Plant Process Engineer

Main Functions

The Plant Process Engineer is pivotal in advancing the operational excellence and reliability of a fermentation production facility. This role is a synergy of process improvement and reliability engineering, aimed at refining the bioprocesses, enhancing plant equipment reliability, by leveraging process data analytics. The successful candidate will be essential in driving continuous/process improvement initiatives, managing comprehensive projects from conception to completion, and contributing to succession planning for the Plant Manager position. 

Essential Functions: 

Process Optimization and Observability  

• Analyze current production processes and equipment reliability issues to identify improvement opportunities. Develop and implement reliability best practices and strategies to reduce equipment failures and process interruptions. 
• Utilize Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) methodologies to evaluate manufacturing processes and equipment, aiming to increase uptime and reduce maintenance costs.   
• Lead and engage in regular discussions with key stakeholders to identify opportunities for reducing waste and increasing Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) through enhanced observability and process data analytics. 
• Improve observability of plant operations by leveraging dashboards that transform raw process data into actionable information. 

Preventive Maintenance: 

• Assist and preventive maintenance (PM) programs, including predictive maintenance and condition-based monitoring strategies, to improve anticipate and prevent equipment failures. 
• Lead root cause analysis efforts for any process or equipment failures, ensuring corrective actions are implemented to prevent recurrence. 
• Ensure all reliability and maintenance strategies comply with industry standards, regulatory requirements, and safety protocols. 
• Offer mechanical support to the facility, ensuring the reliability and optimal performance of plant equipment. 

Project Management 

• Spearhead projects focused on infrastructure improvements, equipment upgrades, new technology implementations, and process improvements, including capital project management from the ideation phase through to completion, ensuring projects are completed on time, within budget, and meet reliability and performance targets. 
• Gather quotes, liaise with contractors, and ensure projects are delivered on time, within budget, and exceed performance expectations.  

Growth and Continuous Improvement 

• Work closely with production, quality assurance, and engineering teams to drive continuous improvement initiatives, leveraging data analysis and reliability engineering principles to enhance process efficiency and product quality; includes identifying and rectifying recurring maintenance and process issues using data-driven approaches.  
• Continuously seek to improve skills in process data analytics, identifying opportunities to enhance OEE, perform predictive maintenance, and implement automated reporting and KPI calculations. 
• Act as a "process data evangelist," promoting the use of analytics tools across the organization and improving fermentation knowledge through regular training sessions and tutorials. 
• Eventually become a gate-keeper of the fermentation training program and continuously improve fermentation knowledge for new hires (onboarding) and refreshers (yearly training on use cases, how to prevent/identify/troubleshoot) using Industry 4.0 software. 
• Engage in activities and development plans geared towards preparing for a potential future role as Plant Manager, in alignment with the company's long-term succession planning.   

Technical skills

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in any major Engineering discipline (Mechanical, Chemical, Biological, Manufacturing, Industrial), Physics.
• Demonstrated experience in implementing preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
• Proficiency in reliability software tools and methodologies, such as FMEA, RCA, and RCM.
• Understanding of basic principles of industrial control and manufacturing execution systems, e.g., ISA-88 & ISA-95 standard.
• Strong experience using data and metrics to measure and drive improvements.

An asset

• Minimum of 3-5 years of experience preferably in industrial processing environment; food, bioprocessing, or fermentation industry, a plus.
• Experience in reliability engineering, preferably in the industrial production sector, is a plus.
• Certification in Reliability Engineering or Maintenance Management (i.e. CMRP, CRL) is a plus.
• Demonstrated knowledge in databases, scripting, data visualization, and applied statistics. Understanding of principles of cloud computing is a plus.

Personal abilities

Required

• Ability to teach and develop teams to deliver key organizational goals.
• Excellent collaboration, as well as written and verbal communication skills; customer-focused attitude.
• Self-starter, capable of taking initiative, and working with minimal direction
• Ability to work in a fast-paced production environment and handle changing priorities, using good judgment when working in stressful situations.
• Ability to adapt to changing production needs and technologies, with a keen eye for innovation and continuous improvement.
• Clear and effective communication skills, capable of conveying complex information to non-technical stakeholders.
• Excellent problem-solving abilities, with a strong focus on root cause analysis and implementing effective solutions.
• Strong capability in data analysis, statistical process control, and using analytical tools to solve complex reliability issues.

An asset

• In-depth knowledge of mechanical, electrical, and control systems in production environments. Familiarity with yeast production processes is a plus.

General criteria

Required

• Must be available to provide on-site support at the business unit sites; travel as needed (Canada and United States; up to 5% of the time).

Organization

Lallemand is a privately held Canadian company founded in the late 19th century, which develops, produces, and markets microorganisms for various markets. The administrative offices of the parent company are in Montreal, Canada. Today, Lallemand employs more than 5,000 people working in more than 45 countries on 5 continents.

Lallemand Baking offers a range of superior quality baker's yeast – both fresh and dry varieties – and specialty ingredients to meet bakers' needs across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Baking cultures and dough conditioners round out our impressive product range.

The Lallemand baking team's many branches collaborate closely to provide innovative products and efficient services, backed by a skilled technical support team in each region of operations.

Please take note that accommodations will be provided in all parts of the hiring process. Applicants need to make their needs known in advance.