Location

Hershey, PA

How will you fit in the big picture?

This role organizes and executes technical solutions foundational to engineering project and program delivery. It ensures deliverables meet required quality, reliability, and performance standards while addressing complex technical challenges. The role collaborates with engineering, operations, and cross functional partners to ensure alignment with technical requirements, project constraints, and engineering methodologies. It also supports continuous improvement by enhancing standardized engineering practices.

What will you do?

Responsible for leading the planning, execution, and governance of capital engineering projects and programs within food manufacturing plants, ensuring successful delivery within defined scope, schedule, and budget. Use engineering knowledge, judgment, creativity and experience to lead and direct multidisciplinary engineering project teams, establishing clear roles and responsibilities, fostering collaboration, and ensuring accountability for project delivery. Manage the full lifecycle of complex capital projects, including planning, design, execution, commissioning, and closeout, in alignment with business objectives, quality, and safety requirements. Oversee capital portfolio management, including governance, approval processes, and prioritization of projects across multiple business groups. Provide technical leadership and guidance for all phases of projects, including system design, cost estimation, equipment installation, checkout, and commissioning. Demonstrate negotiation skills to "sell" projects through the capital approval process. Develop the business case, technical feasibility and plan for customer (plant) acceptance. Establish new procedures and technology, identifying new industry trends with a continuous improvement mindset. Promote and teach a performance-driven (versus task-driven) project management process during the development of capital projects. Ensure all project activities comply with corporate capital control policies and relevant industry standards. Engage and coordinate with stakeholders across engineering, operations, finance, supply chain, and external vendors/contractors. Manage project budgeting, scheduling, risk mitigation, and project controls to ensure delivery within scope, schedule, and budget. Provide accurate and timely project status reports and updates to senior leadership in Engineering and Finance and supply chain management. Lead and manage diverse project teams, including internal engineers, plant engineers, contract engineers, and external contractors/suppliers. Oversee the preparation and delivery of system operation manuals, equipment maintenance documents, and operator training. Ensure compliance with all applicable quality standards, codes, and safety regulations within the food, pharmaceutical, or beverage industries. Travel 50% of work time domestically and internationally to company facilities and client sites.

Minimum Education & Requirements

Bachelor's degree in engineering, manufacturing or a related technical/engineering field plus five years of post-bachelor engineering project management experience. Alternatively, the employer will accept a master's degree in engineering, manufacturing or a related technical/engineering field plus three years of post-bachelor engineering project management experience. Experience must include the following (but need not extend over the full period of required experience):

• Experience managing capital projects with budgets exceeding $10 million with total budget responsibility of $15 - 20 million.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and directing activities of individuals not directly assigned to the project team (e.g., Marketing, Production Planning, R&D, Quality).
• Experience ensuring compliance with corporate capital control policies.
• Experience in food, pharmaceutical, or beverage industries related to manufacturing, packaging, construction processes, and associated quality standards and codes.
• Experience in Good Manufacturing Practices.
• Proficiency in Clarity Portfolio Management, SAP, MS Project, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, MS Word, and MS Teams.