Senior Manufacturing Engineer

This position is located at our manufacturing plant in Stephenville, Texas.

About the role

The Senior Manufacturing Engineer supports and improves manufacturing processes to ensure safe, reliable, and efficient production of food products. This role applies engineering principles, data analysis, and cross-functional collaboration to improve process capability, reduce risk, and support operational performance while meeting food safety, quality, and customer requirements.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate manufacturing processes to identify opportunities to improve efficiency, throughput, yield, process capability, and operational risk.
• Design, implement, and sustain process improvements that reduce waste, improve cycle time, eliminate bottlenecks, and maintain food safety and quality standards.
• Collaborate with Production Operations, Quality Assurance, Maintenance, Reliability Engineering, Controls Engineering, Process Excellence, and Supply Chain to drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• Support scale-up of new products and process changes, ensuring effective integration into existing manufacturing systems.
• Partner with Maintenance and Reliability Engineering to improve equipment performance, uptime, and long-term reliability solutions.
• Lead or support equipment modifications and new installations from concept through commissioning, focusing on performance, safety, and risk reduction.
• Apply data analysis, statistical methods, and process capability tools to identify variability, trends, and improvement opportunities.
• Conduct FMEA activities to proactively identify process and equipment risks and implement mitigation actions.
• Define and maintain process control plans, in-process measurements, SPC monitoring, and GR&R activities.
• Troubleshoot manufacturing issues, perform root cause analysis, and implement corrective and preventive actions to prevent recurrence.
• Support Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement initiatives in partnership with the Process Excellence team.
• Collaborate with Quality Assurance to ensure compliance with food safety, quality systems, and customer requirements.
• Maintain accurate documentation including standard operating procedures, process specifications, and equipment documentation.
• Support compliance with food safety and quality plans, including CCPs, PCPs, audits, and corrective action follow-up.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Engineering Technology (Manufacturing, Mechanical, Industrial, Electrical, Chemical, or related field).
• Typically requires a minimum of 5–8 years of relevant engineering experience.
• Working knowledge of manufacturing processes and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Understanding of food safety and quality systems (HACCP, GMP, regulatory standards) or the ability to quickly develop this knowledge.
• Experience using data analysis, statistical tools, and problem-solving methodologies.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills to work effectively across functions.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a manufacturing environment.
• Ability to travel up to approximately 10%.

Benefits

• Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) from day one, with an 8% 401(k) match and an additional annual contribution of about 8% of earnings (totaling around 16% in retirement savings annually).
• Opportunity to earn incentive pay twice a year based on company goals.
• $10,000 relocation bonus plus a generous relocation package if relocating more than 50 miles for the position.
• Up to $5,000 annually to assist with childcare costs, including independent babysitters.
• Wellness Incentive and employer-funded Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA) for fitness, mental health, and other lifestyle expenses.
• Tuition reimbursement for further education relevant to your role and career goals.
• Medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision benefits starting day one, including access to an onsite nurse and mental health counselor.
• Partners Helping Partners program, where employees organize fundraisers and support for colleagues in need.