MANUFACTURING PROCESS ENGINEER MECHANICAL & CHEMICAL SYSTEMS

Role details

Future Foam, Inc., is a leading manufacturer of polyurethane foam products that has been family-owned for over 60 years. Its primary focus is to provide excellent quality and service throughout the manufacturing process. With over 30 facilities across the United States and internationally, we take pride in having a culture that fosters an open, trusting, and collaborative work environment. Most importantly, we put safety first.

Position Overview

We are seeking a hands-on Manufacturing Process Engineer with a strong background in mechanical engineering and chemical/process systems to support our manufacturing operations in Fullerton, California.

This position is ideal for an engineer who enjoys working directly with manufacturing equipment and processes—not someone looking for a primarily desk-based engineering role.

The successful candidate will work closely with Engineering, Maintenance, Production, Quality, vendors, contractors, and equipment manufacturers to troubleshoot equipment and process problems, design improvements, manage engineering projects, and improve the reliability and performance of our manufacturing systems.

The position combines mechanical engineering, chemical process engineering, fluid handling, equipment design, troubleshooting, and project engineering.

What You’ll Be Working On

• Pumps and chemical metering systems
• Industrial piping and valves
• Chemical storage and transfer systems
• Tanks and mixing systems
• Heat exchangers
• Chilled-water and glycol systems
• Temperature-control systems
• Conveyors and material-handling equipment
• Motors and gear reducers
• Filtration systems
• Process instrumentation
• PLC- and VFD-controlled manufacturing equipment

Our manufacturing processes involve polyols, isocyanates, additives, catalysts, water, and other materials used in polyurethane foam production.

Prior polyurethane foam experience is helpful but not required. Experience in chemical processing, plastics, polymers, coatings, adhesives, or other process-manufacturing environments is highly relevant.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, modify, and improve manufacturing equipment and mechanical/process systems.
• Troubleshoot mechanical equipment, chemical processes, fluid-handling systems, and production problems.
• Design and evaluate pumps, piping, valves, tanks, chemical-transfer systems, and metering systems.
• Perform engineering calculations involving flow, pressure, pressure drop, pipe sizing, pump sizing, viscosity, temperature, heat transfer, horsepower, torque, and equipment sizing.
• Evaluate process conditions involving chemical flow, pressure, temperature, viscosity, filtration, mixing, and metering.
• Design and troubleshoot heating and cooling systems, including heat exchangers, chilled water, cooling water, and glycol systems.
• Create and review mechanical drawings, equipment layouts, fabrication drawings, P&IDs, and process-flow diagrams.
• Use AutoCAD, SolidWorks, or similar engineering software to develop equipment and system designs.
• Investigate recurring equipment and process failures and perform root-cause analysis.
• Develop permanent engineering solutions to improve equipment reliability, process consistency, product quality, safety, and productivity.
• Manage engineering projects from initial concept through design, procurement, installation, startup, and commissioning.
• Develop project scopes, equipment specifications, budgets, schedules, and contractor requirements.
• Obtain and evaluate quotations from vendors, contractors, and equipment manufacturers.
• Coordinate installations and modifications with Maintenance, Production, Controls Engineering, contractors, and vendors.
• Provide hands-on engineering support during equipment startup and production troubleshooting.
• Maintain engineering drawings, equipment documentation, specifications, calculations, and project records.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a closely related engineering discipline.
• Hands-on engineering experience in an industrial manufacturing environment.
• Strong mechanical troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.
• Practical experience with pumps, piping, valves, fluid-handling systems, or process equipment.
• Ability to perform engineering calculations involving flow, pressure, temperature, heat transfer, and equipment sizing.
• Ability to read mechanical drawings, equipment drawings, and process schematics.
• Ability and willingness to work directly on the manufacturing floor with Maintenance and Production personnel.
• Strong communication, organization, and project-management skills.

Preferred Experience

• Chemical processing or chemical manufacturing
• Polyurethane foam, polymers, plastics, coatings, or adhesives
• Chemical metering and proportioning systems
• Positive-displacement and metering pumps
• Centrifugal pumps
• Industrial piping design
• Pump and pipe sizing
• Pressure-drop calculations
• Viscous-fluid handling
• Heat exchangers and heat-transfer calculations
• Chilled-water and glycol systems
• AutoCAD
• SolidWorks
• P&IDs and process-flow diagrams
• Industrial instrumentation
• Pressure, temperature, flow, and level measurement
• 4–20 mA and 0–10 V instrumentation
• VFD-controlled pumps and motors
• PLC-controlled manufacturing equipment
• Equipment installation and commissioning
• Root-cause failure analysis

The Type of Engineer We’re Looking For

We are looking for an engineer who is comfortable moving between the engineering office and the manufacturing floor.

