Manufacturing Process Engineer

Decorah, Iowa
$75K-$95K + bonus
Direct Hire | Onsite | Up to 15% Travel

Develop, maintain and improve the production processes that keep a manufacturing plant running. You will focus on process stability, continuous improvement and capital project support, working with Operations, Quality, Maintenance and Supply Chain to keep manufacturing safe, efficient and repeatable.

This is a hands-on engineering role. You will spend your time with production teams, solving process problems, leading improvement work and taking capital projects from equipment selection through startup.

Process performance and improvement

• Monitor process performance, respond to process issues and support daily manufacturing operations
• Analyze production data (scrap, rework, cycle time, downtime) to find improvement opportunities
• Implement process changes that improve safety, quality, efficiency and throughput
• Find and eliminate waste, reduce scrap, cut labor inefficiencies and lower material costs
• Apply Lean, Six Sigma and related methods, and lead kaizen events while tracking the results
• Lead root cause analysis and put corrective and preventive actions in place

Documentation and training

• Develop, document and maintain work instructions, process flows, routings and standard work
• Keep documentation current and train operators so improvements stick

Capital projects and new processes

• Lead capital projects through every phase: equipment selection, justification, installation and startup
• Build capital requests with ROI analyses and technical specifications tied to cost reduction goals
• Work with vendors, Maintenance and Operations to get equipment installed and commissioned smoothly
• Support process validation, capability studies and acceptance testing for new or modified equipment
• Update standard work and process instructions after each capital project so the knowledge transfers
• Support new product and process introductions through setup, trials and documentation

Quality, safety and compliance

• Keep manufacturing processes aligned with internal quality systems and customer requirements
• Help investigate non-conformances and implement corrective actions
• Build safety, ergonomics and risk mitigation into process design and improvement work
• Support internal audits and documentation reviews
• Promote a culture of quality, safety and continuous improvement on the shop floor

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Manufacturing, Industrial, Mechanical or a related field)
• 4-7 years of hands-on manufacturing or process engineering experience in a production environment
• Proven ability to independently analyze, improve and sustain manufacturing processes
• Lean manufacturing experience
• Capital project experience
• Experience supporting capital equipment installation, commissioning and process validation
• Strong working knowledge of process capability, cycle time analysis, scrap reduction and efficiency metrics
• Experience developing and maintaining detailed work instructions, standard work and process documentation
• Advanced problem-solving skills, with practical use of root cause analysis methods
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings, specifications and manufacturing data
• Strong communication skills across Operations, Quality, Maintenance and Supply Chain
• Enjoy working hands-on with production teams
• Ability to travel up to 15%