Sr Plant Engineer- AL - 8th Ave Food & Provisions

8th Avenue Food & Provisions is a growing organization made up of businesses that produce and sell quality products including pasta, peanut butter, granola, and fruit and nut trail mixes to retail, foodservice and ingredient customers. The company was formed in October 2018 through a combination of Post Holdings’ private brands businesses and is owned by Post Holdings and funds affiliated with Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. (“THL”), a private equity firm.

Position Summary:

The Sr. Plant Engineer has full technical responsibility and oversight for planning, organizing, and conducting daily maintenance, automation/controls, & engineering work including technical expertise and project management tasks in support of manufacturing operations. The Plant Engineer is responsible for providing the plant with maintenance, automation/controls, & engineering services ranging from daily problem solving to new facilities and equipment necessary to meet plant objectives. The Plant Engineer is the main technical advisor to maintenance & engineering related problem solving.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide direct oversight to maintenance department by assigning tasks, auditing work quality, assigning schedules, monitoring timeclock activity, and other supervisory duties.
• Works closely with and provides technical solutioning support for operations and maintenance departments on an ad hoc and site project basis.
• Cooperatively working with Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), Engineering, Maintenance, and Production personnel to accomplish assigned tasks.
• Evaluate, recommend, and implement change to current manufacturing, automation/controls processes by analyzing production, labor standards, and material cost, reviewing production schedules, and estimating future requirements.
• Refine and enhance products and process via maintenance, automation/controls, and/or engineering initiatives to critical or high-impact areas of production.
• Work cross-functionally to assure product and process quality by design testing methods, testing finished product and process capabilities, and establishing standards to confirm and validate manufacturing process requirements.
• Determine root cause of failures using statistical methods (e.g. design of experiment, statistical process control) that may result in changes in design, tolerances, or processing methods.
• Apply personnel safety, product quality, and food safety policies and standards in the design and implementation of engineering solutions.
• Proactively seek stakeholder operational needs input; identify, develop, and execute solutions resulting in problem resolution, cost savings and/or business efficiency gains.
• Maintain current facility automation/controls, electrical, and mechanical drawings and blueprints.
• Develop, maintain, and implement equipment approval and project evaluation policies.
• Responsible for supporting and maintaining Food Safety and Quality Programs, along with proactively identifying and executing all continuous improvement opportunities in the areas of safety, food safety, quality, productivity, and sanitation.
• Participates and supports all Quality and Safety audits and annual certifications, including internal audits and paperwork compliance.
• Other duties, as assigned.

 Education and Experience Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or operations management (Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, other applicable engineering field)
• 2+ years automation/controls, PLC, maintenance, & engineering experience
• Previous experience with Computer Aided Design software (i.e. AUTOCAD)
• Previous experience with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Preferred Education, Experience, and Skills:

• 1+ years’ Project Management experience
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, oral and written communication skills required.
• Strong leadership skills to promote safety, productivity, and quality.
• Ability to work well with others in a team environment.
• Ability to complete work accurately and efficiently.

Physical Requirements: Qualified candidates must be able to perform the following physical job requirements, with or without reasonable accommodation:

• Must be able to lift up-to 34 pounds for 3+ hours per shift.
• Must be able to sit for 8+ hours per shift.
• Must be able to balance, bend, crouch, kneel, stand, stoop, walk, reach above shoulders, and climb/work off ladder for 3+ hours per shift.
• Must be able to work in a hot, humid, and cold manufacturing environment for 3+ hours per shift.
• Must be able to perform simple grasping, pushing, pulling, perform fine manipulation for 3+ hours per shift.
• Must be able to make fine distinctions in sound, and express ideas by spoken and written word.