Salary Range: $85,000–$105,000 annually, based on experience
110 Recruiting is partnering with a consumer goods manufacturing company, hiring a Manufacturing Process Engineer. This role is responsible for improving process capability, product quality, equipment uptime, safety, and manufacturing cost. The Process Engineer will work closely with Operations, Quality, Maintenance, Engineering, Environmental Health and Safety, and Supply Chain to troubleshoot production issues, standardize operating conditions, support new product trials, and lead continuous improvement initiatives. The ideal candidate is a hands-on engineer who is comfortable working directly on the manufacturing floor and using process data to identify problems, implement solutions, and sustain measurable improvements.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide day-to-day technical support and process ownership for coating, compounding, extrusion, curing, finishing, and converting operations.
- Support production start-ups, shutdowns, product changeovers, and troubleshooting activities.
- Establish and maintain process standards, including formulas, setpoints, operating conditions, work instructions, and response plans.
- Monitor and improve critical process characteristics such as material consistency, coating application, adhesion, curing, surface appearance, viscosity, temperature, and dimensional stability.
- Lead structured root-cause investigations for quality defects, equipment downtime, scrap, and process variation.
- Develop and implement corrective and preventive actions to address recurring manufacturing issues.
- Optimize mixing, compounding, coating, and material-handling parameters to improve product performance, processing efficiency, and material cost.
- Partner with Quality to develop control plans, identify critical-to-quality characteristics, and improve first-pass yield.
- Use statistical process control, capability studies, trend analysis, and other data-driven methods to reduce process variation.
- Plan and execute manufacturing trials involving new products, raw materials, formulas, equipment, and process changes.
- Define trial objectives, sampling requirements, success criteria, and post-trial recommendations.
- Collaborate with Maintenance and Engineering to improve the reliability and performance of mixers, pumps, extruders, coaters, ovens, cutting equipment, and related systems.
- Identify opportunities to improve preventive maintenance programs, equipment settings, troubleshooting procedures, and critical spare-parts strategies.
- Lead waste, scrap, rework, downtime, and material-consumption reduction projects.
- Quantify project savings, track results, and develop controls to sustain improvements.
- Maintain process documentation, including standard operating procedures, process sheets, technical specifications, troubleshooting guides, training materials, and change-control records.
- Train and coach production operators, technicians, and shift leaders on process fundamentals, standard work, safe operation, and out-of-specification response procedures.
- Analyze manufacturing performance metrics such as overall equipment effectiveness, uptime, throughput, scrap, material consumption, quality losses, and process stability.
- Communicate priorities, findings, and action plans to plant leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
- Provide occasional off-shift support for significant production or equipment issues.
Primary Objectives
- Reduce raw-material consumption, scrap, rework, and overall manufacturing cost.
- Improve process capability, repeatability, and stability.
- Increase equipment uptime, throughput, and overall equipment effectiveness.
- Improve product quality and first-pass yield.
- Reduce recurring defects and production disruptions through faster, more disciplined troubleshooting.
- Standardize best practices and sustain improvements across shifts.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- Equivalent combinations of technical education and relevant manufacturing experience may be considered.
- Experience supporting manufacturing processes such as coating, compounding, extrusion, converting, mixing, curing, or material application.
- Strong mechanical and process aptitude.
- Demonstrated experience troubleshooting manufacturing processes and equipment.
- Knowledge of structured problem-solving methods such as 5-Why analysis, fishbone diagrams, failure analysis, or corrective-action systems.
- Experience using manufacturing data to identify trends and implement process improvements.
- Working knowledge of statistical process control, process capability, or design of experiments.
- Experience supporting continuous improvement initiatives using lean manufacturing, standard work, loss analysis, or kaizen principles.
- Ability to develop and maintain process documentation, work instructions, and technical standards.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives involving Operations, Quality, Maintenance, Engineering, and Safety.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Excel or comparable data-analysis tools.
- Ability to spend significant time on the manufacturing floor and provide hands-on technical support.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in consumer goods, flooring, textiles, plastics, polymers, chemicals, rubber, building products, or a related continuous manufacturing environment.
- Knowledge of polymer processing, formulation, coating, compounding, extrusion, drying, curing, or web-based manufacturing processes.
- Experience with process-control systems, manufacturing execution systems, computerized maintenance systems, or production reporting platforms.
- Experience leading capital improvements, equipment upgrades, or production trials.
- Knowledge of overall equipment effectiveness, first-pass yield, material variance, and manufacturing cost analysis.
- Coursework or practical experience involving polymer science, materials science, chemistry, or rubber technology.
- Lean, Six Sigma, or similar continuous improvement training.
Safety and Compliance
- Follow and reinforce all plant safety policies and safe work practices.
- Support lockout/tagout, personal protective equipment, chemical handling, machine guarding, and risk-assessment requirements.
- Participate in incident investigations and corrective-action activities.
- Maintain required product, process, specification, and change-control documentation.
- Promote consistent quality and safety practices across all production shifts.
Work Environment
- Manufacturing environment with exposure to production noise, heat, airborne particulates, moving machinery, and chemicals commonly used in industrial processing.
- Frequent time on the production floor observing equipment, collecting samples, conducting trials, and supporting troubleshooting.
- May require standing or walking for extended periods.
- May require occasional lifting of samples, materials, or tools within company safety guidelines.
- Occasional schedule flexibility or off-shift support may be required during trials, equipment issues, or major production events.
Pay: $85,000.00 - $105,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Flexible spending account
- Health insurance
- Health savings account
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Parental leave
- Professional development assistance
- Retirement plan
- Tuition reimbursement
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
