Plant Engineering Manager

Plant Engineering Manager

The Plant Engineering Manager oversees all engineering, maintenance, utilities, and automation systems within a large, highly automated USDA food manufacturing plant. This leader ensures equipment reliability, regulatory compliance, continuous improvement, and long-term asset health while driving operational excellence in a 24/7 production environment.

The role blends technical depth, leadership, strategic planning, and hands-on problem solving across mechanical, electrical, controls, and facility systems.

• Engineering Leadership — Set the technical vision for the plant, ensuring engineering strategies align with production goals, food safety requirements, and long-term asset health. This includes defining engineering standards, approving equipment specifications, and guiding the plant's automation roadmap.
• Team Development — Build a high-performance culture across maintenance, reliability, and controls teams. Provide coaching, succession planning, and skills development for technicians, supervisors, and engineers.
• Cross-Functional Influence — Serve as the plant's technical authority, partnering with Operations, Quality, Sanitation, and Corporate Engineering to solve complex problems and drive plant-wide improvements.

• Maintenance & Reliability — Own the plant's reliability strategy, including preventive, predictive, and condition-based maintenance programs (TPM).
• CMMS Optimization — Ensure accurate work order management, asset histories, and spare-parts control. Use data to identify chronic failures and optimize PM frequencies.
• Reliability Engineering — Lead root cause analysis (RCA), FMEA (FMECA, FMEDA), and reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) to reduce unplanned downtime.
• Performance Metrics — Track MTBF, MTTR, PM compliance, and maintenance cost per unit to drive continuous improvement.

• Automation & Controls — Oversee PLCs, SCADA, production & line control systems, and automated material handling.
• System Integration — Ensure seamless communication between equipment, sensors, and plant-wide control systems.
• Cybersecurity for OT — Implement secure access, patching, and network segmentation for industrial control systems.
• Troubleshooting Leadership — Guide teams through complex automation failures, ensuring rapid recovery and long-term corrective actions.
• Automated Production Systems – Industrial robotics and high-speed servo-based equipment systems

• USDA & Food Safety Compliance — Ensure all engineering and maintenance activities meet USDA, FDA, HACCP, GMP, and internal food safety standards.
• Sanitary Design — Lead equipment and facility design reviews to ensure compliance with sanitary design principles.
• Audit Readiness — Maintain documentation, validation records, and maintenance logs to support USDA inspections and third-party audits.
• Management of Change (MOC) Control — Manage engineering changes to ensure they do not compromise food safety or regulatory compliance.

• Capital Project Management — Lead multi-million-dollar projects from concept to commissioning.
• Scope Development — Define project requirements, equipment specifications, and ROI analyses.
• Vendor & Contractor Management — Oversee bidding, selection, and performance of engineering firms and contractors.
• Startup & Commissioning — Ensure equipment validation, operator training, and performance testing meet design intent.

• Utilities & Infrastructure — Ensure critical plant utilities including ammonia refrigeration, boilers, compressed air, wastewater, and HVAC are maintained.
• Regulatory Compliance — Ensure compliance with PSM (Process Safety Management), environmental permits, and OSHA standards.
• Energy Management — Identify opportunities to reduce energy consumption and improve sustainability.
• Facility Integrity — Oversee structural, roofing, flooring, and environmental controls to maintain a safe, sanitary environment.

• Continuous Improvement — Drive Lean,…