Process Engineer

Ventura Foods; Opelousas (LA); On-site; USD 78,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Prescription, Dental & Vision

Profit Sharing & 401(k)

Paid Vacation & Holidays

Employee Appreciation Events

Job summary

Ventura Foods is seeking a Process Engineer in Opelousas, LA to optimize batching and processing parameters across mayo, dressings, sauces, and margarine lines. You will support R&D, QA, and maintenance while ensuring data integrity and process consistency.

The role emphasizes development of best practices, change management, and adherence to Food Safety standards. A chemical/mechanical Eng degree and 1+ year of related experience are expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Chemical or Mechanical Engineering with demonstrated ability in mathematics and science or equivalent experience.
• Minimum one year experience in a related field.

Responsibilities

• Improve/optimize batching process to maintain high quality and productivity for mayonnaise, dressings, sauces, and margarine/spreads products; provide data integrity and processing instructions.
• Improve/optimize process parameters to support high quality and productivity; review data to ensure compliance or adjustments.
• Assist with formulas changes to satisfy customer requirements; collaborate with R&D and production teams to evaluate issues.
• Support change management activities; maintain manufacturing formulas, process instructions, and data.
• Maintain multi-level batch sheets for approximately 600 formulas.
• Assist production and inventory teams; investigate variance, perform root cause analysis, and resolve issues.
• Support special projects for engineering/maintenance, production, and QA.
• Adhere to all Food Safety policies including SQF, GMPs, FSMA, and Preventive Controls.

Skills

Batching process

Process parameter optimization

Data analysis

Leadership

Operating procedures

AS400

Microsoft Excel

PowerPoint

AutoCAD

Microsoft Word

Education

Bachelor's in Chemical or Mechanical Engineering

Tools

AS400

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

PowerPoint

AutoCAD

Job description

Process Engineer

Location: Opelousas, LA, US, 70570

Position Summary:

The Process Engineer is responsible for providing technical support to production , QA department, R&D, and maintenance departments. The primary focus of this role is to evaluate existing batching processes and process parameters to improve sustainability and develop best practices within the production process.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Improve/ optimum batching process in order to maintain high quality and productivity for mayonnaise, dressings, sauces, and margarine/spreads products. Provide data integrity, processing instructions, and ESE auto batching process via collaboration with R&D and mixers.
• Improve/ optimum process parameters in order to maintain high quality and productivity for margarine/ spreads products. Support margarine process team by providing applicable process parameters. Review parameters data provided by operators to determine compliance or need to revise to optimum process parameters.
• Support process variations as they relate to formula adjustments to satisfy customer requirements. Work closely with R&D, lab supervisor, and production forman/mixers to evaluate and solve formulas issues.
• Support product/process change activities through management of change. Maintenance manufacturing formulas, process instructions, process parameters, and analytical data.
• Maintain multi-level batch sheets for approximately 600 unique formulas.
• Support production and inventory control team in ingredients with high variance related to formulas adjustments. Investigate variance by collecting and analyzing data. Conduct root cause analysis (RCA) to to resolve the problems.
• Support special projects for engineering/maintenance, production, and QA departments.
• Responsible for following all Food Safety policies, procedures and regulatory criterion including the current SQF code, Good Manufacturing Practices, and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and associated Preventive Controls.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelors degree in Chemical or Mechanical Engineering with demonstrated ability in mathematics and science or equivalent experience.
• Minimum one year experience in a related filed.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Requires thorough knowledge of mayonnaise, dressings, sauces, margarine/spreads process, and oils.
• Strong leadership skills.
• Ability to write operating procedures and manage process improvement projects.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, AS400 is required.
• Knowledge of Power Point and Auto Cad is recommended

Why Join Us:
Ventura Foods innovates and manufactures food solutions for foodservice and retail businesses. We make exclusive products for the world's most iconic restaurants and retailers, we provideready-to-goproduct solutions for professional kitchens, and we make consumer brands everyone knows and loves. When you work for Ventura Foods, you get a strong foundation of training, a manager who cares about you and celebrates your success, a safe environment, and challenging work. As part of our team, your future is limited only by how much you’re willing to push yourself to get there. We invest in your growth because you invest in ours.

Ventura Foods offers career growth opportunities as well as competitive compensation and benefits:

• Medical, Prescription, Dental, & Vision – coverage beginning on your 1st day for eligible employees
• Profit Sharing and 401(k) matching (after eligible criteria is met)
• Paid Vacation, Sick Time, and Holidays
• Employee Appreciation Events and Employee Assistance Programs
• Salary Base Range of $77,720.00 -$99,967.35*

*The “base salary range” provided above is a good faith estimate of what we expect to pay for this position in the specified markets. Ventura Foods reserves the right to pay outside of the given range based on a variety of factors including but not limited to: candidate skills and experience, complexity of the job, budgetary factors, and location/geography. Ventura Foods conducts regular reviews of compensation ranges and therefore reserves the right to alter this range at any given time.

Physical Demands:
All jobs require sufficient physical strength and dexterity to perform the required task(s)and typically also require at a minimum: intermittent sitting, standing, walking, climbing, squatting, kneeling, pushing, and pulling. Occasional lifting and/or moving up to 50 pounds or more with assistance may also be required. Please see the job description for specific requirements.

Please see the job description for specific requirements of the position for which you are applying.

Typical shifts are 8-12 hours per day. Additional unscheduled time after hours and on weekends may also be required. Employees must be willing and able to wear personal protective equipment as required by Company policy and/or legal requirements. In addition, certain jobs may require employees to:

• Work outside and/or in adverse temperatures which could include extreme heat, cold, and humidity;
• Be exposed to vibrations, chemicals used in operations, fumes and food allergens (may include soy, dairy and other allergens); and
• Be required to work in confined and dark spaces, and at heights in excess of 18 feet.

Our Culture
Our Culture reflects our commitment to treating every employee with respect and creating an environment where people can do their best work. We rely on a variety of strengths, backgrounds, and experiences across our teams to help us innovate, grow, and deliver for our customers. By fostering a workplace that is supportive, collaborative, and grounded in integrity, we continue to attract strong talent and meet the high expectations of a rapidly evolving marketplace.

Ventura Foods is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

Ventura Foods may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisted tools at certain stages of our hiring process, including identifying & sourcing candidates, reviewing applications and matched candidates on job boards and websites, and generating screening questions to help us work more efficiently and consistently. We regularly review our tools to promote fairness and reduce the risk of bias. However, while these tools support our process, every hiring decision is made by a real person on our team. Applicants in the State of New York may request an alternative process by contacting us at [e-mail] .