Lead Facilities Engineer

Newell Brands; City of Albany (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Newell Brands seeks a Lead, Facilities & Site Resilience Engineer to set global facilities standards and build resilience across manufacturing and distribution networks.

The ideal candidate is a licensed PE with 7+ years in industrial facilities, able to lead technical decisions, review AHJ submittals, and drive improvements using AI-enabled workflows. Willingness to travel up to 50% is required.

Qualifications

• Active PE license in a US state.
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Civil, Architectural, or Fire Protection Engineering.
• 7+ years in facilities, plant, or infrastructure engineering in industrial/manufacturing environments.
• Experience reviewing capital projects, scopes, and budgets and holding contractors accountable.
• Ability to travel up to 50%, including international travel.
• Working knowledge of NFPA 13/25/72/101, ASCE 7-22, OSHA 29 CFR, and local AHJ requirements.
• MS Office proficiency for project tracking and executive communication.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Own site resilience programs across the network from assessment through corrective action and verification.
• Assess sites against wind, snow, seismic thresholds, and FEMA flood criteria; create mitigation roadmaps.
• Build redundancy for critical utilities (power, air, water, HVAC).
• Develop facility-focused business continuity plans and recovery time objectives.
• Set and maintain global fire protection, alarm, sprinkler, and life-safety standards.
• Review design packages, AHJ submittals, and NFPA codes; identify gaps.
• Provide technical review for facilities capital projects from scope through closeout.
• Support standby generation, energy programs, and utility incentive capture.
• Establish measurement/verification protocols and inform capital planning.

Skills

Technical credibility

Written & verbal comms

Cross-functional collaboration

AI tool familiarity

Education

PE license (US)

Bachelors in Mechanical/Civil/Architectural/Fire Protection Eng

Tools

Power BI

Power Automate

SharePoint

Job description

Job ID: 18393

Alternate Locations:

Newell Brands is a leading consumer products company with a portfolio of iconic brands like Graco®, Coleman®, Oster®, Rubbermaid®, Sharpie® and Yankee Candle® - and 24,000 talented teammates around the world. Our culture is built on values in action: Integrity, Teamwork, Passion for Winning, Ownership, and Leadership. We work together to win, grow, and make a real impact—supported by a high-performing, inclusive, and collaborative environment where you can be your best, every day.

We are looking for an experienced Facilities and Site Resilience Engineer to join the Engineering, Reliability & Automation (ERA) team within Global Procurement & Supply Network.

The Lead, Facilities & Site Resilience Engineering serves as the licensed technical authority for facilities, building protection, and site resilience across Newell Brands' manufacturing and distribution network. Working from the center, this role sets facilities standards, provides technical review and support to site and project teams, and builds the resilience programs and business continuity plans that protect physical sites and critical infrastructure. The role also helps ensure projects are scoped, designed, and executed to Newell standards.

The ideal candidate is a licensed Professional Engineer with 7+ years of experience delivering or overseeing facilities projects in manufacturing or industrial environments and is ready to influence at network scale. This individual builds structure where none exists, adopts new technology quickly, and uses AI-enabled workflows to improve the quality and speed of their work.

The PE license anchors the role's authority in design review, peer review, and engagement with authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) and property insurers. This is a technical leadership role, not a project delivery or design-of-record position.

Top Priorities

• Site resilience and vulnerability assessments
• Fire/life safety and facilities standards
• Technical support and review of capital projects

What You Will Own

Site Resilience & Business Continuity

• Own site resilience programs across the network, from vulnerability assessment through corrective action and verification
• Assess sites against ASCE 7-22 wind, snow, and seismic thresholds and FEMA flood zone criteria, translating findings into prioritized mitigation roadmaps
• Build redundancy strategies for critical utilities, including power, compressed air, chilled water, HVAC, and domestic water
• Develop facility-focused business continuity plans, escalation frameworks, and recovery time objectives for buildings and critical utilities that sites can execute independently, in partnership with Operations and EHS

Building Protection & Fire/Life Safety

• Set and maintain global standards for fire suppression, sprinkler, fire alarm, clean agent, and smoke control systems
• Review design packages, contractor proposals, and AHJ submittals against NFPA 13, 25, 72, and 101 and applicable local codes, challenging gaps with technical authority
• Define inspection, testing, and maintenance programs and track deficiency closure and compliance across the portfolio
• Partner with property insurers such as FM Global and with AHJs on loss prevention recommendations and compliance gap closure

