Description

Position Overview:

The Principal Process Engineeris a senior technical leadership role responsible for supporting increasing operational complexity, production scale, and the rapid expansion of co-manufacturing. As volumes grow and product portfolios diversify, the organization requires experienced technical leadership to ensure processes remain efficient, scalable, and cost-competitive.

This role serves as the organization's primary technical resource in dairy processing, providing strategic oversight across external partners, internal manufacturing facilities, and a broad range of product lines. The Principal Process Engineer directly enables performance optimization, risk mitigation, and the disciplined execution of growth initiatives.

Responsibilities:

Technical Leadership
• Serve as the subject matter expert (SME) for dairy processing technologies (Aseptic, ESL, pasteurization, homogenization, emulsification, filtration, and liquid/dry blending).
• Provide technical guidance to internal and external operations teams.
• Troubleshoot complex process issues and lead root cause analysis efforts.

Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance
• Ensure all processes comply with applicable food safety standards (e.g., PMO, FDA, USDA, HACCP).
• Support validation and verification of critical control points (CCPs).
• Participate in co-man's evaluations and gap identification and provide solutions as technical expert.

Innovation & Continuous Improvement
• Evaluate and implement emerging technologies to enhance production capabilities.
• Lead to scale new products from pilot to full production.
• Drive sustainability initiatives (water, energy, waste reduction).

Process Optimization & Standardization
• Lead initiatives to improve yield, throughput, and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
• Develop and implement standardized process designs and best practices across facilities.
• Analyze production data to identify process inefficiencies and implement corrective actions.

Capital Project Execution
• Lead process design for major capital projects, including equipment selection, layout, and system integration.
• Review and approve engineering designs, P&IDs, and specifications.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure technical alignment and deliverables.

Training & Mentorship
• Mentor process engineers and technical staff across the organization.
• Develop training programs and technical documentation.
• Foster a culture of engineering excellence and continuous learning.

Qualifications:
• Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering, Food Engineering, or related field (master's or PhD preferred).
• 10-15+ years of experience in dairy or food processing engineering, preferred.
• Deep expertise in dairy unit operations (HTST/UHT systems, CIP systems, membrane filtration, etc.).
• Experience with multi-site manufacturing operations.
• Familiarity with digital manufacturing tools (MES, SCADA, data analytics platforms).
• Excellent problem-solving, project management, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Ability to influence and drive alignment among diverse internal and external stakeholders.
• Strong knowledge of process modeling, process control, and industrial automation.
• Expertise in food safety regulations and quality systems.
• Excellent problem-solving, leadership, and communication skills.
• Ability to travel up to 50%.

Hours, Location and Pay:

We offer a competitive base pay rate and benefits package for full-time employees. This role works standard business hours Monday - Friday at our Neenah, WI or Little Chute, WI manufacturing facility. Additional hours as needed to support business needs. Travel up to 50% required.

Physical and Mental Demands:
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit, hear, use hands to type data, use a personal computer and telephone. This employee may occasionally have to operate business machines and lift and/move up to 50 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required in this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Mental demands include multi-tasking, decision making, problem solving, comparing, copying, computing, compiling, analyzing, coordinating, and synthesizing data.
• Potential for exposure to chemicals, heights, loud noises, mechanical equipment, wet environments, and other potential hazards exists.

Safety Statement:

At Trilliant and Horseshoe, safety is every employee's first responsibility. We expect all employees to adhere to all safety practices, have the moral courage to stop other individuals from performing unsafe acts, and immediately report unsafe conditions.

Disclosures:
• The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.
• Responsible for following food safety/regulatory policies and procedures, executing responsibilities as identified in standard operating procedures, and reporting food safety/regulatory concerns to the Production or Quality Manager.