Dairy Process Engineer: Optimization & Innovation

Hilmar Cheese Company; Dodge City (KS); On-site; USD 69,000 - 103,000; Full time

Job summary

Hilmar Cheese Company seeks a Process Engineer I to support strategic objectives by developing cost-effective process technologies for our dairy products, improving productivity, reducing costs, and enhancing sustainability across manufacturing sites.

You will troubleshoot, identify optimization opportunities, design improved processing lines, and collaborate with Operations, FSQA, Maintenance, and Engineering to deliver value and drive capital projects, with occasional travel of 20–40%.

Qualifications

• BS in Chemical or Biochemical Engineering or other engineering field
• Ability to complete energy and mass balances
• Ability to collect and analyze production data using statistical techniques
• Ability to effectively summarize and present technical information to a variety of audiences
• MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint at intermediate level

Responsibilities

• Contribute to manufacturing site Process Improvement teams to deliver industry leading products and processes that help drive the business forward in its quest for operational excellence.
• Spends time in production plants, identifying operational pain points and reviewing performance data to find opportunities to improve yield, quality, and throughput.
• Participate in the troubleshooting of persistent, complex operational issues, providing win:win solutions that balance multiple KPIs and optimize total cost of ownership.
• Implement these in a manner that makes it easier for the business to execute and deliver value successfully and sustainably.
• Works with appropriate cross-functional teams such as Operations, FSQA, Training, Maintenance, Engineering, or Operational Technology to implement changes.
• Develop and implement process control strategies aimed at improving results and reducing process variability. Collaborate with Controls Engineers to test, debug, and deploy control programs effectively.
• Support Process Engineering components of new product development, experimental equipment and design, and plant trials. Utilize insights gained to guide final process design and commercialization.
• Partnering with Project Engineering and cross-functional teams on capital projects, participate in new Process design. Develop P&IDs, perform mass balances, and develop functional descriptions.
• Support the Commissioning, Qualification, and Validation (CQV) process within capital projects to ensure successful execution, on-time startup, and delivery of business objectives.
• Stay up to date on latest available technologies, industry direction, and trends to continuously improve HCC’s technology portfolio. Manage Hilmar’s trade secrets and competitive advantage appropriately.

Skills

Energy & mass balances

Data analysis using statistics

Technical communication

Education

BS in Chemical or Biochemical Engineering

MS in Chemical or Biochemical Engineering

Tools

MS Word

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

Hilmar Cheese Company seeks a Process Engineer I to support strategic objectives by developing cost-effective process technologies for our dairy products, improving productivity, reducing costs, and enhancing sustainability across manufacturing sites.

You will troubleshoot, identify optimization opportunities, design improved processing lines, and collaborate with Operations, FSQA, Maintenance, and Engineering to deliver value and drive capital projects, with occasional travel of 20–40%.