Capital Project Support & Technical Review

• Provide technical review and support to site and project teams on facilities capital projects, from scope definition through closeout, without owning project delivery
• Review scopes, RFPs, SOWs, design packages, contractor proposals, and bid leveling for roofing, HVAC, building envelope, civil and site work, fire protection, and compressed air
• Identify proposals that are incomplete, overpriced, or out of specification
• Develop scope, RFP, and SOW templates and contractor qualification criteria that project teams can reuse across the network
• Support site teams with contractor selection and performance and help resolve technical issues in the field

  Power, Energy & Water Systems

  • Support standby generation, transfer switch, UPS, and backup power deployment, from site preparation through commissioning
  • Lead and support energy programs, including lighting, VFD optimization, power factor correction, and utility incentive capture
  • Support solar, microgrid, and self-generation feasibility work in partnership with the ERA Sustainability pillar
  • Partner with process water engineering on cooling towers, closed-loop treatment, and Legionella prevention

  Assessments, Standards & Verification

  • Conduct structured site assessments and engineering peer reviews
  • Maintain site condition scorecards and standards compliance matrices that inform capital planning
  • Define measurement and verification protocols and review results on completed projects to confirm alignment with scope, performance targets, and savings identified in appropriation packages
  • Develop facilities engineering standards and lead updates through the standards publishing workflow
  • Support international projects, working with regional teams to apply Newell standards alongside local codes and AHJ requirements

  Financial Ownership & Reporting

  • Review capital justification packages, ROI models, and bid comparison matrices developed by site and project teams
  • Build tools and templates to improve consistency and quality across the network
  • Support three-year capital planning and maintain portfolio-level status reporting that provides senior leaders with clear, decision-ready information

  Required Qualifications

  • Active Professional Engineer (PE) license in a U.S. state
  • Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline such as Mechanical, Civil, Architectural, or Fire Protection Engineering
  • 7+ years of experience in facilities, plant, or infrastructure engineering, including delivering, managing, or overseeing capital projects in an industrial, manufacturing, or distribution environment
  • Working technical command of HVAC, roofing, building envelope, civil, and fire protection systems, with the ability to critically review designs and proposals
  • Experience conducting site assessments, audits, or resilience and vulnerability studies and translating findings into funded action plans
  • Demonstrated experience developing or reviewing contractor scopes, RFPs, and project budgets and holding contractors accountable to scope, schedule, and cost
  • Ability to influence site and project teams through technical credibility and sound engineering judgment without direct authority
  • Working knowledge of NFPA 13 and 25, ASCE 7-22, OSHA 29 CFR, and local AHJ requirements
  • Proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite for project tracking and executive communication
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills
  • Ability to travel up to 50%, including international travel as projects require

  Highly Valued Differentiators

  • PE license in Mechanical Engineering, particularly HVAC and refrigeration, Civil, Structural, or Fire Protection Engineering
  • Experience with greenfield construction or major facility expansion projects, including design review, construction management, commissioning, and startup
  • Experience with property insurer loss prevention standards, such as FM Global
  • Familiarity with NFPA 72, NFPA 101, NFPA 110, NFPA 70 (NEC), IBC, and CMMS platforms
  • Hands-on experience with measurement and verification, including baseline establishment and post-implementation reporting
  • Experience with on-site power generation, compressed air optimization, or process cooling water systems
  • Experience supporting projects at international sites, including working with non-U.S. codes and standards
  • Regular use of AI tools, Power BI, Power Automate, and SharePoint within engineering workflows
  • CFM, CPE, CEM, or CFPS credential, or NIMS/ICS training

  What Sets the Best Candidate Apart

  The ERA team is a lean, focused engineering group that values ownership, sound judgment, and a high standard of work product. The right person for this role:

  • Walks a facility, identifies what does not meet standard, and returns with a prioritized, actionable plan
  • Takes ownership of programs and standards and drives them through completion
  • Brings a clear point of view backed by sound engineering judgment and works constructively with site teams, project teams, contractors, and insurers
  • Uses AI and digital tools to improve the speed and quality of their work
  • Reviews vendor proposals with a critical eye and identifies what is missing, overpriced, or out of specification
  • Prepares clear, decision-ready materials that senior leaders can use without reformatting
  • Asks the right questions upfront and brings solutions along with identified problems

  #LI-MC2

  Newell Brands (NASDAQ: NWL) is a leading global consumer goods company with a strong portfolio of well-known brands, including Rubbermaid, Sharpie, Graco, Coleman, Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Yankee Candle, Paper Mate, FoodSaver, Dymo, EXPO, Elmer's, Oster, NUK, Spontex and Campingaz. We are focused on delighting consumers by lighting up everyday moments. Newell Brands and its subsidiaries are Equal Opportunity Employers and comply with applicable employment laws. EOE/M/F/Vet/Disabled are encouraged to apply.