Senior Engineering Director

Land O'Lakes•Arden Hills, MN

About The Position

Senior Engineering Director The Senior Director of Engineering is an enterprise leader responsible for setting and executing the engineering strategy across all three business – Dairy Foods, Animal Nutrition, and Crop Inputs – to enable growth through process innovation, productivity, and reliability. This role reports to the VP Manufacturing. This individual provides enterprise leadership over corporate engineers and the budgeting, governance, and execution of capital projects. They will balance standardization and best practice sharing with emerging technologies (process, AI, etc.). They will be a connector of subject matter experts – Corporate Engineers, Plant Engineers, Operations, Quality, R&D, IT, Marketing, Sales – to identify, prioritize, and execute the highest value opportunities. The leader has a 15+ year track record of success in leading Engineering and Process Teams delivering capital planning, project execution, process engineering, control systems, and reliability-centered maintenance planning and execution. This leader has experience in organizational development - hiring, developing, and leading a growing team of engineering experts. Experience leading construction and start up of new facilities or large expansion projects is required. History of success in working collaboratively internal partners - Operations, Quality, R&D, IT Marketing, Sales – and with external partners – equipment manufacturers, outside construction firms and contractors. Develop the Engineering Vision and Strategy Define and own the enterprise engineering strategy, and vision, aligned with business priorities. Own and evolve the engineering operating model, including centralized vs. site‑based capabilities. Act as the senior escalation point for engineering‑related prioritization and trade‑off decisions. Reinforce clear roles, decision rights, and interfaces between corporate engineers, R&D, Operations, IT, and Reliability. Lead the Capital Governance Process and Project Execution Ensure disciplined and consistent capital planning, prioritization, and in‑flight project visibility. Partner with Finance and Strategic Operations to improve ROI, spend tracking, and long‑range capital planning. Ensure projects meet operational readiness, safety, quality, and performance standards before handoff and partner with cross functional teams to ensure success after handoff. Balance Engineering Standardization and Emerging Technologies Drive equipment and process standardization, KPIs, and performance benchmarking across the network. Deliver deep technical expertise, standard designs, and best‑in‑class solutions to drive reliability Ensure support for innovation, advancements and future technology scouting (ex. AI, sensors, and automation) that also drive reliability and enable growth. Develop Culture, Talent, and Organizational Capability Ensure engineers are supported with standards, tools, peer networks, and best practices. Promote knowledge sharing and reduce site‑to‑site variability in engineering capability. Reinforce engineering accountability for safety, reliability, OEE, and process performance. Ensure succession planning and capability depth in critical engineering disciplines. Build a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and technical excellence. Build strong, consistent connectivity between central engineering leadership, plant engineering teams, maintenance, reliability, and R&D. Manage vendor, equipment, and outsourced engineering contractor relationships Assist in early engineering involvement in technology selection, feasibility, and cost estimation. Enable faster, more predictable innovation through select, strategic, partnerships. Serve as the primary engineering interface for strategic vendor relationships. Manage vendor, equipment, and outsourced engineering contractor relationships Assist in early engineering involvement in technology selection, feasibility, and cost estimation. Enable faster, more predictable innovation through select, strategic, partnerships. Serve as the primary engineering interface for strategic vendor relationships.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering with 15+ years of related experience
Experience with AI-enabled tools or analytics platforms with willingness to lead digital adoption is essential
Experience leading construction and start up of new facilities or large expansion projects is required.
History of success in working collaboratively internal partners - Operations, Quality, R&D, IT Marketing, Sales – and with external partners – equipment manufacturers, outside construction firms and contractors.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in in Engineering or Business (preferred)
Structured problem solving (i.e. Lean, Six Sigma) (preferred)

Responsibilities

Develop the Engineering Vision and Strategy Define and own the enterprise engineering strategy, and vision, aligned with business priorities.
Own and evolve the engineering operating model, including centralized vs. site‑based capabilities.
Act as the senior escalation point for engineering‑related prioritization and trade‑off decisions.
Reinforce clear roles, decision rights, and interfaces between corporate engineers, R&D, Operations, IT, and Reliability.
Lead the Capital Governance Process and Project Execution Ensure disciplined and consistent capital planning, prioritization, and in‑flight project visibility.
Partner with Finance and Strategic Operations to improve ROI, spend tracking, and long‑range capital planning.
Ensure projects meet operational readiness, safety, quality, and performance standards before handoff and partner with cross functional teams to ensure success after handoff.
Balance Engineering Standardization and Emerging Technologies Drive equipment and process standardization, KPIs, and performance benchmarking across the network.
Deliver deep technical expertise, standard designs, and best‑in‑class solutions to drive reliability Ensure support for innovation, advancements and future technology scouting (ex. AI, sensors, and automation) that also drive reliability and enable growth.
Develop Culture, Talent, and Organizational Capability Ensure engineers are supported with standards, tools, peer networks, and best practices.
Promote knowledge sharing and reduce site‑to‑site variability in engineering capability.
Reinforce engineering accountability for safety, reliability, OEE, and process performance.
Ensure succession planning and capability depth in critical engineering disciplines.
Build a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and technical excellence.
Build strong, consistent connectivity between central engineering leadership, plant engineering teams, maintenance, reliability, and R&D.
Manage vendor, equipment, and outsourced engineering contractor relationships Assist in early engineering involvement in technology selection, feasibility, and cost estimation.
Enable faster, more predictable innovation through select, strategic, partnerships.
Serve as the primary engineering interface for strategic vendor relationships.
Manage vendor, equipment, and outsourced engineering contractor relationships Assist in early engineering involvement in technology selection, feasibility, and cost estimation.
Enable faster, more predictable innovation through select, strategic, partnerships.
Serve as the primary engineering interface for strategic vendor relationships.