Process Engineer

CDF Corporation; Plymouth, Northern (MA, KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

CDF Corporation in Plymouth, MA seeks a Process Engineer to improve and standardize manufacturing processes on the production floor. You will work with Engineering, Manufacturing, Maintenance, and Quality to analyze performance today and design tomorrow’s improvements.

You’ll lead process testing, validate thermoforming and new materials, and develop standard work to reduce downtime and variation. This role emphasizes RCA, troubleshooting, and workforce development.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial, Plastics Engineering or related field.
• Minimum of 5 years of process engineering experience.
• Experience in plastics manufacturing, thermoforming, blow molding, or flexible packaging is valuable.
• Knowledge of SPC, RCA, CI, ERP/MRP, CAD, ISO/SQF/GMP environments is helpful.

Responsibilities

• Develop, improve, document, and standardize manufacturing processes.
• Develop setup sheets, process specifications, work instructions, and standardized work.
• Lead process testing and validation for thermoforming, new materials, and manufacturing methods.
• Analyze downtime, scrap, OEE, cycle times, process capability, and variation to identify improvements.
• Troubleshoot manufacturing and equipment issues with Operations, Maintenance, and Quality.
• Lead Root Cause Analysis and Corrective Action from problem identification through verification.
• Recommend improvements to machine settings, tooling, equipment, and methods.
• Support new equipment and production-line startups.
• Train Process Technicians, Machine Operators, Inspector/Packers, and others to sustain improvements.
• Help continuously improve safety, quality, delivery, cost, and equipment reliability.

Skills

Process optimization

Root cause analysis

Statistical process control

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical/Manufacturing/Industrial/Plastics Engineering

Tools

CAD

ERP/MRP systems

ISO/SQF/GMP environments

Job description

CDF Corporation | Plymouth, MA
Salary: $110,000–$115,000 annually

Come Help Us Build Better Manufacturing Processes

At CDF Corporation, we don’t believe the best process improvements happen from behind a desk.

They happen on the manufacturing floor, watching a process run, asking the right questions, digging into the data, working alongside the people who know the equipment best, and figuring out how to make a good process even better.

That’s the opportunity we’re offering our next Process Engineer.

We’re looking for an engineer who enjoys solving real manufacturing problems. Someone who can walk up to a production line that isn’t performing as expected and want to understand why. Someone who sees downtime, scrap, variation, or an inconsistent setup not simply as a problem, but as something that can be studied, improved, standardized, and sustained.

What You’ll Walk Into

CDF is a family-owned 3 rd generation plastics packaging manufacturer with processes that include thermoforming, blow molding, flexible packaging, and heat sealing. Our operation has decades of manufacturing knowledge and experience, and we’re working to capture more of that knowledge, strengthen our processes, and build greater consistency into the way we manufacture.

That’s where you come in.

You’ll partner closely with Engineering, Manufacturing, Maintenance, and Quality to understand how our processes perform today and help us determine how they should perform tomorrow.

Some days, you’ll be troubleshooting a difficult production issue with Operations and Maintenance. Other days, you may be validating thermoforming machine set-points, evaluating heat-sealing conditions, analyzing scrap or downtime, testing a new material, or developing a standardized setup that makes the process easier to repeat from shift to shift.

And when you find something that works, we don’t want that knowledge living only in someone’s head.

You’ll help us document it, standardize it, teach it, and make it sustainable.

What You’ll Have the Opportunity to Do

This role gives you the opportunity to make a very visible impact on our manufacturing operation. You will:

• Develop, improve, document, and standardize manufacturing processes.
• Develop setup sheets, process specifications, work instructions, and standardized work.
• Lead process testing and validation for thermoforming, new materials, and manufacturing methods.
• Analyze downtime, scrap, OEE, cycle times, process capability, and variation to identify improvement opportunities.
• Troubleshoot complex manufacturing and equipment issues alongside Production, Maintenance, and Quality.
• Lead Root Cause Analysis and Corrective Action efforts from problem identification through verification of effectiveness.
• Recommend improvements to machine settings, tooling, equipment, and manufacturing methods.
• Support new equipment and production-line startups.
• Train Process Technicians, Machine Operators, Inspector/Packers, and other manufacturing employees so improvements are understood and sustained.
• Help us continuously improve safety, quality, delivery, cost, equipment reliability, and overall manufacturing performance.

These responsibilities reflect the role’s emphasis on process optimization, RCA/corrective action, technical troubleshooting, standardized work, and workforce development.

Who We’re Looking For

We’re interested in someone who is technically strong but also knows that successful manufacturing engineering is about people as much as processes.

You should be comfortable working directly with operators, technicians, supervisors, maintenance employees, quality professionals, and leadership. You won’t have direct reports, but you will be expected to provide technical leadership and influence others through your knowledge, credibility, and ability to solve problems.

Ideally, you’ll bring a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Plastics Engineering, or a related technical discipline, along with a minimum of 5 years of process engineering experience.

Experience in plastics manufacturing, thermoforming, blow molding, or flexible packaging would be especially valuable. Experience with statistical process control, root cause analysis, continuous improvement, ERP/MRP systems, CAD, and ISO/SQF/GMP manufacturing environments is also helpful.

How We’ll Know You’re Successful

Success won’t simply be measured by how many projects you complete.

We’ll see it in more stable processes, less variation, reduced downtime and scrap, improved equipment reliability, stronger standardized work, effective corrective actions, and manufacturing teams that have greater technical knowledge and confidence.

Why CDF?

If you’re looking for a role where you can come in, learn the operation, roll up your sleeves, and see the impact of your work on the manufacturing floor, this may be the right next step.

We’re not looking for someone to simply maintain the processes we already have.

We’re looking for someone who will help us understand them, challenge them, improve them, and build the standards that will carry our manufacturing operation forward.