Sr Director, Engineering – Brownfield Large Capital Projects

fairlife, LLC is a Chicago-based nutrition company that creates great-tasting, nutrition-rich and dairy products to nourish consumers.

With nearly $3B in annual retail sales, fairlife’s portfolio of delicious, lactose-free, real dairy products includes: fairlife® ultra-filtered milk; Core Power® High Protein Shakes, a sports nutrition drink to support post-workout recovery; fairlife® nutrition plan™, a nutrition shake to support the journey to better health.

A wholly owned subsidiary of The Coca-Cola company, fairlife, LLC has been recognized by both Fast Company and Nielsen for its industry leading innovation.

To learn more about fairlife and its complete line of products, please visit fairlife.com.

Job purpose:  

The Senior Director of Engineering, Brownfield Capital Projects, is accountable for the successful execution of large-scale expansion projects at our existing facilities, delivered on time, on budget, safely, and in alignment with stakeholder expectations. As the most senior leader on the project team, this role reports directly to the project steering committee and is responsible for directing a multidisciplinary execution team composed of internal staff, engineering consultants, and supplier partners. The role demands strong leadership, strategic oversight, and deep technical acumen to ensure seamless integration of new capacity into existing operations. 

Responsibilities:  

• Lead end-to-end execution of large-scale brownfield capital projects, ensuring delivery on time, within budget, and aligned with safety and quality expectations. 

• Serve as the senior project leader, reporting to the executive steering committee and providing strategic direction across all phases of design, construction, commissioning, and start-up. 

• Build and lead a cross-functional team of internal stakeholders, engineering consultants, construction partners, and equipment suppliers to drive cohesive project execution. 

• Develop detailed Scope, Budget, Schedule and Resource plans with supporting rationale for business case approval prior to execution. 

• Ensure disciplined application of project management methodologies to control scope, budget, schedule, and safety, leveraging appropriate tools and systems to support execution and accountability. 

• Ensure sound design practices are followed adhering to local regulatory requirements, internal engineering standards and seeking the appropriate level of guidance, input and approval from internal stakeholders.  Continuous improvement and a mindset of innovation to be applied within Budget and Schedule constraints. 

• Implement standardized risk management tools such as FMEA / HAZOP to ensure proposed systems, processes, or designs are safe and impacts of critical failure modes are understood and mitigated. 

• Partner with Procurement and legal functions to strategize and execute competitive procurement and contract negotiation processes ensuring business interests are protected and key terms and conditions are included associated with deliverables, milestones and performance criteria. 

• Play an integral role in identifying and managing all risks impacting scope, budget and schedule. 

• Provide leadership, guidance, and support to project managers, workstream leaders and teams throughout the project lifecycle. 

• Lead from the front in creating a safety and quality focused culture both in design and onsite construction.  Ensure safe work practices are followed, and workmanship meets fairlife standards. 

• Maintain positive relations and proactively manage all external stakeholders such as utility providers, local authorities, economic development groups, trade and labor relations with best interests of the project in mind. 

• Ensure robust project close out practices are followed in hand-over to Operations - Punch lists closed, Performance Testing completed to required standards, Spare Parts requirements provided, Asset registers / details provided and Site As-Builts are updated. 

• Provide regular project updates and collaborate closely with stakeholders in Operations, Supply Chain, R&D, Quality, and Safety to ensure alignm