Principal Manufacturing Process Engineer

The Principal Manufacturing Process Engineer plays a pivotal role in optimizing our production processes, ensuring the efficient and cost-effective manufacturing of our food products. You will focus on the upstream dairy process, working to optimize blending, standardization, heat treatment, filtration & sanitation. The role will collaborate with cross-functional teams, including Production Operations, Quality Assurance, Maintenance, Reliability Engineering, Controls/Capital Engineering, Operations Excellence, and Supply Chain, to drive continuous improvement, maintain product quality, and enhance overall production performance.

Encompassing process optimization, improving process capability, process step-to-step enhancement, risk reduction, process & food safety, and close collaboration with various teams. This role offers a 100% remote work schedule arrangement.

• Serve as the subject matter expert in fluid-related process engineering, focusing on upstream dairy processes including blending, standardization, heat treatment, filtration & sanitation.
• Provide day-to-day process engineering support and lead engineering strategies around processing line capability, capacity, and optimization that align with organizational priorities.
• Convey advanced technical information and influence diverse stakeholders across the organization.
• Guide, mentor, and train process engineers in the mastery of process engineering tools, methodologies, and skills related to fluid processing.
• Provide technical guidance, ensuring clear priorities and accountability for deliverables, while fostering a culture of safety, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Evaluate existing manufacturing processes and identify areas for improvement in efficiency, productivity, process capability, risk, and cost reduction.
• Design and implement improvements to enhance yield, reduce waste, increase through puts, improve cycle times, reduce bottlenecks, and streamline operations while maintaining strict adherence to food safety and quality standards.
• Drive high financial impact on company-wide results, leading technical teams through complex projects.
• Collaborate with Operations Excellence and Data Science/Analytics teams to leverage data for process optimization.
• Partner with cross-functional teams—including Production Operations, Quality Assurance, Maintenance, Reliability Engineering, Controls/Capital Engineering, and Supply Chain—to ensure efficient, cost-effective, and high-quality production of food products.
• Lead or assist in the development of new equipment installations or modifications, from concept to commissioning, with a focus on maximizing output, minimizing downtime, and reducing operational risk.
• Collaborate with Project Engineers on capital project development including scoping, budget estimates, schedule development, construction plans, downtime planning/risk mitigation, and ensuring scope and equipment qualification success criteria are met.
• Perform process capability studies to predict manufacturing process trends to meet customer specifications and create stability in day-to-day operations.
• Utilize advanced data analysis and statistical techniques to identify bottlenecks, process variability, and areas for improvement across multiple production processes.
• Implement data-driven solutions to increase overall efficiency while mitigating operational risk.
• Maintain accurate documentation, including process manuals, plant P&IDs, CCPs, standard operating procedures, and equipment specifications, with an emphasis on standardizing the process and sharing best practices.

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Chemical or Process Engineering preferred); other…