Director of Engineering

At Milk Specialties Global, our focus is to create high-quality ingredients designed to optimize health and nutrition. We are passionate and dedicated people. Each day, we collectively explore new, innovative ways to enhance product performance and value through our broad human and animal nutrition portfolios. The human nutrition division focuses on industry leading whey and milk protein isolates, concentrates, and hydrolysates. The animal nutrition division is a leading supplier of functional fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Both divisions are backed by the speed, execution and passion it takes to exceed the expectation of our customers. We offer a comprehensive benefits package which includes medical, dental, vision and life insurance as well as a healthy 401(k) company match program.

The Director of Engineering has the responsibility for overseeing all aspects of project engineering for capital projects at Milk Specialties Global including project management, budgeting, project timeliness, procurement of equipment, and vendor management.

Essential Duties

• Create and maintain comprehensive project plans, schedules, and budgets, and ensure adherence to timelines and budgetary constraints, ensuring meticulous attention to detail in every phase of the project lifecycle, from initial conception to final execution.
• Collaborate extensively with engineering, operations, leadership, and other cross-functional teams to define project scope, goals, and deliverables, with a focus on optimizing production processes.
• Identify and proactively mitigate risks, issues, and dependencies leveraging deep industry knowledge and experience to develop robust contingency plans that safeguard project timelines and budgets.
• Forge strategic partnerships with finance and accounting teams through conducting thorough assessments of project budgets and coordinating seamless approvals for any necessary budgetary changes, ensuring financial integrity throughout the project lifecycle.
• Develop and implement project management processes, tools, and best practices tailored to the unique challenges and requirements driving continuous improvement in efficiency, productivity, and overall project delivery excellence.
• Facilitate seamless communication and collaboration among project teams, engineering experts, operations, and leadership by fostering alignment, transparency, and synergy throughout every stage of the project.
• Expertly track and meticulously report on project progress, status, and key performance metrics relevant to employing advanced reporting mechanisms to provide stakeholders with actionable insights and promptly escalating any critical issues as needed.
• Manage procurement activities with a keen focus on sourcing high-quality equipment, parts, vendors, and additional resources specifically tailored to the unique requirements of dairy ingredient manufacturing projects, ensuring optimal operational performance and reliability.
• Perform special projects and other responsibilities as needed.
• Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
  
  

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Industrial, Chemical, or Mechanical Engineering or related area.
• 7-10 years’ experience in manufacturing plants in areas of maintenance / process, engineering and facility management with deep technical knowledge on the production process.
• Dairy processing experience with a deep understanding of lactose, whey protein, permeate, casein/caseinate preferred.
• Project management experience with an emphasis on procurement and vendor management.
• Experience with budgeting and spend management of CapEx Projects.
• Strong knowledge of INFOR/SYS21/EAM or other relevant computer software and systems.
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills.
• Analytical thinker to collect data, evaluate it, and make recommendations.
• Team spirit, dynamic, innovative, results-oriented, and autonomous.