Continuous Improvement Engineer

About the role

Founded over 35 years ago, First Quality is a family-owned company that has grown from a small business in McElhattan, Pennsylvania into a group of companies, employing over 5,000 team members, while maintaining our family values and entrepreneurial spirit. With corporate offices in New York and Pennsylvania and 8 manufacturing campuses across the U.S. and Canada, the companies within the First Quality group produce high-quality personal care and household products for large retailers and healthcare organizations.

Responsibilities

• Promote an action-oriented safety culture embracing safety as a core value, instilling, and exemplifying a safety mindset for all team members resulting in an incident free workplace.
• Work in conjunction with Quality department to ensure finished product satisfies all finished product quality standards.
• Responsible for providing technical support for converting machines to improve efficiencies of all equipment in the paper making process.
• Organize, implement, and maintain production process flow. Develop best practices, routines, and innovative solutions to improve production rates and quality of output.
• Systematically evaluate, analyze, and identify trends in manufacturing processes/equipment issues and data from failures. Create and implement recommendations to prevent recurrence to reduce downtime and waste.
• Complete design and development projects by training, providing technical support and promoting growth of paper operations personnel to improve understanding of processes.
• Prepare documentation for new manufacturing processes and/or engineering procedures, reviews design drawings and customer specifications.
• Utilizes project management skills, prepares timelines, schedules, and coordinates multiple disciplines to meet required schedules.
• Proposes, installs, starts up, and validates new equipment.
• Plans and leads process trials and communicates results to appropriate parties.
• Apply continuous improvement methods such as lean manufacturing to enhance manufacturing quality, reliability, or cost-effectiveness.
• Identify complex problems and review related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Consider the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Chemical or Electrical Engineering or related technical field.
• 5 years’ experience in a high-speed, high-volume manufacturing environment.
• Previous paper industry experience STRONGLY preferred.
• Experience providing technical analysis, feasibility studies and recommendations for controls systems requirements preferred.
• Microsoft Office applications.
• Experience in a lean manufacturing environment preferred.
• Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology.
• Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Fundamental knowledge of cost accounting principles.
• SAP knowledge preferred.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Analytical thought process by identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
• Ability to manage multiple projects/tasks and adjust priorities as necessary.
• Detail oriented and thorough when completing work tasks.

Qualifications

• Must have a valid driver's license and reliable transportation.
• Must be able to lift up to 50 pounds.
• Must be able to work in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment.
• Must be able to work weekends and holidays as needed.

Skills

• Lean Manufacturing
• Process Improvement
• Project Management
• Technical Analysis
• Cost Accounting
• Microsoft Office Applications
• Quality Control

Benefits

• Competitive base salary and bonus opportunities.
• Paid time off (three-week minimum).
• Medical, dental and vision starting day one.
• 401(k) with employer match.
• Paid parental leave.
• Child and family care assistance (dependent care FSA with employer match up to $2500).
• Bundle of joy benefit (years’ worth of free diapers to all team members with a new baby).
• Tuition assistance.
• Wellness program with savings of up to $4,000 per year on insurance premiums.

Pay

Competitive base salary and bonus opportunities.

Schedule

Full-time position with flexible hours to accommodate the needs of the team member and the business.