Manufacturing Process Engineer — Lean, Capex & Kaizen

Soap Creek Resources; Decorah (IA); On-site; USD 75,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Soap Creek Resources in Decorah, IA seeks a Manufacturing/Process Engineer to develop, maintain, and improve production processes, focusing on stability, continuous improvement, and capital project support. You will collaborate with Operations, Quality, Maintenance, and Supply Chain to ensure safe, repeatable manufacturing processes.

The role requires 4–7 years of hands-on experience in manufacturing/process engineering, strong lean/Six Sigma background, and the ability to travel up to 15%.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Manufacturing, Industrial, Mechanical) required.
• 4–7 years hands-on manufacturing or process engineering in a production environment.
• Experience with lean manufacturing and capital projects.
• Strong ability to analyze, improve, and sustain manufacturing processes.
• Experience supporting capital equipment installation, commissioning, and process validation activities.
• Hands-on with production teams and cross-functional collaboration.
• Ability to travel up to 15% to support the needs of the business.

Responsibilities

• Support daily manufacturing by monitoring process performance and addressing issues.
• Develop and maintain work instructions, process flows, routings, and standard work.
• Analyze production data to identify process improvements.
• Implement changes to improve safety, quality, efficiency, and throughput.
• Support new product/process introductions with setups and trials.
• Lead Lean and Six Sigma improvement initiatives.
• Lead root cause analysis and CAPA implementations.
• Identify and reduce waste, scrap, and labor inefficiencies.
• Champion kaizen events and track improvement metrics.
• Oversee capital project phases: equipment selection, justification, installation, startup.
• Prepare ROI analyses and technical specs for capital requests.
• Coordinate cross-functional collaboration for equipment installation and commissioning.
• Assist with process validation and acceptance testing for new/modified equipment.
• Maintain and update documentation reflecting improvements.
• Support internal audits and adherence to quality systems.

Skills

Lean manufacturing

Six Sigma

Root cause analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Hands-on manufacturing

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering

Job description

Soap Creek Resources in Decorah, IA seeks a Manufacturing/Process Engineer to develop, maintain, and improve production processes, focusing on stability, continuous improvement, and capital project support. You will collaborate with Operations, Quality, Maintenance, and Supply Chain to ensure safe, repeatable manufacturing processes.

The role requires 4–7 years of hands-on experience in manufacturing/process engineering, strong lean/Six Sigma background, and the ability to travel up to 15%.