Vice President, Global Engineering

Lineage•Novi, MI

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Lineage is seeking a transformational Vice President of Global Engineering to lead the Facility Engineering and Maintenance function across our worldwide network. This executive will provide strategic direction and hands-on operational leadership for all refrigeration, facility maintenance, and material handling activities spanning approximately 20 countries across four continents. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer and serving as a member of the Global Operations Leadership Team, the VP of Engineering will set and execute the long-term engineering roadmap—building world-class teams, driving lean transformation, delivering against financial and operational KPIs, and pioneering the adoption of innovative technology across a complex global infrastructure. This role demands an inspiring leader who leads through others, thrives in ambiguity, and can operate at both the strategic and operational levels to deliver results in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.

Requirements

Minimum 10 years of progressive, multi-site senior leadership experience in engineering, facility management, or related operational discipline within a complex, global organization.
Demonstrated track record of building and developing high-performing teams at scale, with a strong emphasis on talent development and succession planning.
Proven ability to deploy lean principles and continuous improvement methodologies to achieve measurable operational results.
Minimum 5 years of direct technical expertise in maintenance engineering, refrigeration systems, material handling equipment, power plant infrastructure, or heavy industrial environments.
Demonstrated success owning and delivering against financial and operational KPI targets, including budget management and cost efficiency programs.
Experience evaluating and implementing technology solutions to improve engineering efficiency, reliability, and innovation.
Exceptional executive presence and communication skills; ability to influence at all levels from front-line technicians to C-suite.
Comfort with ambiguity and complexity in a high-growth, rapidly evolving global business environment.
Bachelor's degree required; Engineering degree strongly preferred.
Post-graduate degree (MBA or equivalent) a significant plus.
Ability and willingness to travel 50–75% globally.

Nice To Haves

Experience managing a global capital asset portfolio of $100M or more.
Background in temperature-controlled logistics, cold storage, food distribution, or related sector.
Familiarity with refrigeration systems and energy consumption optimization at industrial scale.
Demonstrated experience leading technology transformation programs (IoT, automation, predictive maintenance, digital twins).
Multilingual capabilities or significant leadership experience in non-English-speaking markets a plus.
Knowledge of multi-jurisdictional safety and compliance frameworks.

Responsibilities

Build and sustain a high-performance global engineering organization by championing talent acquisition, onboarding, development, and retention.
Design and execute robust succession planning and career pathing programs, leveraging Lineage's talent development best practices to develop world-class engineering leaders.
Establish a culture of coaching, mentoring, and continuous learning that drives team engagement across all regions and cultures.
Partner with HR to assess organizational capability, close skill gaps, and build a diverse pipeline of future engineering leaders and technicians.
Lead the Global Regional Engineering Directors to build aligned, accountable, and high-functioning teams across all four operating regions.
Foster cross-regional collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and adoption of best practices to elevate performance network-wide.
Create a unified engineering culture that embraces a “red is good mindset” to make opportunities transparent and enable continuous improvement at all levels.
Navigate the complexities of leading geographically dispersed teams, adapting leadership approaches to diverse local contexts while maintaining global consistency.
Own and deliver against financial and operational KPIs including energy efficiency, maintenance cost per unit, equipment utilization, safety incident rates, and capital budget performance.
Continue to improve our engineering metrics dashboard; provide regular visibility to senior leadership on performance trends, risks, and improvement actions.
Develop and manage the annual engineering operating and capital budget, ensuring resource allocation aligns with strategic priorities. Drive ownership mindset at all levels of the organization.
Drive year-over-year improvements in cost efficiency and operational reliability, translating strategic direction into measurable bottom-line results.
Champion and embed lean methodology and continuous improvement mindset throughout the global engineering organization. Become a global leading organization in lean engineering.
Lead and sponsor high-impact lean transformation initiatives that eliminate waste, reduce downtime, and improve service quality across the network.
Develop engineering leaders who can identify improvement opportunities and drive change at speed—creating a self-sustaining improvement culture.
Define and standardize lean-based operating procedures, maintenance protocols, and performance management frameworks.
Identify, evaluate, and champion the adoption of emerging technologies—including AI-enabled predictive maintenance, automation, energy management systems, and digital engineering platforms.
Build the strategic technology roadmap for global engineering, balancing near-term operational needs with long-term innovation investments.
Collaborate cross-functionally with IT, Data Science, Finance, and Commercial teams to ensure technology investments deliver measurable ROI and competitive advantage.
Stay ahead of industry trends in refrigeration technology, facility infrastructure, and engineering innovation to ensure Lineage remains a market leader.
Contribute to the Global Operations Leadership Team's strategic agenda, representing the engineering function with credibility and executive presence.
Partner with Operations, Safety, Finance, HR, and Commercial teams to ensure engineering strategy supports broader business objectives and customer commitments.
Oversee safety, compliance, and regulatory programs across all jurisdictions, ensuring zero-compromise standards.
Manage and optimize a capital asset fleet in excess of $100M, ensuring lifecycle planning, risk management, and investment prioritization are executed with rigor.