Project Engineer / Senior Project Engineer

Our Story

With over 2,400+ employees and net sales of nearly $1.8 billion, Sargento is a family‑owned company that has been a leader in cheese for more than 70 years. We created the world’s first, successful pre‑packaged sliced and shredded natural cheeses. Sargento is based in Plymouth, Wisconsin, where we manufacture and market shredded, sliced and snack natural cheese products, as well as ingredients and sauces. Sargento is known for the exceptional quality of our products and for product design, packaging and merchandising innovations that have transformed our industry.

Our Culture

At Sargento, you work for a company you believe in, with a family of people who believe in you. Our culture stems from a simple premise: hire good people and treat them like family. You can make decisions based on how they affect people as well as the long‑term health of our company. You will be encouraged to make a meaningful difference in the community, in the company and in your career. With diverse experiences and tools to learn and develop, you can transform your aspirations into reality.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical including fertility, adoption benefits, dental, and vision insurance
• Remote ½ day Fridays
• Onsite health & wellness center
• Employer 401(k) contribution in the top 1 % of the nation
• Relocation assistance
• Tuition assistance
• Access to employee store

What You Do

• Provide project management and engineering services: conduct project identification, content development, estimates, designs, prototypes, project control & tracking (scope, schedule, cost), system start‑up, system training, and project closeout.
• Act as Project Manager and “Capital Appropriation Request (CAR) Manager” for assigned projects.
• Integrate varied engineering disciplines (mechanical, electrical, packaging, facilities, etc.) as required for successful project completion.
• Conduct requests for bids or proposals (RFPs), competitive bid events, purchase order requests, invoice control, and other related financial and procurement activities.
• Identify, mitigate, prioritize, manage, and help resolve project and team issues, conflicts, constraints, dependencies, and risks in a time‑sensitive manner.
• Recommend and manage changes to project scope, deliverables, timelines, and resources to ensure project success.
• Escalate risks to management promptly and provide recommendations to resolve them.
• Provide transparency to stakeholders through meeting minutes, project updates, status reports, presentations, and participation in leadership meetings as requested.
• Establish and maintain essential project and process documentation and retention; provide project portfolio management and documentation as requested.
• Conduct post‑project evaluations, lessons learned, and assess results; work with cross‑functional teams to optimize and create new processes.
• Use and support standard operating procedures and other established business processes; recommend process improvements.
• Provide oversight, direction, and control of external contractors while on site.
• Ensure projects result in food‑safe, human‑safe, and ergonomically favorable solutions.
• Assist manufacturing personnel with development and documentation of equipment baseline run settings, creation of operation or maintenance training materials, development of preventative maintenance plans, and ordering of spare parts.
• Stay current with technology and industry best practices to provide Sargento with the best available technology solutions.
• Research new technologies to prove out project concepts or to find solutions to manufacturing challenges.
• Learn industry‑leading business process and project management practices by participating in forums, seminars, training, user groups, and other organizations.
• Provide and coordinate engineering services (internal and external) with other stakeholders as needed; work cross‑functionally with R&D, Innovation, Manufacturing, Quality, IT, and HR.
• Assist in interfacing with regulatory agencies (WDA, USDA‑AMS, FDA, OSHA, etc.) and respond to manufacturing facility audits to provide compliant equipment and projects.
• Assure proper engineering drawing and documentation methods, approvals, control, and archival independently or through collaboration with internal drafting resources.
• Work with Indirect Procurement on specifications development, bid preparation, and bid solicitation; assist in developing/reviewing vendor Statements of Work (SOWs) as required.
• Work with Legal to execute contracts and agreements with outside parties.
• Provide manufacturing support: expertise for cheese cutting, conversion, processing, freezing, cooling, packaging, case packing, palletizing, material handling, and other processes or technologies.
• Provide subject‑matter‑expert support for Continuous Improvement (CI) activities; may participate in lean activities such as Kaizen or Root Cause Analysis investigation events.
• Travel as needed: daily travel between facilities and local suppliers using personal vehicle; overnight travel may be required to support projects, training, or future facilities outside the immediate Plymouth, WI area.
• Other duties may be assigned; confidentiality is required for all work.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor of Science degree in a relevant technical area required