Contract Manufacturing Engineer

Scope of Services

• Evaluate and recommend qualified external engineering firms.
• Solicit proposals from selected firms for defined engineering scopes.
• Provide comparative analysis of proposals, including technical approach, assumptions, cost structure, and schedule.
• Serve as the primary technical liaison between the company and selected external engineering firms.
• Review and challenge engineering assumptions, cost estimates, and technical approaches.
• Provide technical input on engineering feasibility, equipment integration, and manufacturing requirements.
• Track engineering deliverables against agreed scope, milestones, and schedule.
• Maintain organized documentation of engineering plans, deliverables, and technical decisions.
• Cover coordination of cross-functional technical reviews and ensure incorporation of stakeholder feedback.
• Identify risks, constraints, and potential delays early, and escalate appropriately with recommended mitigation strategies.
• Coordinate with general contractors, Facilities Manager, and internal teams to support pilot plant facility integration.
• Ensure engineering plans align with facility capabilities and construction timelines.
• Travel to manufacturing or partner facilities as needed to evaluate sites, support engineering reviews, coordinate with site engineering teams, and assess feasibility of proposed engineering solutions.

Preferred Candidate Profile

• 10+ years of engineering experience supporting industrial manufacturing, process manufacturing, or food production environments.
• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related engineering discipline strongly preferred.
• Significant experience supporting CapEx, facility expansion, utilities, infrastructure, and manufacturing process projects within food manufacturing or similarly regulated process industries.
• Deep familiarity with food processing systems, sanitary process design, CIP/COP systems, piping, utilities, production line integration, and food-grade manufacturing environments.
• Experience working within active manufacturing facilities where uptime, operational continuity, food safety, and production constraints must be carefully managed.
• Proven ability to oversee and critically evaluate external engineering firms, contractors, equipment vendors, and technical proposals.
• Strong understanding of value engineering, constructability, process flow optimization, equipment integration, and manufacturing feasibility.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional stakeholders including operations, maintenance, quality, food safety, R&D, and external contractors.
• Comfortable operating in lean, fast-paced environments with evolving priorities, ambiguity, and high ownership expectations.