Plant Engineer

Description

The Plant Engineer is a site-based technical leader focused on infrastructure and capital project execution. This role is responsible for ensuring the long-term reliability, safety, and efficiency of utility systems and facility infrastructure, while driving engineering-led improvements through capital investments. Operating alongside the site’s Maintenance and Engineering Managers, the Plant Engineer concentrates on forward-looking initiatives that enhance site readiness, sustainability, and growth capacity. This role does not support day-to-day operations directly but instead focuses on project execution and strategic infrastructure development. 

Requirements

Key Responsibilities 

• Infrastructure Ownership:
  • Oversee the design, reliability, and improvement of utility systems such as steam, compressed air, HVAC, chilled water, tower water, wastewater, and site energy systems
  • Lead initiatives to upgrade and maintain facility infrastructure, including building envelope, drainage, dock doors, and critical systems
  • Ensure infrastructure systems are compliant with applicable codes, internal standards, and safety requirements
  • Suggest and support improvements to preventive and predictive maintenance programs for utility and facility assets
• Capital Project Leadership:
  • Serve as the site’s capital project leader, responsible for full lifecycle management of capital initiatives from scope development through execution and closeout
  • Collaborate with site and corporate stakeholders to define project goals, budgets, and timelines aligned with business needs
  • Prepare and submit capital expenditure requests, following company procedures and standards
  • Manage contractors and engineering partners to ensure safe, compliant, and cost-effective project delivery
  • Ensure alignment with sustainability goals, operational strategy, and food safety requirements in all projects
• Strategic Engineering Support:
  • Partner with Maintenance and Engineering Managers to identify infrastructure gaps and lead capital planning to address them
  • Support new product, process, or capacity expansions through infrastructure readiness and utility capability enhancements
  • Maintain and update system documentation, technical drawings, and engineering standards for infrastructure systems
  • Contribute to site master planning and participate in long-range capital forecasting

Key Relationships:

• Reports to: Director, Maintenance & Engineering
• Collaborates with:
  • Site Maintenance Manager
  • Site Engineering Manager
  • Corporate Engineering & Capital Project Teams
  • Operations, FSQ, and EHS Leaders
  • External engineering firms, vendors, and contractors

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

• On-time and on-budget capital project delivery
• Utility and infrastructure uptime
• Project ROI and alignment with strategic capital plan
• TIR (Total Incident Rate) and adherence to safe work practices
• Energy efficiency and infrastructure-related sustainability metrics
• Audit readiness and system compliance

Qualifications:

• Required Experience:
  • Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering or a related technical field, or progressive experience
  • 5+ years of experience in a manufacturing or industrial engineering role
  • Proven experience in leading infrastructure-related capital projects
  • Strong knowledge of utility systems and facilities engineering
  • Demonstrated understanding of safety standards, engineering codes, and compliance expectations
  • Excellent collaboration and communication skills
• Preferred Experience:
  • Experience in food & beverage or low-acid aseptic manufacturing
  • Familiarity with FDA-regulated utility systems
  • Experience with CMMS platforms (Infor/Hexagon EAM preferred)
  • Professional Engineering (PE) license or project management certification a plus
• Travel Requirements: Vendor visits, FATs, Trade Shows, etc. (0-10%).

Role Impact:

This role plays a vital part in ensuring site infrastructure is capable, reliable, and positioned to support both current production and future business growth. By focusing on capital execution and long-term engineering improvements, the Plant Engineer helps drive strategic advantage through resilient systems, reduced operational risk, and sustained investment in facility capabilities.

Additional Compensation – Annual Cash Bonus: You will be eligible to participate in the Gehl Foods Employee Bonus Program. For this fiscal year, your annual maximum bonus potential is up to 12% of your annualized base salary. All bonus payments are prorated based on your hire date. Under this Program, bonus payouts are dependent upon the financial performance of the company.

Working Conditions: Frequently exposed to wet and varying temperature conditions between 60-130 degrees Fahrenheit, loud noise, vibration, moving machinery/electrical parts, risk of electrical shock, airborne particles, high/precarious places, toxic/caustic chemicals, allergens including soy, milk and milk by-products and fumes from food processing equipment.

While this description is intended to be an accurate reflection of the most significant duties of the current position, it is not necessarily exhaustive of all responsibilities, duties, effort, requirements or expectations of this position. Other duties may be assigned as necessary. The company reserves the right to modify the job requirements as circumstances change and the needs of the company so dictate, without editing this job description in its entirety.

Acknowledgments: I am fully capable of completing the essential functions of the job duties listed herein) I certify that I understand that this job description is not intended to be all-inclusive, and that I am expected, hereby agree, to perform other job-related tasks properly assigned to me by my supervisor. I understand and agree that the Company has the legal right to revise or change this document in part, or in total as business needs dictate. I understand and fully agree, that this job description does not constitute a written or implied contract for employment, and that my employment relationship with the Company is “at will,” for an unspecified duration, and may be terminated at any time by me or the Company as specified by Section 2922 of the California Labor Code.