Director of Engineering

Dober; Illinois; On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Dober is seeking an experienced engineer to develop and own its capital strategy within the growing specialty chemicals sector. This role involves leading major capital projects, managing a portfolio of initiatives across multiple manufacturing sites, and developing a robust engineering function from the ground up. Ideal candidates will have 8–15 years of experience in process manufacturing and a solid background in project execution and engineering standards. Dober offers competitive compensation, benefits, and the opportunity to shape its engineering backbone.

Qualifications

• 8–15 years of engineering experience in specialty chemical or process manufacturing.
• Demonstrated track record of executing capital projects.
• Experience building and applying techno-economic models.

Responsibilities

• Own the multi-year capital strategy and execution across manufacturing sites.
• Lead major capital projects from scope definition to operational handoff.
• Develop and maintain engineering documentation and project portfolios.

Skills

Capable of leading capital projects

Proficient in P&ID and engineering design

Strong communication skills

Experience with process hazard analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering or related field

Advanced degree or PE license

Tools

Process design software

CAD tools

Job description

Dober has been creating chemistry that matters for over 65 years. Privately held and headquartered in the Chicago suburbs, we serve customers ranging from Fortune 100 companies to your local farms. Our products are applied in industries ranging from industrial water treatment, environmental remediation, corrosion inhibition, critical cleaning, and to the agricultural chemistry. We win on deep application knowledge and technical differentiation — and our growth is accelerating.

Keeping pace with that growth requires building — more capacity, better processes, smarter systems, and the engineering infrastructure to support all of it. That is where this role comes in.

We are investing to expand and improve manufacturing capabilities, optimizing our production footprint, and deploying new technology across our operations. Right now, we do not have a dedicated engineering function at the corporate level to own it — and we are ready to build one.

Ops 2030 is our multi-year commitment to operational excellence — proactive, data-driven, lean, and technology-enabled. This role owns the engineering backbone of that transformation. You are not embedded in a single plant. You are the engineering capability the whole organization draws on.

If you are someone who wants to build an engineering function from the ground up — with real capital to deploy, meaningful projects to execute, and leadership that values engineering as a strategic asset — this is a rare opportunity to do exactly that.

Key Responsibilities

The capital plan is the engineering roadmap for the company. You own it — not just the tracking of it, but the thinking behind it.

• Own the company's multi-year capital strategy, planning, and execution across all manufacturing sites — developing the annual capital budget, prioritizing spend across competing needs, and ensuring investments are sequenced to deliver maximum operational impact.
• Lead capital justification: develop techno-economic models that evaluate process alternatives, quantify ROI, and provide the analytical foundation for investment decisions — from equipment upgrades and capacity expansions to new process technology and automation.
• Build and maintain a live capital project portfolio — scope, cost, schedule, status, and risk — that gives leadership real-time visibility into where capital is deployed and what it is delivering.
• Build and maintain a portfolio visibility dashboard and OEE measurement framework across all sites — connecting capital investment to operational outcomes that provide insight on where to focus next.

Capital plans are only as good as the projects that execute them. You own execution — from scope development through commissioning and handoff.

• Lead major capital projects end-to-end: scope definition, engineering design, contractor and vendor selection, construction management, commissioning, and operational handoff.
• Develop and maintain P&IDs, process flow diagrams, equipment specifications, and engineering drawings for all capital projects and process modifications — maintaining an accurate, current plant documentation library across all sites.
• Implement a stage-gate project governance framework — structured intake, scope review, design review, and go/no-go checkpoints that ensure capital is delivered on time and on budget.
• Perform core process engineering calculations independently — heat transfer, mass balance, fluid dynamics, and equipment sizing — that support capital decisions, equipment specifications, and process troubleshooting without relying on outside consultants for routine engineering work.
• Specify and evaluate process equipment — reactors, heat exchangers, pumps, mixers, separation systems — with enough depth to challenge vendor proposals, validate sizing assumptions, and make informed buy vs. modify vs. replace recommendations.

Manufacturing Process Improvement

Growing fast is not just about building new capacity. It is about making what we make today better — with tighter controls, better equipment, and more consistent processes.

