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DuPont is seeking a Run Plant Engineer to support the Yerkes manufacturing facility in Buffalo, NY. In this role, you'll play a critical part in ensuring safe, reliable, and efficient manufacturing operations while helping deliver high-quality products to customers around the world. Working alongside Operations, Maintenance, Supply Chain, and Production teams, you'll apply your engineering expertise to optimize plant performance, solve complex operational challenges, and drive continuous improvement. This is a hands-on opportunity to influence day-to-day operations, improve business results, and make a meaningful impact in a world-class manufacturing environment.
Responsibilities
- Take ownership of assigned manufacturing units and drive improvements in safety, quality, productivity, reliability, and cost performance.
- Demonstrate courageous leadership by coaching others, asking challenging questions, and proactively intervening to improve safety and operational effectiveness.
- Serve as a role model for professionalism, operational excellence, and DuPont values, helping shape a strong plant culture.
- Apply continuous improvement, value creation, and financial acumen to improve profitability and support low-cost, high-quality operations.
- Maintain a strong customer focus by driving quality, responsiveness, and reliability in manufacturing performance.
- Understand key business drivers, including plant economics, margins, production costs, and EBITDA, and identify opportunities to improve financial performance.
- Develop and utilize metrics, KPIs, and management systems to optimize plant performance, asset utilization, and value generation.
- Build credibility and trust through strong technical expertise, disciplined problem-solving, and effective collaboration.
- Develop deep knowledge of plant processes and technologies by analyzing historical performance, leveraging data, and collaborating with subject matter experts.
- Utilize manufacturing technology, process automation, and digital tools to optimize plant operations and support data-driven decision-making.
- Lead and support advanced troubleshooting efforts, identify root causes of performance losses, and implement effective corrective and preventive actions.
- Maintain a visible field presence to reinforce operating discipline, procedural compliance, and safe work practices.
- Review operating logs, alarm histories, and performance trends to remain engaged with daily operations and identify improvement opportunities.
- Partner with Production Coordination, Supply Chain, and Production Planning teams to determine production capabilities and optimize manufacturing schedules.
- Translate business objectives into effective daily operating plans that maximize plant performance and customer service.
- Respond with urgency to plant issues and emergencies, serving as a technical leader during unplanned events.
- Drive improvements in raw material efficiency, yield, waste reduction, and overall manufacturing effectiveness.
- Ensure compliance with environmental, safety, and operating permit requirements.
- Understand site-wide integration and collaborate across functions to optimize overall system performance.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Chemical, Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, or related Engineering discipline.
- 0-5 years of manufacturing, operations, process engineering, or related experience.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and troubleshooting skills.
- Effective communication and collaboration skills with the ability to influence across teams.
Preferred Qualifications
- Knowledge of Process Safety Management (PSM) principles and practices.
- Experience leading or participating in continuous improvement initiatives.
- Lean Six Sigma training or certification.
Key Success Factors
Successful candidates will demonstrate:
- Learning Agility – Quickly learns new concepts, adapts to changing priorities, and continuously develops new skills.
- Intellectual Curiosity – Seeks to understand processes deeply and proactively pursues opportunities to learn and improve.
- Technical & Functional Expertise – Applies engineering fundamentals and operational knowledge to drive results.
- Active Listening – Values diverse perspectives, seeks input from others, and communicates thoughtfully and effectively.
- Self-Motivation – Takes initiative, embraces challenges, and remains focused on achieving meaningful outcomes.
- Collaboration & Influence – Builds strong partnerships, fosters engagement, and helps teams achieve shared goals.
- Accountability – Takes ownership of results, acts with integrity, and follows through on commitments.
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DuPont is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability or any other protected class. If you need a reasonable accommodation to search or apply for a position, please visit our Accessibility Page for Contact Information.
DuPont offers a comprehensive pay and benefits package. To learn more visit the Compensation and Benefits page.
