Plant Engineer

Plastic Executive Recruiters; Wilmington (DE); On-site; USD 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Plastic Executive Recruiters is seeking a floor-focused Plant Engineer to support daily operations, optimize production equipment, and drive continuous improvement on the shop floor.

The role requires collaboration with maintenance, quality, and production teams to reduce downtime, improve throughput, and ensure high-quality output in a plastics manufacturing environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or equivalent hands-on experience.
• Hands-on engineering experience in a manufacturing plant.
• Experience in medical device cleanrooms or high-precision plastics processing (injection molding, thermoforming, blow molding, extrusion).
• Strong mechanical troubleshooting skills with automation and auxiliary equipment.
• Root‑cause analysis, scrap reduction, and cycle time optimization.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills on the plant floor.

Responsibilities

• Support day-to-day manufacturing operations, resolving equipment and process issues on the plant floor.
• Evaluate existing production processes and implement continuous improvement strategies to reduce downtime, increase throughput, and ensure high quality.
• Collaborate with maintenance, quality, and production staff to troubleshoot equipment failures, establish root causes, and implement preventive measures.
• Assist in establishing standard operating procedures, cycle time targets, and tooling/equipment setups for existing and new product launches.
• Drive floor-level efficiency using Lean Manufacturing, 5S, and structured problem-solving methodologies.
• Work with external equipment vendors and internal teams on equipment installations, upgrades, and floor layout optimizations.

Skills

Hands-on engineering

Root-cause analysis

Troubleshooting

Lean Manufacturing

5S

Process optimization

Equipment maintenance

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Tools

Injection molding

Thermoforming

Blow molding

Extrusion

Job description

An established, fast-growing, privately-held, financially stable manufacturing organization is seeking an exceptional, floor-focused Plant Engineer to support daily floor operations, optimize production equipment, and drive continuous improvement initiatives. This is an outstanding opportunity for an engineering professional who thrives on the plant floor, enjoys hands‑on troubleshooting, and wants to drive real operational reliability alongside production and maintenance teams.

We are specifically looking for candidates with strong, direct manufacturing plant experience—this is a floor-execution and uptime role, not a product design position.

Key Responsibilities:

• Support day-to-day manufacturing operations, serving as the technical expert to resolve equipment and process issues on the plant floor.
• Evaluate existing production processes and implement continuous improvement project strategies to reduce downtime, increase throughput, and ensure high quality standards.
• Collaborate closely with maintenance, quality, and production staff to troubleshoot equipment failures, establish root causes, and implement preventive measures.
• Assist in establishing standard operating procedures, cycle time targets, and tooling/equipment setups for existing and new product launches.
• Drive floor-level efficiency using Lean Manufacturing, 5S, and structured problem‑solving methodologies.
• Work with external equipment vendors and internal teams on equipment installations, upgrades, and floor layout optimizations.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Plastics, Manufacturing, or related discipline) preferred, or equivalent hands‑on technical experience.
• Proven hands‑on engineering experience directly within a manufacturing plant setting; pure design or product development backgrounds will not be considered.
• Solid technical background operating within controlled manufacturing environments, such as medical device cleanrooms or high‑precision plastics processing facilities ("e.g., injection molding, thermoforming, blow molding, or extrusion").
• Strong mechanical aptitude with demonstrated experience troubleshooting production equipment, automation, and auxiliary equipment.
• Practical understanding of root‑cause analysis, scrap reduction, and cycle time optimization.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with a desire to spend time on the plant floor working directly with technicians and operators.