Senior Process Improvement Engineering Project Manager

Smithfield Foods • Suffolk, VA

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The position summary states the general nature and purpose of the job. Overall accountabilities are defined in this section. As the Senior Process Improvement Engineer Project Manager, you will lead high-impact initiatives that drive lean transformation across Smithfield’s manufacturing operations. You will collaborate closely with plant teams to identify opportunities, design solutions, and implement strategic improvements that elevate performance and efficiency. You will serve as a trusted partner to senior leadership, helping shape long-term strategy while ensuring alignment with Smithfield’s manufacturing improvement plan. Your ability to manage complex projects and influence change will be key to delivering measurable results. You will also play a critical role in developing talent and building a culture of continuous improvement. By mentoring direct reports and fostering cross-functional collaboration, you will help scale best practices and sustain momentum across the organization. Your work will directly contribute to Smithfield’s operational excellence, making this a unique opportunity to lead transformational change in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. This role serves as the project and program lead for Operations technology initiatives, bridging Operations, Engineering, IT/OT, Automation, and vendors to deliver manufacturing technology solutions. While not responsible for hands-on automation design, this role owns technology roadmaps, requirements, integration, governance, and value realization for plant-floor digital and automation capabilities.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business or related field and 8+ years of manufacturing, maintenance, supply chain or engineering experience in a leadership role; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 2+ years of demonstrated experience in team management/development or project leadership.
• Demonstrated expertise in lean manufacturing and continuous improvement methodologies, including 5S, value stream mapping, and A3 problem solving
• Proven ability to lead and coach cross-functional teams, fostering high performance among both hourly and salaried personnel
• Strong analytical skills with experience in data-driven decision-making, root cause analysis, and statistical evaluation
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel; experience with SAP and aptitude for learning and training on new technologies
• Effective communicator with the ability to present technical concepts clearly and train diverse audiences both in person and virtually
• Highly organized and self-motivated, with strong planning, time management, and execution skills in dynamic environments
• Strategic thinker with the ability to translate business goals into actionable improvement plans and drive sustainable results
• Demonstrated experience leading manufacturing technology or automation-related projects, such as OEE implementations, machine data integration, MES/MOM, SCADA, or industrial analytics platforms.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing equipment, controls concepts, and plant-floor data flows (PLC signals, sensors, downtime tracking, production counters).
• Experience working with IT/OT convergence, including collaboration on cybersecurity, network architecture, and data governance (hands-on configuration not required).
• Proven ability to translate operational needs into technical requirements and manage delivery through engineering and vendor teams.
• Experience managing capital and non-capital technology projects, including vendor selection, SOW development, and system acceptance testing.
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise or multi-site deployments of technology-enabled solutions.
• Strong proficiency in manufacturing KPIs (OEE, availability, performance, quality, throughput, downtime).
• Experience leveraging data to drive decisions; familiarity with dashboards, reporting tools, and basic statistical analysis.

Nice To Haves

• Five plus years of experience leading continuous improvement projects in manufacturing, maintenance, supply chain, distribution or engineering leadership role, preferred.
• Advanced Excel required; familiarity with Power BI, Tableau, SQL-based reporting, or similar tools is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead Operations Technology and digital manufacturing initiatives, including OEE platforms, machine connectivity, data historians, MES/MOM systems, and equipment-level data integration.
• Own end-to-end project lifecycle management for Operations technology programs—from business case development and requirements definition through deployment, stabilization, and benefits realization.
• Serve as the primary business owner for OEE and production intelligence platforms, ensuring data accuracy, usability, and alignment to operational KPIs.
• Partner with Automation, Maintenance, Engineering, and IT/OT teams to define equipment data standards, connectivity requirements, and data governance models.
• Lead efforts to extract, contextualize, and standardize equipment-level data (PLC signals, downtime codes, production counts, quality data).
• Translate manufacturing requirements into functional and technical requirements for automation engineers, integrators, and platform vendors.
• Ensure manufacturing intelligence systems (OEE, dashboards, analytics) are driving actionable insights, not just reporting.
• Establish and manage multi-site Operations technology roadmaps, prioritizing initiatives based on value, readiness, and resource availability.
• Develop and maintain project charters, business cases, ROI models, and risk registers for technology-enabled CI initiatives.
• Lead cross-functional project teams and external vendors, ensuring alignment to scope, timelines, cybersecurity standards, and operational readiness.
• Drive change management, adoption, and sustainment plans for digital and automation-enabled solutions.
• Integrate Lean, M-IQ, and CI principles with digital and automation capabilities to accelerate waste elimination and performance improvement.
• Identify opportunities where automation, digitization, or advanced analytics can remove manual processes, improve reliability, or enhance decision-making.
• Ensure technology solutions support process repeatability, standard work, and operational discipline.
• Supervise/Mentor associates, team members, CFP associates, plant leadership team members as assigned.

Benefits

• Robust, flexible and affordable benefit plans and programs
• Medical plans with out-of-pocket costs, on average, 20 percent less than plans offered by other employers.
• Be Well programs offer tools and resources to enhance your quality of life, at no additional cost.
• Support for elective surgeries, weight loss, mental health, cancer, kidney disease, diabetes, smoking cessation, asthma, maternity management and more.
• Comprehensive training and professional development programs
• LinkedIn Learning access to on‑demand courses, professional certificates, and skill‑based training
• Tuition assistance covering English language learning, high school completion, and degree programs through Guild partnership
• Leadership development initiatives
• Smithfield Scholarship Program for employees’ children.
• Education Reimbursement Program for GED/High School Equivalency (HSE) Diploma or pursuing an academic degree at an accredited college or university.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior