Technical Operations Engineer

About Kerry
Kerry is the world's leading taste and nutrition company for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. Every day we partner with customers to create healthier, tastier and more sustainable products that are consumed by billions of people across the world. Our vision is to be our customers' most valued partner, creating a world of sustainable nutrition. A career with Kerry offers you an opportunity to shape the future of food while providing you opportunities to explore and grow in a truly global environment.

Where will you work?
Our Harrisonburg, VA*, location is part of our Taste division and creates a variety of stock broth, soups, and bases. We work in a fast paced and ever changing environment, where we work hard but also enjoy taking part in the community thanks to Kerry’s employee engagement program. If you’re looking to build a career in manufacturing with a team you can have some fun with, we might be the place for you! 

*Relocation assistance provided.

What will you do?

• Develop and implement key process improvement projects to optimize Technical Operations performance (i.e., Yield/Scrap Performance, Production Cycle times, Material flows, OEE). 
• Support proactive measures to drive sustainable Technical Operations performance (i.e., Specification Alignment, Material Substitutions, Pre-Technical Operations Trials, Proactive Product Reviews, Conditional Batch Usage, etc.).
• Own and manage new product introduction and industrialization life cycle. 
• Act as the main hub between R&D, Production, Quality, and Supply Chain to manage the agile and effect launch of new products and formulations. 
• Understand technical equipment and process capability to streamline bench to batch workflow. 
• Coordinate and monitor scale up activities (i.e. production process instructions and standard times, order addition, quality specification alignment, etc).
• Act as the primary owner of technical issue resolution (Z2 management) .
• Centrally coordinate efforts between R&D, Production, and Quality to effectively address Right the First-Time failures. 
• Utilize robust problem-solving techniques to drive root cause identification and resolution. 
• Primary responsibility over issue management to drive down plant OTIF and Cost loss impact of Z2s.
• Partner with Site and Regional Capex engineering team to steer investment opportunities aligned with process capability and commercial growth opportunities. 
• Operational management of product transfers (to/from Harrisonburg 3rd party manufacturers, and affiliate sites).

 
What will you need to be successful?

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering (Chemical, Mechanical or Food Processing).
• Lean Six Sigma qualification preferred.
• 5 plus years of progressive experience in plant maintenance, manufacturing engineering or process engineering.
• Previous experience within food manufacturing or alternative heavily regulated environment (e.g. Pharma manufacturing, automotive etc.).
• Preferred experience with Food manufacturing unit operations: Solid-Liq Extraction, Evaporation, Centrifuge Separation, Pasteurization.
• Experience in managing and executing capital projects $50k - $500k.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, and experience is SAP and AutoCAD (preferred).

Compensation Data
The typical hiring range for this role is $73,758 to $108,755 annually and is based on several factors including but not limited to education, work experience, certifications, location, etc.  In addition to your pay, Kerry offers benefits such as a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and retirement contribution (all benefits and incentives are subject to eligibility requirements).

Kerry is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law. Kerry will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States for this opening. Any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a background investigation and drug screen. Additional information can be found at: Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal (dol.gov).