SR. DIRECTOR, PROCESS ENGINEERING

For more than 115 years, Ferrara has created sugar confections that enable moments of sweetness, celebration, and connection for candy lovers of all generations. Today, the company is the #1 sugar confectioner in the United States. Ferrara boasts a passionate team of nearly 9,000 employees creating and delivering hundreds of products sold under 20 popular brands like Brach’s, NERDS, SweeTARTS, Laffy Taffy, and Trolli to more than 66 million U.S. households annually and popular Dori snacking products under brands such as Dori, Gomets, Pettiz, and Yogurte 100 in Brazil. Sr. Director, Process Engineering Job Location: Chicago Bellwood, IL & surrounding Chicago area Want to make an impact? Reporting directly to the Vice President of Engineering, the Senior Director Process Engineering is responsible for providing process engineering leadership and technical support to the plants, enabling manufacturing excellence as a competitive advantage. This leader actively collaborates with the R&D and Commercialization teams driving innovation and growth, through active participation and support of new product introductions and renovations. This role partners with equipment suppliers and technology providers to think “outside the box” to encourage and deploy innovative process solutions and capabilities. The role is based in Chicago, Illinois and will require 20-30% travel, both domestic and international. Ways you will make a difference Lead transformation of Process Engineering to a highly focused and high performing team that achieves superior business results by challenging the status quo, enabling new technologies, and building technical capability across the manufacturing organization. Drive optimization of manufacturing processes to enhance efficiency, productivity, quality, safety, and sustainability, while unlocking capacity and reducing costs. Actively support Quality and Food safety by collaborating with plants and the Corporate Quality team to resolve customer quality issues related to manufacturing processes. Support our Drive to Zero safety goal by ensuring new process equipment and systems are designed to eliminate any potential safety hazards; and by participating in risk assessments of current process systems and equipment. Support our Zero Emissions strategic objective by incorporating Sustainability into new process design and optimization of existing manufacturing processes. Represent manufacturing by actively collaborating with R&D during New Product Development in evaluating new process design concepts, prototypes, and technology validation. Lead industrialization during introduction and start-up of new process technologies and assets, in partnership with R&D, Project Engineering, and site operations and maintenance teams. Work with equipment OEMs and technology providers to lead deployment and industrialization of new process solutions to enable state-of-the-art manufacturing. Empower the Early Management Pillar and methodology through specifying, configuring, and optimizing process designs from concept through commissioning, qualification, validation, and start-up. Support and enable AM Step 3 through ownership of engineering standards and equipment specifications to enable Design for Operability, Maintenance, Reliability, Safety, and Quality. Provide technical expertise during design process simulations, Factory Acceptance Testing, and Site Acceptance Testing. Support M&A activities during due diligence assessment of process systems and technologies. Provide on-call support to manufacturing to resolve equipment issues and failures. Enable process technical knowledge transfer and capability of plant operations, maintenance, and leadership teams. Lead Continuous Improvement initiatives to improve existing processes for best-in-class future manufacturing for food safety, quality, and cost. Skills that will make you successful Demonstrated ability and success in leading transformational and organizational evolution. Advanced knowledge and strong technical capabilities in state-of-art production machinery and processes, with specific expertise in sugar confectionary technology. Knowledge in advanced process controls. Critical thinking skills, using logic, reasoning, and fact-based calculations to identify alternative solutions, conclusions, and approaches to solve process equipment issues. Proven ability in root cause analysis, FMECA, PDCA or other applicable problem-solving methodologies. Strategic thinking: able to synthesize insights from disparate data sources and develop high-accountability recommendations. Ability to lead change and effectively influence others. Familiarity with applicable food safety, health, and safety regulations and practices. Strong written and oral communication skills, able to work effectively with senior leaders. Excellent interpersonal skills in a multicultural environment across all levels of employees. Strong leadership and ability to inspire, motivate, and guide colleagues. Results-oriented and able to deliver successful outcomes. Strong interpersonal skills: empathy, integrity, enthusiasm, collaborative, driving consensus. Desire and ability to be a supportive and proactive business partner across the organization. Ability to interface cross-functionally with other teams (e.g., R&D, Commercialization, Quality, Safety, Manufacturing, Project Engineering, OEMs). Financial acumen and ability to effectively manage and control costs. Experiences that will support your success Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Chemical, or Electrical Engineering from an accredited University or equivalent technical school. 15-20 years of progressive experience in food manufacturing, preferably in sugar confectionary, or other related food consumer packaged goods. Demonstrated experience in TPM, Lean, or Six Sigma continuous improvement methodologies. Proven track record to effectively drive results through influence and collaboration. #J-18808-Ljbffr