• Identify and lead engineering solutions to recurring operational bottlenecks — separating equipment and process problems from people and systems problems, and driving the right fix for each.
• Develop and apply techno-economic analysis to process improvement opportunities — quantifying the cost of current-state inefficiencies and building the business case for targeted improvements in yield, cycle time, energy consumption, and quality consistency.
• Support the development and maintenance of process engineering standards — including piping specifications, instrumentation standards, and engineering design guidelines — that create consistency across facilities and reduce variation in capital project execution.
• Partner with plant managers and process engineers on technical challenges that exceed plant-level bandwidth — serving as the engineering escalation point for the operations organization.
• Drive the 'engineer out risk' philosophy — using process design, equipment selection, and automation to systematically eliminate safety hazards, batch failure modes, and sources of quality variation.

Safety & Regulatory Engineering

Safety is engineered in — not checked at the end. This role is a structural contributor to how Dober manages process risk across all manufacturing sites.

• Serve as the engineering representative on Dober's cross-functional safety committee — bringing a process and capital engineering perspective to incident reviews, near-miss analysis, and safety improvement prioritization across all sites.
• Translate safety committee findings into engineering action — where a recurring incident or near-miss pattern points to a process design gap or equipment deficiency, own the engineering response from root cause to implemented solution.
• Conduct or oversee process hazard analyses (PHAs) and hazard and operability studies (HAZOPs) for new and modified processes.
• Ensure all capital projects and process modifications comply with applicable OSHA, EPA, and local regulatory requirements — including process safety management (PSM) standards where applicable.
• Partner with plant managers on environmental compliance engineering — wastewater treatment system design, emissions controls, and permit-related engineering requirements.
• Embed safety and reliability engineering principles into capital project design from the outset — not as a compliance check at the end.

Technology, Automation & Smart Manufacturing

Technology is a force multiplier — but only if it is applied where it actually creates value. You bring the rigor to figure out where that is.

• Scout, evaluate, and prioritize manufacturing technology investments — automation, SCADA and process control systems, AI-assisted planning and scheduling tools, predictive maintenance, and digital manufacturing capabilities.
• Build the business case for technology investments: what problem does it solve, what does it cost, what does it deliver, and how do we measure whether it worked.
• Lead the evaluation, selection, and implementation of a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) — the digital layer that connects production scheduling to floor execution, replacing manual batch records and paper-based work order management with real-time work order dispatch, electronic batch recording, in-process quality verification, and end-to-end production traceability.
• Evaluate and recommend automation investments that reduce manual handling, eliminate sources of batch variation, and improve safety — from automated filling and dosing to process control upgrades.

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related technical field — advanced degree or PE license a plus.
• 8–15 years of progressive engineering experience in specialty chemical, batch chemical, or process manufacturing — including meaningful time in a multi-site or corporate engineering capacity.
• Demonstrated track record of owning and executing capital projects from scope development through commissioning — not just supporting them.
• Proficiency in P&ID development, process flow diagram creation, and engineering drawing interpretation — comfortable with process design software and CAD tools.
• Experience building and applying techno-economic models to evaluate capital investments, process alternatives, and make‑vs‑buy decisions.
• Working knowledge of OEE frameworks, SPC methodologies, and manufacturing performance measurement.
• Genuine curiosity about manufacturing technology and AI — knows where it creates real value and where it does not.
• Strong communication and business acumen — able to translate complex engineering analysis into capital justifications and executive-level recommendations that get acted on.

Strong Differentiators

• Experience building a corporate engineering function in a mid-size specialty chemicals or batch process manufacturing company.
• Prior experience with process hazard analysis (PHA/HAZOP) and process safety management principles.
• Hands‑on experience deploying automation, SCADA, MES, or AI‑assisted manufacturing technology in a batch chemical environment.
• Experience with facility consolidation, expansion, or greenfield capital projects — from site evaluation through operational handoff.
• Lean manufacturing background — able to apply lean principles to engineering project execution and manufacturing process design.
• Prior experience in a privately held or entrepreneurially run manufacturing company — comfortable operating with autonomy and building structure where it does not yet exist.

Dober offers competitive compensation commensurate with experience, comprehensive benefits, and a company where capable people with ownership and drive move fast. If you want to build the engineering backbone of a growing specialty chemicals company — with the authority, the investment, and the leadership support to do it right — this is that role.