You should enjoy investigating problems firsthand, examining equipment, reviewing process conditions, taking measurements, performing calculations, working with technicians and operators, and developing practical engineering solutions.

A typical challenge may require you to determine why a chemical pump is not delivering the required flow, calculate pressure losses through a piping system, investigate inconsistent chemical temperature, evaluate a heat exchanger, redesign a mechanical component, troubleshoot a recurring equipment failure, or manage the installation of a new manufacturing system.

Problem Identification → Engineering Analysis → Design → Implementation → Startup → Verification

Controls & Instrumentation

This is not primarily a Controls Engineer position, but familiarity with industrial controls is valuable.

• Allen-Bradley PLC-controlled equipment
• PowerFlex or other industrial VFDs
• Industrial sensors and instrumentation
• Pressure and temperature transmitters
• Flow meters
• Control valves
• Analog instrumentation
• Industrial Ethernet/EtherNet/IP

The Manufacturing Process Engineer will work closely with Controls Engineering when projects require PLC, HMI, VFD, servo, or instrumentation changes.

Safety

Safety is an essential part of this position. The engineer will be expected to incorporate safe design practices into equipment and process modifications and follow applicable company procedures and regulatory requirements, including Lockout/Tagout and chemical-handling requirements.

Why This Position

This position provides the opportunity to work on a wide variety of real-world engineering challenges in a large manufacturing environment.

Rather than specializing in only one engineering discipline, you will have the opportunity to work across mechanical systems, chemical processes, fluid handling, heat transfer, equipment design, manufacturing troubleshooting, and project engineering.

If you enjoy seeing your engineering work move from a drawing or calculation to an operating piece of manufacturing equipment, this position offers that opportunity.

Please complete all required screening questions to submit your application.

Pay: $105,000.00 - $135,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

People with a criminal record are encouraged to apply

Application Question(s):

• How many years of hands-on experience do you have troubleshooting manufacturing equipment and production processes?
• Which have you personally designed, selected, sized, modified, commissioned, or troubleshot?

• Pumps
• Industrial piping
• Valves
• Tanks
• Chemical metering pumps
• Proportioning systems
• Mixing systems
• Heat exchangers
• Chilled-water/glycol
• Conveyors
• Motors/reducers
• Filtration
• Process instrumentation
• None
• What level of hands-on engineering experience do you have with pumps and industrial fluid-handling systems?
• Extensive
• Moderate
• Limited
• None
• What level of experience do you have with chemical processing, transfer, metering, proportioning, mixing, or dosing systems?
• Extensive
• Moderate
• Limited
• None
• Which have you personally performed?
• Pump sizing
• Pipe sizing
• Pressure drop
• Fluid flow
• Fluid velocity
• Heat load
• Heat transfer
• Heat exchanger sizing
• Horsepower
• Torque
• Equipment sizing
• Chemical ratio/metering
• None
• Do you have experience understanding how viscosity and temperature affect pumping, pressure drop, flow, metering, or process performance?
• Extensive
• Moderate
• Limited
• None
• Which have you personally designed, sized, commissioned, or troubleshot?
• Plate heat exchangers
• Other heat exchangers
• Chilled water • Glycol
• Cooling water
• Chillers
• Process heaters
• Temperature-control loops
• None
• Which can you use proficiently?
• AutoCAD
• SolidWorks
• AutoCAD Plant 3D
• Other 3D CAD
• Excel for engineering calculations
• P&ID/process-flow software
• None
• Can you independently read and interpret P&IDs, process-flow diagrams, mechanical drawings, fabrication drawings, and equipment layouts?
• Proficient
• Moderate
• Limited
• No
• Do you have experience selecting piping, valves, pumps, seals, gaskets, hoses, or components based on chemical compatibility, temperature, and pressure?
• Extensive
• Moderate
• Limited
• None
• Which have you personally worked with?
• Pressure transmitters
• Temperature transmitters
• RTDs
• Flow meters
• Level instruments
• 4–20 mA
• 0–10 V
• Control valves
• VFD pumps
• PLC equipment
• None
• Have you personally managed an engineering project from concept through installation and commissioning?
• Multiple projects
• At least one complete project
• Project team participant
• No
• This role requires regular time on the manufacturing floor to troubleshoot equipment, investigate process problems, take measurements, support installations, and work directly with Maintenance and Production.

Are you comfortable with this?

Education:

• Bachelor's (Required)

Experience:

• Engineering in Industrial manufacturing: 4 years (Required)

Work Location: In person