Plant Engineer (Iowa)

The Plant Engineer is responsible for leading the engineering, maintenance, utilities, and capital improvement activities at a USDA-inspected food manufacturing facility producing fully cooked ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products. This position ensures the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of all production equipment, building systems, and utilities while maintaining compliance with USDA, FDA, OSHA, EPA, and company food safety standards.

The Plant Engineer partners closely with Operations, Quality Assurance, Sanitation, and Safety teams to maximize equipment uptime, improve manufacturing efficiency, reduce costs, and support continuous improvement initiatives.

Essential Responsibilities

Engineering & Asset Management

• Lead the maintenance and engineering function for all manufacturing and facility assets.
• Develop and execute preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
• Manage equipment reliability initiatives to minimize downtime and maximize Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
• Maintain asset registers, equipment histories, and maintenance documentation.
• Develop engineering standards for equipment installation, maintenance, and reliability.
• Support root cause analysis (RCA) for equipment failures and implement corrective actions.
• Drive continuous improvement projects focused on safety, quality, throughput, yield, and cost reduction.

Food Manufacturing Equipment

Provide engineering support for equipment including:

• Thermal processing systems
• Smokehouses and cooking ovens
• Spiral cookers and chillers
• Conveying systems
• Slicers and portioning equipment
• Packaging equipment
• Vacuum packaging systems
• Thermoformers
• Metal detectors
• X-ray inspection systems
• Checkweighers
• Labeling equipment
• Refrigeration systems
• Compressed air systems
• Boilers
• Wastewater systems
• HVAC systems
• Electrical distribution systems

Utilities Management

Oversee plant utility systems including:

• Ammonia or Freon refrigeration systems
• Steam generation
• Compressed air
• Water systems
• Wastewater pretreatment
• Electrical infrastructure
• Emergency generators
• Building automation systems

Ensure utilities operate safely, efficiently, and within regulatory requirements.

Capital Projects

• Develop annual capital expenditure plans.
• Manage capital projects from concept through commissioning.
• Prepare project scopes, budgets, and schedules.
• Coordinate contractors and equipment vendors.
• Oversee equipment installation, startup, commissioning, and validation.
• Ensure projects meet food safety, sanitary design, and operational requirements.

Maintenance Leadership

• Lead and develop maintenance supervisors, planners, and technicians.
• Establish KPIs for maintenance performance.
• Optimize labor utilization and scheduling.
• Manage maintenance budgets and spare parts inventory.
• Improve PM completion rates and maintenance planning processes.
• Support emergency maintenance activities as required.

Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance

Ensure engineering activities support compliance with:

• USDA regulations
• FDA regulations (where applicable)
• HACCP requirements
• SSOP programs
• Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs)
• Preventive Controls for Human Food (as applicable)
• OSHA regulations
• EPA environmental regulations

Support customer and regulatory audits.

Continuous Improvement

Lead initiatives using Lean Manufacturing, TPM, Six Sigma, or similar methodologies to improve:

• Equipment reliability
• Labor efficiency
• Product yield
• Utility consumption
• Maintenance costs
• Changeover times
• Downtime reduction

Use data analysis to identify improvement opportunities and implement sustainable solutions.

Safety

Promote a strong safety culture by:

• Ensuring compliance with OSHA regulations
• Supporting lockout/tagout (LOTO) programs
• Conducting risk assessments
• Improving machine guarding
• Leading incident investigations
• Reducing workplace hazards

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline required.

Experience

• 7-10 years of engineering or maintenance leadership experience in food manufacturing.
• Minimum of 3 years in a management or supervisory role.
• Experience in ready-to-eat (RTE), fully cooked meat, poultry, protein, or refrigerated food manufacturing strongly preferred.
• Experience in USDA-inspected manufacturing environments preferred.
• Demonstrated success managing capital projects and maintenance organizations.