Sr Director, Engineering

About

The Sr Director of Engineering is a senior enterprise leader responsible for engineering strategy, process standardization, and end-to-end asset reliability across Winland Foods' multi-site manufacturing network. This role partners directly with Operations, Supply Chain, Maintenance, Quality, EHS, Finance, and Procurement to ensure that engineering systems enable consistent execution, predictable performance, and sustainable growth. This leader will move the organization from site-specific solutions to standardized, scalable, and repeatable engineering practices, while ensuring capital investments, technology decisions, and reliability strategies are tightly aligned to business priorities.

This role is both strategic and highly operational-a visible leader who shapes direction while remaining deeply connected to plant realities.

We are seeking a transformative leader - someone who is as passionate about coaching and developing talent as they are about technical rigor and data-driven problem solving.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Engineering Strategy & Governance

• Define and execute a company-wide engineering strategy aligned to Winland Foods' operational, financial, and growth objectives
• Establish and govern engineering standards, design criteria, and best practices across all manufacturing sites
• Create clear decision frameworks for technology selection, equipment design, automation, and scalability
• Serve as the executive owner for engineering policies, stage-gate processes, and technical governance

Process Standardization & Operating Integration

• Drive standardization of manufacturing processes, equipment platforms, and engineering approaches across the network
• Partner with Operations leadership to ensure engineering solutions support consistent run strategies, staffing models, and performance expectations
• Translate operational needs into engineered solutions that are repeatable, maintainable, and operator-friendly
• Reduce variability between plants while respecting unique site constraints

End-to-End Reliability & Asset Performance

• Own the end-to-end reliability strategy for manufacturing assets, from design and installation through maintenance and lifecycle optimization
• Partner closely with Maintenance and Operations to reduce downtime, extend asset life, and improve overall equipment effectiveness
• Ensure reliability, maintainability, and safety are designed into all capital projects-not retrofitted later
• Champion data-driven decision making related to asset health, failure modes, and performance trends

Capital Strategy, Portfolio Management & Execution

• Lead development and governance of the multi-year enterprise CAPEX strategy, ensuring alignment with operational priorities and financial targets
• Oversee capital portfolio prioritization, trade-off decisions, and risk management across sites
• Ensure disciplined execution of capital projects through robust scoping, business case development, stage-gating, and post-implementation review
• Partner with Finance to ensure capital investments deliver measurable value and predictable returns

Technology, Automation & Innovation

• Evaluate and deploy automation, controls, and emerging manufacturing technologies that enhance reliability, safety, throughput, and sustainability
• Ensure technology choices are scalable, supportable, and aligned to long-term operating models
• Collaborate with Procurement and key suppliers to optimize total cost of ownership and long-term performance

Leadership, Talent & Culture

• Build and lead a high-performing, enterprise-level engineering organization with clear roles, expectations, and development paths
• Develop engineering leaders capable of influencing across Operations, Maintenance, and corporate functions
• Serve as a visible culture carrier, reinforcing accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement
• Coach leaders to think systemically, not site-by-site

Safety, Quality & Compliance

• Ensure employee safety and food safety are non-negotiable design principles in all engineering work
• Maintain compliance with applicable OSHA, EPA, FDA, and GMP requirements
• Partner with EHS and Quality to embed risk prevention into equipment and process design

What Success Looks Like

• Engineering is viewed as a strategic enabler, not a reactive support function
• Manufacturing sites operate with greater consistency, predictability, and reliability
• Capital projects deliver on scope, cost, timing, and intended business outcomes
• Operations, Maintenance, and Engineering operate as one integrated system
• Standard work replaces one-off solutions across the network

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Industrial, Chemical, or related discipline)
• 15+ years of progressive engineering leadership experience in manufacturing
• Significant experience leading multi-site engineering organizations
• Proven success driving process standardization and reliability improvements at scale
• Strong executive-level partnership with Operations and Finance
• Deep understanding of food manufacturing, sanitary design, and regulatory requirements

Preferred

• Food or Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) manufacturing experience
• Experience with automation, controls, and industrial digitalization
• Capital portfolio management experience at the enterprise level
• Advanced degree or formal project/program management training

Play a critical role in shaping the future of Winland Foods-where your ideas, expertise, and leadership will help drive breakthrough performance.

Join us. Let's build something exceptional-together.