SENIOR PROJECT ENGINEER – CAPITAL PROJECTS & RELIABILITY
- On-site Locations: Louisville, KY, Atwater, CA, Carrollton, TX
- Multi-site Responsibilities (50% travel is expected)
OVERVIEW:
The Senior Maintenance Reliability and Capital Projects Engineer strengthens equipment performance and leads capital investments across Teasdale Latin Foods manufacturing sites. This role requires balanced expertise in maintenance and reliability engineering and capital expenditure (CapEx) project management, with accountability for measurable operational and financial results.
Successfully delivering individual capital projects valued at $1+ million is critical. You will identify investment needs, build and present business cases, and lead projects from scope development and approval through engineering, installation, commissioning, and integration into sustained plant operations.
You will work across departments and present recommendations, progress, risks, and results to senior and executive leadership.
WHAT YOU'LL DO:
Capital Project Management:
- Identify and prioritize capital investments using equipment condition, reliability data, capacity needs, safety, and total cost of ownership. Develop project proposals with clear scope, alternatives, cost estimates, return on investment, payback, risks, and success measures.
- Present investment recommendations to senior and executive leadership, explain technical and financial tradeoffs, and secure approvals through established capital governance processes.
- Own delivery of individual projects valued at $1 million or more, including scope, design coordination, budget, schedule, procurement, installation, commissioning, and operational integration. Manage concurrent projects across multiple sites.
- Establish project plans, milestones, responsibilities, risk registers, and acceptance criteria. Track commitments, spending, forecasts, and schedule performance; control scope changes and escalate variances with corrective recommendations.
- Lead cross-functional teams across Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Finance, Procurement, Quality and Food Safety, EHS, and other affected departments. Align resources, resolve conflicts, and hold stakeholders accountable for commitments.
- Develop equipment specifications and bid packages; evaluate suppliers and contractors with Procurement. Coordinate design reviews, equipment acceptance testing, installation, utilities, and controls interfaces with the appropriate technical teams.
- Plan shutdowns and startup activities to protect safety, food quality, and production continuity. Lead commissioning, performance verification, and handoff, including training, maintenance plans, critical spare parts, and technical documentation.
- Provide executive updates that clearly state progress, financial outlook, risks, and decisions needed. Close projects with documented acceptance, lessons learned, and post-startup verification of operational benefits and financial returns with Finance.
Maintenance and Reliability Engineering:
- Analyze equipment failures, unplanned downtime, mean time between failures (MTBF), mean time to repair (MTTR), and maintenance costs to identify recurring losses and prioritize improvements.
- Develop preventive and predictive maintenance programs for critical assets. Apply vibration analysis, thermal imaging, oil analysis, and other condition-monitoring methods appropriate to the equipment.
- Lead root cause analysis and corrective actions with plant teams. Use Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM), and asset criticality assessments to improve maintenance strategies.
- Provide technical leadership during complex troubleshooting and recurring equipment failures. Coach maintenance teams and standardize effective practices across sites.
- Integrate reliability, maintainability, safe access, and lifecycle cost requirements into equipment selection and capital project design. Confirm new or modified assets meet agreed performance and reliability criteria.
- Maintain accurate asset information, maintenance procedures, and performance reporting in the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). Verify sustained improvements in uptime, equipment performance, and maintenance cost after implementation.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical, electrical, industrial, or another relevant engineering discipline.
- Minimum of 5 years of progressive manufacturing engineering experience, with demonstrated responsibility in both maintenance/reliability engineering and capital project management.
- Proven experience personally proposing and leading individual capital projects with approved budgets of at least $1 million, from business case and scope development through installation, commissioning, and operational integration.
- Ability to explain specific completed projects, including your ownership, approved budget, business justification, cross-functional leadership, executive presentations, implementation challenges, and measurable results against budget, schedule, and performance objectives.
- Strong project financial and execution skills, including cost estimating, return-on-investment analysis, forecasting, scheduling, risk management, change control, and supplier or contractor coordination.
- Hands-on knowledge of reliability methods, preventive and predictive maintenance, root cause analysis, and manufacturing equipment troubleshooting, supported by measurable reliability improvements.
- Ability to lead cross-functional teams without relying on direct reporting authority and communicate clearly with plant personnel, functional leaders, and executives.
- Experience presenting capital requests and recommendations for executive decisions is required.
- Proficiency with CMMS, project scheduling tools, spreadsheets, and executive presentations; working knowledge of manufacturing safety and quality requirements; and ability to travel 50% of the time to company locations.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Food or beverage manufacturing experience, including sanitary design and equipment startup in an operating plant.
- Experience supporting multiple manufacturing sites and integrating new equipment, production lines, or major equipment upgrades.
- Advanced engineering degree, Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional (CMRP), or a related credential.
WHY TEASDALE:
At Teasdale Latin Foods, our People Principles are all about Living LATIN.
What is LATIN, and how do I live it? Let us fill you in.
- L is Learning. It emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and development within Teasdale and promotes a culture of curiosity, exploration, and acquiring new knowledge and skills.
- A is Accountability. This encourages individuals to take ownership of their actions and responsibilities, promoting a sense of personal and collective accountability ensuring we understand how to achieve our goals.
- T is Teamwork. It emphasizes the value of diverse perspectives, collective problem-solving, and synergy among team members, enabling us to achieve greater outcomes by leveraging the strengths and expertise of our employees.
- I is Innovation. This promotes an environment where we are empowered to think outside the box, challenge the status quo, and seek innovative solutions to problems, fostering an atmosphere of adaptability and openness to change.
- N is Nurturing. It emphasizes the importance of supporting and developing our employees' well-being, growth, and potential, showing that we care and are willing to invest in their long-term success and satisfaction.
We believe in finding the right people for the right roles and helping them to build careers. If this sounds like a place you'd like to be, hit apply!
Still not convinced? What about:
- Day One - Health, Dental, and Vision Benefits
- 401(k) Retirement Plan with Matching Contributions at 60 Days
- Career Growth Opportunities and Professional Development
If you are passionate about being the right kind of contributor, the point person of a fast-paced diverse workforce, and a steward of great tradition, come join the family. We want people who are up for a challenge. Let's live LATIN!
