Manufacturing Process Engineer

Peet's Coffee•Brooklyn Center, MN

6d•$90,000 - $115,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Manufacturing Process Engineer will support Peets’ Minneapolis Manufacturing Site and report to the VP of Coffee Operations. This role will play a key part in driving operational excellence by identifying and eliminating waste, improving process efficiency, and reducing variability across manufacturing operations. The ideal candidate is a hands-on problem solver with a passion for continuous improvement. This role will leverage lean methodologies, structured problem-solving, process optimization, and change management to implement sustainable improvements and foster a culture of engagement and operational excellence in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree (B.S.) in Engineering or a related technical field preferred.
3–5 years of experience in a manufacturing or industrial environment.
Proven experience using structured problem-solving tools and methodologies to identify root causes and implement sustainable process improvements that positively impact manufacturing operations.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to evaluate complex issues, develop solutions, and drive effective implementation.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence, collaborate with, and engage teams at all levels of the organization.
Proactive and self-motivated, with a demonstrated ability to take ownership of projects and responsibilities, work independently, anticipate needs, and identify opportunities for improvement.
Hands-on, results-oriented approach with a strong bias for action and a track record of driving projects through to completion.
Basic knowledge or hands-on experience with mechanical and/or electrical systems is a plus.

Nice To Haves

Green Belt and Black Belt certification preferred
Prior experience in the Food & Beverage or CPG industry
Experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365), SAP, and Microsoft Office Suite, including advanced proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint.
Experience with Power BI and AutoCAD is also preferred.

Responsibilities

Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify and eliminate the eight sources of waste (e.g., downtime, defects, overproduction, motion, inventory, waiting, transportation, and underutilized talent)
Identify, quantify, and prioritize opportunities to reduce manufacturing and operating costs.
Analyze process performance, material usage, labor, energy, scrap, downtime, and other cost drivers.
Develop and implement process improvements that reduce waste, improve productivity, and optimize resource utilization.
Establish project baselines and measure financial impact to ensure savings are sustainable and accurately documented.
Partner with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, and other functions to implement improvements.
Investigate process losses and develop data-driven corrective actions.
Standardize successful improvements and develop processes to sustain gains.
Lead and support structured problem-solving activities (e.g., RCCMs, A3s, DMAIC projects) and change management initiatives to drive root cause analysis and implement sustainable solutions
Partner with operations, maintenance, and quality teams to implement process changes that enhance safety, quality, and throughput
Facilitate and support kaizen events, problem solving workshops, and project team meetings to solve operational and financial problems
Monitor and analyze process performance data to identify trends and improvement opportunities
Support the development and implementation of standard work and visual management tools
Provide leadership to operational functions to drive productivity with a focus on efficiencies, yield, people capability building and waste elimination opportunities.
Lead Lean/Kaizen events across the roasting plant to provide recommendations and implementation of enhancements to existing workflows and processes to increase throughput, reduce costs, and improve quality of our products.
Assist in training frontline teams on problem solving tools and lean daily management
Foster a culture of continuous improvement throughout the plant
Coordinates efforts to deliver projects to meet annual cost savings goal for the roasting plant.
Develop and lead routines to drive the measurement of downtime and plans to improve up time via industrial engineering time studies, standard work, and labor standard targets for operations.
Analyze existing processes and identify opportunities for improvement in throughput, quality, cost, safety, and reliability.
Develop process flows, specifications, layouts, standard work, and engineering documentation.
Conduct root-cause analysis and develop sustainable solutions to recurring process issues.
Use data and statistical analysis to evaluate process capability and performance.
Support implementation of new products, equipment, technologies, and manufacturing processes.