Plant Engineering Director (Remote) - PA/OH

Dairy Farmers of America•North Cornwall Township, PA

4h•$165,000 - $195,000•Remote

About The Position

Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), Dairy Brands is seeking a Plant Engineering Director for a remote position supporting their Mideast Region. The ideal candidate will reside in Pennsylvania or Ohio and will travel 60-70% of the time. This role is crucial for directing engineering activities to meet current and future plant requirements, managing capital spending, and collaborating with various departments to ensure efficient operations. DFA is a dairy marketing cooperative owned by over 12,500 family farmers, dedicated to producing a variety of dairy products and delivering the goodness of dairy to communities.

Requirements

Undergraduate degree in engineering or related curriculum or technical training in related mechanical or electrical studies (or equivalent combination of education and experience)
10 or more years of progressive engineering, maintenance, or related experience in a food manufacturing environment
Team or project leadership experience
Environmental compliance experience
PLC programming
Capital project and budget management experience
Must be able to read, write and speak English

Nice To Haves

Certification and/or License – may be required during course of employment

Responsibilities

Serve as an internal expert on manufacturing engineering and design related issues or opportunities
Work cross-functionally with plant management and engineers to develop priorities that ensure direct alignment with manufacturing and division objectives
Continually strive to reduce facility and manufacturing operating costs by providing best option technical solutions and/or utilizing best method analyses towards improving internal systems; ensure facility operating systems achieve optimum manufacturing process efficiencies
Utilize best practices across locations to drive continuous improvement for equipment reliability and maintenance department cost controls; drive consistency and standardization
Assist in the direction and planning of capital budgets
Evaluate major capital projects to ensure the best approach and method is used to efficiently spend capital funds
Actively support plant management and engineers in the justification of projects, accurate development of project costs, and submission of capital projects
Lead and/or oversee the planning, design, procurement, installation, start-up, and training for all capital projects, especially for projects that span an entire division, group, or region
Complete preliminary and final design of production lines and new equipment
Develop preliminary cost estimates for production of new or modified products for marketing and sales teams
Professionally develop plant engineers and maintenance managers
Encourage positive cross-functional communication between production and engineering teams
Maintain current and broad knowledge to ensure accurate engineering support to management and plant staff
Ensure all plant environmental policies and procedures reflect current DFA guidelines and regulatory requirements and proper reporting is completed
Follow all DFA good manufacturing practices (GMP) and work in a manner consistent with all corporate regulatory, food safety, quality, and sanitation requirements