Project Engineer – Capital Projects & Reliability

Position Summary: A well-established food manufacturing company is seeking a Project Engineer to lead capital projects, equipment reliability initiatives, and plant engineering improvements within a fast-paced manufacturing environment. This role will own engineering projects from concept through implementation while partnering closely with maintenance, operations, safety, and plant leadership to improve equipment performance, reduce downtime, and support long-term facility reliability. The ideal candidate brings a strong combination of capital project management, plant engineering, mechanical/electrical systems knowledge, and reliability/maintenance experience.

Key Responsibilities: Lead capital engineering projects from concept through completion, including scope development, budgeting, vendor coordination, installation, startup, and project closeout. Develop and execute projects that improve equipment reliability, plant capacity, safety, quality, and operating efficiency. Manage project schedules, contractors, equipment suppliers, resources, and budgets while minimizing disruption to production. Partner with maintenance and operations to identify recurring equipment issues and implement long-term engineering solutions. Support and improve preventive and predictive maintenance, TPM, and reliability programs. Analyze downtime, equipment performance, OEE, maintenance data, and operating trends to identify improvement opportunities. Provide technical support across mechanical, electrical, automation, PLC, instrumentation, and manufacturing systems. Lead root-cause analysis of equipment failures and recurring process issues. Develop equipment specifications, scopes of work, project documentation, and technical standards. Support equipment commissioning, validation, startup, and transition into production. Coordinate cross-functional project activities involving Engineering, Maintenance, Operations, Quality, Safety, and outside contractors. Monitor project and reliability KPIs and communicate progress, risks, and results to plant leadership. Support maintenance planning and resource prioritization for critical equipment and plant projects. Ensure engineering work and capital projects meet applicable safety, food safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements.

Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.8+ years of engineering, project, maintenance, reliability, or manufacturing experience. Demonstrated experience managing capital projects within a manufacturing environment. Strong understanding of plant equipment, mechanical and electrical systems, automation, PLCs, and instrumentation. Experience with equipment reliability, preventive/predictive maintenance, CMMS/work-order systems, and TPM.Ability to troubleshoot complex equipment and manufacturing issues and develop sustainable corrective actions. Experience managing contractors, vendors, equipment installations, and project schedules. Strong project management, organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills. Ability to work effectively with maintenance technicians, operators, engineers, vendors, and plant leadership. Strong written and verbal communication skills. Preferred Background Food, beverage, consumer products, pharmaceutical, or other high-speed manufacturing experience. Experience with large equipment installations, facility upgrades, automation projects, or production-line expansions. Reliability engineering or maintenance-engineering experience. Project or team leadership experience. What This Role Offers High visibility within plant operations and engineering. Ownership of meaningful capital and reliability projects. Opportunity to directly impact uptime, equipment performance, capacity, and manufacturing efficiency. Strong benefits package. Relocation assistance available.