Lead Project Engineer

The Lead Project Engineer is responsible for leading high-impact, enterprise-wide engineering and strategic initiatives that support the organization's long-term business objectives. This role combines advanced engineering expertise with project management office (PMO) leadership to successfully execute complex, cross-functional projects involving manufacturing, operations, supply chain, finance, quality, IT, procurement, and commercial teams.

Unlike a traditional plant project engineer, this position focuses on network optimization, manufacturing strategy, capital planning, operational transformation, and corporate initiatives that improve capacity, reliability, productivity, sustainability, and overall business performance across multiple facilities.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Corporate Strategy & Network Optimization

• Lead engineering initiatives supporting manufacturing network optimization and footprint strategy.
• Evaluate production capacity, asset utilization, and operational capabilities across manufacturing facilities.
• Develop engineering solutions that optimize throughput, improve productivity, and reduce operating costs.
• Support acquisition integrations, facility expansions, consolidations, and strategic growth initiatives.
• Develop business cases for major capital investments and strategic projects.

Enterprise Project Leadership

• Manage multiple high-value capital and strategic projects from concept through implementation.
• Lead cross-functional project teams consisting of Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, Procurement, IT, Quality, Food Safety, and external partners.
• Develop project scopes, budgets, schedules, risk assessments, and resource plans.
• Ensure projects are delivered safely, on schedule, within budget, and achieve expected business outcomes.
• Identify project risks and develop mitigation strategies.

PMO & Project Governance

• Establish and maintain project management standards, governance, and best practices.
• Drive Stage Gate processes for capital project approval.
• Monitor project portfolios, budgets, schedules, and resource allocation.
• Develop executive dashboards and project status reports.
• Ensure compliance with corporate engineering standards and project controls.
• Facilitate project prioritization and portfolio reviews.

Engineering Leadership

• Provide technical leadership for complex engineering projects across multiple manufacturing facilities.
• Support development of Basis of Design documentation and engineering standards.
• Review engineering calculations, specifications, equipment selections, and vendor proposals.
• Coordinate engineering consultants, OEMs, contractors, and equipment suppliers.
• Standardize engineering practices across the manufacturing network.

Capital Planning

• Support development of annual and multi-year capital plans.
• Evaluate investment opportunities using financial and operational analysis.
• Develop CERs (Capital Expenditure Requests) and executive presentations.
• Track capital spending, forecasts, and project performance.
• Partner with Finance to ensure proper project governance and financial reporting.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities to improve engineering processes and project execution.
• Drive standardization of engineering documentation, specifications, and project delivery.
• Support Lean Manufacturing, TPM, Reliability, and Operational Excellence initiatives.
• Benchmark industry best practices and emerging technologies.

Executive Communication

• Prepare executive presentations for Senior Leadership, Executive Leadership Team (ELT), and Board-level reviews.
• Communicate project status, risks, financial impacts, and strategic recommendations.
• Present engineering solutions in a clear business-focused manner.
• Build alignment among diverse stakeholders across the organization.

Education/Certifications and Experience:

• BS in Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical or Industrial Engineering or equivalent experience
• Minimum 10 years of engineering experience in manufacturing or industrial operations.
• Minimum 7 years leading complex capital projects exceeding $1M.
• Experience managing multiple enterprise-level projects simultaneously.
• Demonstrated success working in matrix organizations across multiple business functions.
• Experience supporting manufacturing network optimization or strategic operations initiatives.
• Experience developing executive