Staff Engineer - SME Utilities
About The Position
The Staff Engineer – Utilities Systems serves as the enterprise technical authority for utility systems across the manufacturing network, including refrigeration, steam and boiler systems, thermal fluid systems, compressed air, water systems, and energy infrastructure. This role provides deep subject matter expertise in the design, operation, optimization, troubleshooting, and strategic application of utilities critical to food and dairy processing operations. This position plays a critical role in supporting capital project development and execution by providing technical leadership during concept development, process design, equipment selection, detailed engineering, and planning commissioning/validation protocols. The Staff Engineer is responsible for establishing and maintaining enterprise technical standards, design guidelines, best practices, and technology roadmaps related to utility systems to ensure safe, reliable, efficient and consistent implementation across the organization. This role resides within the global engineering organization, and will partner with Commercial, R&D, Operations, and the broader Engineering organization to support development of the future product pipeline by identifying technology-enabled growth opportunities and evaluating capabilities of current and emerging utility technologies. The Staff Engineer will provide strategic insight into what is technically feasible today, what may become possible in the future, and what investments are required to enable new products, ingredients, and manufacturing capabilities. People are at the heart of our success. Our culture encourages collaboration, transparency, and accountability in order to generate value and achieve sustainable results. Being part of the team means committing to an environment where everyone’s impact truly matters. We believe that teamwork—collaborating and sharing perspectives—is essential to achieving the best results. An environment where collaboration is encouraged and valued.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical or Chemical Engineering preferred)
- 10+ years of experience in utilities systems engineering or capital project execution
- Demonstrated expertise in one or more utilities systems with working knowledge across others
- Experience developing technical standards and specifications
- Strong understanding of industrial utilities in food or dairy environments
- Working knowledge of safety and regulatory requirements
- Strong understanding of energy systems and efficiency drivers
- Strong communication and influencing skills
- Experience facilitating technical reviews
- Experience supporting central utilities systems design
- Experience with refrigeration and/or boiler systems
- Experience implementing enterprise standards
- Experience with energy optimization programs
- Experience working with OEMs and engineering firms
- Familiarity with digital tools for utilities optimization
Responsibilities
- Serve as the enterprise subject matter expert for utilities systems, including refrigeration (ammonia/CO₂), boilers/steam systems, cooling towers, chilled water, compressed air, and plant water systems
- Provide technical leadership for system design, integration, and optimization across utilities infrastructure
- Lead technical reviews of major capital projects involving utilities systems
- Serve as the final technical authority for utilities-related engineering decisions
- Support strategic decisions regarding utilities system selection, capacity planning, redundancy, and resilience
- Make high-quality technical decisions in ambiguous or high-risk situations
- Participate in concept development, feasibility studies, and engineering design reviews
- Support Operational Excellence initiatives by addressing complex reliability, capacity, and performance issues
- Build and maintain enterprise utilities system design and operating standards
- Establish best practices for safe operation of utilities systems including ammonia refrigeration safety and boiler integrity
- Provide technical guidance on energy management and sustainability considerations including heat recovery and efficiency
- Support development of energy-aware design principles across capital projects
- Monitor and evaluate emerging utilities technologies
Benefits
- Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Short and Long-term Disability Insurance
- 401(k) with 7% company contributions
- 3 weeks Paid Time Off
- Paid holidays and 2 floating holidays
- Paid parental leave
- Advancement Opportunities
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
