Senior Project Engineer – Capital Projects & Reliability

Teasdale Latin Foods•Atwater, CA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Project Engineer – Capital Projects & Reliability strengthens equipment performance and leads capital investments across Teasdale Latin Foods manufacturing sites. The role combines maintenance and reliability engineering with capital expenditure project management, with accountability for measurable operational and financial results. It requires successful delivery of individual capital projects valued at $1 million or more. The engineer identifies investment needs, builds and presents business cases, and leads projects from scope development and approval through engineering, installation, commissioning, and integration into sustained plant operations. The position works across departments and presents recommendations, progress, risks, and results to senior and executive leadership. The role is based on-site in Louisville, Kentucky; Atwater, California; or Carrollton, Texas, and includes multi-site responsibilities with 50% travel expected.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in mechanical, electrical, industrial, or another relevant engineering discipline.
At least 5 years of progressive manufacturing engineering experience, with demonstrated responsibility in both maintenance/reliability engineering and capital project management.
Experience personally proposing and leading individual capital projects with approved budgets of at least $1 million, from business case and scope development through installation, commissioning, and operational integration.
Ability to explain completed projects, including personal ownership, approved budget, business justification, cross-functional leadership, executive presentations, implementation challenges, and measurable results against budget, schedule, and performance objectives.
Strong project financial and execution skills, including cost estimating, return-on-investment analysis, forecasting, scheduling, risk management, change control, and supplier or contractor coordination.
Hands-on knowledge of reliability methods, preventive and predictive maintenance, root cause analysis, and manufacturing equipment troubleshooting, supported by measurable reliability improvements.
Ability to lead cross-functional teams without direct reporting authority and communicate clearly with plant personnel, functional leaders, and executives.
Experience presenting capital requests and recommendations for executive decisions.
Proficiency with CMMS, project scheduling tools, spreadsheets, and executive presentations.
Working knowledge of manufacturing safety and quality requirements.
Ability to travel 50% of the time to company locations.

Nice To Haves

Food or beverage manufacturing experience, including sanitary design and equipment startup in an operating plant.
Experience supporting multiple manufacturing sites and integrating new equipment, production lines, or major equipment upgrades.
Advanced engineering degree, Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional (CMRP), or a related credential.

Responsibilities

Identify and prioritize capital investments using equipment condition, reliability data, capacity needs, safety, and total cost of ownership.
Develop project proposals covering scope, alternatives, cost estimates, return on investment, payback, risks, and success measures.
Present investment recommendations and technical and financial tradeoffs to senior and executive leadership, and secure approval through capital governance processes.
Lead individual projects valued at $1 million or more from scope and design coordination through budgeting, scheduling, procurement, installation, commissioning, and operational integration.
Manage concurrent projects across multiple sites.
Establish project plans, milestones, responsibilities, risk registers, and acceptance criteria; track spending, forecasts, commitments, and schedule performance; control scope changes; and escalate variances with corrective recommendations.
Lead cross-functional teams across Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Finance, Procurement, Quality and Food Safety, EHS, and other affected departments.
Develop equipment specifications and bid packages, evaluate suppliers and contractors with Procurement, and coordinate design reviews, equipment acceptance testing, installation, utilities, and controls interfaces.
Plan shutdowns and startup activities to protect safety, food quality, and production continuity.
Lead commissioning, performance verification, and project handoff, including training, maintenance plans, critical spare parts, and technical documentation.
Provide executive updates on progress, financial outlook, risks, and decisions needed; close projects with documented acceptance and lessons learned; and verify operational benefits and financial returns with Finance after startup.
Analyze equipment failures, unplanned downtime, MTBF, MTTR, and maintenance costs to identify recurring losses and prioritize improvements.
Develop preventive and predictive maintenance programs for critical assets, using appropriate condition-monitoring methods.
Lead root cause analyses and corrective actions with plant teams, applying FMEA, RCM, and asset criticality assessments to improve maintenance strategies.
Provide technical leadership during complex troubleshooting and recurring equipment failures, coach maintenance teams, and standardize effective practices across sites.
Integrate reliability, maintainability, safe access, and lifecycle cost requirements into equipment selection and capital project design, and verify new or modified assets meet agreed performance and reliability criteria.
Maintain accurate asset information, maintenance procedures, and performance reporting in the CMMS, and verify sustained improvements in uptime, equipment performance, and maintenance cost.