Plant Engineer

Responsibilities

• Serve as second-in-command, acting on behalf of the Plant Manager in daily operations and decision-making.
• Drive execution of plant priorities across safety, quality, delivery, cost, and people.
• Lead cross-functional alignment between Production, Maintenance, Quality, and Engineering.
• Ensure consistent execution and accountability across all shifts and departments.
• Take ownership of plant performance gaps and drive resolution with a necessary degree of urgency.
• Partner with Maintenance to own plant reliability performance (uptime, MTBF, MTTR).
• Drive improvements in preventative and predictive maintenance systems.
• Ensure root cause failure analysis (RCFA) is completed on major downtime events with sustainable corrective actions.
• Establish maintenance prioritization aligned with plant performance needs—not just reactive work.
• Lead efforts to eliminate chronic equipment issues with long-term solutions.
• Serve as the primary technical leader, supporting extrusion, converting, and recycling operations.
• Lead troubleshooting of complex process and equipment issues.
• Develop and maintain process documentation, standards, and operating parameters.
• Identify and implement process improvements to increase throughput and reduce scrap.
• Evaluate equipment performance and recommend upgrades or modifications.
• Identify, scope, and justify capital projects aligned with operational priorities.
• Lead projects from concept to startup and performance validation.
• Ensure projects are delivered on time, on budget, and achieve expected results.
• Cook with internal teams and external vendors to ensure successful implementation.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on productivity, efficiency, and cost reduction.
• Lead root cause analysis and structured problem-solving for chronic issues.
• Improve plant performance through flow optimization, line efficiency, and process standardization.
• Support daily KPI management including OEE, scrap, downtime, and labor efficiency.
• Support development of technical capability and troubleshooting skills across the workforce.
• Drive standard work and training consistency for operators and technicians.
• Promote workforce flexibility and cross-training to improve plant performance.
• Promote a behavior-based safety culture and implement engineering controls to reduce risk.
• Ensure equipment and processes meet safety, environmental, and regulatory standards.
• Partner with Quality to improve process consistency and defect reduction.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in engineering or equivalent experience in manufacturing.
• Experience: 5–10 years of experience in manufacturing, preferably in plastics, extrusion, or converting.
• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities: Knowledge of extrusion, resins, recycling or related; Strong MS Office and ERP systems knowledge; Able to lead and inspire in a team environment; Able to influence without direct authority; Prior experience managing a budget; Excellent written and verbal communication skills; Good organization skills, tasks and detail oriented; Critical thinking and problem-solving skills; Capable of delivering constructive criticism; Quality System knowledge and auditing ability.