Plastics Plant Engineer

Role details

Job Summary

The Plant Engineer will support our plastics manufacturing operations with a strong focus on equipment reliability, process improvement, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement. This position is intended for an engineer who enjoys being hands-on in a manufacturing environment, working directly with production equipment, maintenance teams, operators, and plant leadership to improve safety, quality, efficiency, and overall plant performance.

Essential Responsibilities

• Provide hands-on engineering support to daily plant and production operations.
• Troubleshoot manufacturing equipment, processes, and recurring production issues to identify root causes and implement corrective actions.
• Work closely with production and maintenance personnel to improve equipment reliability, uptime, throughput, quality, and labor efficiency.
• Identify opportunities to improve manufacturing processes, workflow, equipment performance, and overall plant efficiency.
• Lead or support continuous improvement initiatives focused on safety, quality, productivity, waste reduction, and cost improvement.
• Support the installation, commissioning, modification, and startup of new or upgraded manufacturing equipment.
• Assist with the development and improvement of preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
• Analyze equipment downtime, production data, scrap, quality issues, and other operational metrics to identify improvement opportunities.
• Perform root cause analysis and develop sustainable solutions to recurring equipment or process problems.
• Develop and maintain process documentation, equipment specifications, standard operating procedures, and engineering records.
• Collaborate with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, Engineering, and other departments to support plant objectives.
• Perform other engineering and operational duties as assigned.

Required Skills & Abilities

• Familiarity with preventive maintenance programs and manufacturing equipment reliability practices.
• Ability to analyze manufacturing data and translate findings into practical process improvements.
• Strong problem-solving, organizational, and project management skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively with plant leadership, engineers, maintenance personnel, production supervisors, and hourly employees.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications; experience with ERP, CMMS, CAD, or manufacturing data systems is beneficial.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related engineering field required.
• Approximately 4+ years of engineering experience within a plastics manufacturing environment preferred.
• Hands-on experience working directly with manufacturing equipment, production processes, maintenance teams, and plant operations.
• Experience within plastics manufacturing, plastics extrusion, pipe manufacturing, polymer processing, or a similar continuous manufacturing environment strongly preferred.

Physical Requirements

• Must possess mobility to work in a standard office setting and use standard office equipment, including a computer.
• Subject to standing, walking, bending, reaching, stooping, and lifting of objects up to 50 pounds; may occasionally be exposed to dangerous machinery, extreme weather conditions, and extreme noise when working at plant locations.
• Ability to travel as needed to support plant requirements.
• Strong attention to detail, organizational skills and strong mathematical aptitude.

*The base salary range for this position is $75,000 - $85,000/year.*