complex and challenging humanitarian emergencies.

Working in a dynamic, collaborative, interdepartmental, cross‑plant team environment, the Junior Industrial Engineer will support the Engineering and other operational teams by providing a qualified engineering‑based approach to new and proposed projects and responsibilities. The role will support projects that create new opportunities and/or improve existing equipment and systems for food material handling, processing, and packaging. Working with the Engineering Department, they will analyze current practices against best practices to drive change in an organization that puts the highest value on continuous improvement.

This role will support the reconfiguration of Edesia Nutrition’s packaging room by integrating advanced automation technologies to enhance operational efficiency, ensure seamless production sequencing, and minimize capacity loss.

Project Support & Execution

• Assist in the design, specification, and implementation of new automated packaging systems.
• Project schedule management, installation planning, trialing, and system implementation.
• Evaluates contractor agreements for cost/benefit considerations.
• Builds and maintains relationships with contractors and 3rd party resources.
• Contribute to the integration of sachet counting, cooling, quality control, and product settling systems.

Process Engineering

• Analyze current packaging workflows and identify opportunities for automation.
• Support the development of process flow diagrams, layout plans, and sequencing logic.

Testing & Validation

• Assist in commissioning and testing new equipment and systems.
• Support the development of validation protocols and documentation.
• Monitor performance metrics and troubleshoot issues during ramp‑up.

Documentation & Compliance

• Maintain accurate records of engineering changes, test results, and project milestones.
• Ensure compliance with food safety, quality, and safety standards.

Cross‑functional Collaboration

• Work closely with production, maintenance, quality, R&D, planning, and IT teams to ensure smooth implementation.
• Participate in daily and weekly project meetings, providing updates and insights.

Continuous Improvement

• Manage process and packaging continuous improvement projects and associated trials to completion with interdepartmental support.
• Partner with appropriate teams to investigate and troubleshoot any problems that arise with processes, procedures, and operations of new and existing company systems.
• Assist project management teams with project startups, commissioning, and validations as requested.
• Provide reports to management regarding all engineering activities, schedules, budget projected/attained, deviations, etc.
• Assist with safety program management by contributing in incident investigations and providing engineering explanations and analysis of situations. Join others to identify and develop preventive measures and solutions to issues, ensuring compliance with OSHA and company‑regulated safety standards.

• BS Engineering Degree in one of the following:
  Industrial, Mechanical, Electrical, Packaging, or Materials Engineering.
• 0–2 years of engineering experience in industrial process and process systems.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills based on proven data and root cause analysis.
• Direct experience with manufacturing facilities, safety and quality programs.
• Demonstrated ability to provide complex and innovative solutions to process engineering problems and challenges.
• Proficient oral and written skills.

• Experience with a continuous process discipline such as Six Sigma/Lean/TQM…