Process Engineering Manager

Kerry; Minnesota; On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Kerry Rochester is seeking a Process Engineering Manager to lead a team focused on fermentation, evaporation, spray drying, and process improvement. The role supports new product introductions from design through installation, ensuring safety, quality, and compliance.

The ideal candidate will drive continuous improvement, manage capital projects, and collaborate with R&D and corporate engineering to deliver efficient, scalable processes.

Qualifications

• This role requires leading a process engineering team to optimize fermentation processes.
• Deep knowledge of aseptic processing and process improvement methods is essential.
• Experience with capital projects and cross-functional collaboration is expected.

Responsibilities

• Leads Rochester process engineering team to improve OEE, reduce downtime and improve kinetics.
• Identifies contamination sources and partners with Engineering to upgrade equipment.
• Develops capital plans aligned with growth and cost efficiency.
• Performs techno-economic analyses and supports R&D during trials.
• Leads capital projects under $500k with PM discipline and safety compliance.

Skills

Team leadership

Process optimization

Fermentation

Aseptic processing

Tools

PFDs

P&IDs

Kaizen

Job description

About Kerry

Kerry is the world's leading taste and nutrition company for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. Every day we partner with customers to create healthier, tastier and more sustainable products that are consumed by billions of people across the world. Our vision is to be our customers' most valued partner, creating a world of sustainable nutrition. A career with Kerry offers you an opportunity to shape the future of food while providing you opportunities to explore and grow in a truly global environment.

About the role

Process Engineering Manager -- Biofermentation

Our process engineering manager is responsible for leading the process engineering team in support of Kerry Rochester's safety, quality, production, cost, and maintenance goals. The process engineering manager also works closely with process technology and research and development on new product introductions and process optimization and with corporate engineering on capital projects exceeding $500k.

This role provides leadership and direction to the Rochester Process Engineering team, with responsibility for process optimization and supporting new product and process introductions from design through project installation and commissioning. The Process Engineering Manager will establish a strong, visible, and team-oriented technical focus. It is expected that the process engineering manager is the technical authority of fermentation, evaporation, and spray drying processes. A deep command of the engineering and scientific principles underpinning fermentation, evaporation, and spray drying is a core requirement of the role.

Key responsibilities

• Leads the Rochester process engineering team to identify opportunities to improve equipment overall equipment effectiveness (availability - unplanned downtime, performance - fermentation kinetics, quality - solids target). The leader will create a continuous improvement focus through use of the scientific method to reduce process variability and lean manufacturing principles to eliminate the 8 forms of waste.
• Apply deep knowledge in aseptic processing to identify and reduce sources of contamination and improve the reliability of processing steps. Partner with Engineering to design and implement improved process equipment as needed for new processes.
• Development of appropriate capital plans to deliver business growth and cost efficiency ensuring alignment with the overall capital strategy for the business.
• Conducts techno-economic analysis with technical feasibility studies including heat and energy balances and recommends the most cost-effective approach for development projects. Provides engineering support to R&D/process science activities during pilot and production trials.
• Lead capital projects typically under $500k using traditional project management from project initiation/scope, requirements capture, design, cost estimation, equipment procurement, and installation with subcontractor management to meet scope, schedule, and cost. Responsible in assuring compliance with safety, environment, quality, and food safety. Assures that projects have detailed project specifications, process flow diagrams (PFD's), piping and instrumentation drawings (P&ID's), site and floor plans, elevation drawings, utilities matrices, and other project documentation, as applicable. Process engineering team typically supports corporate engineering who leads projects greater than $500k.
• Process engineering team will lead the development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) that detail operations of new equipment and revises SOP's to reflect changes to operations.
• Leads elimination of systemic unplanned downtime events using continuous improvement tools and the 1 Kerry Plant System 8 step problem solving process to drive to root cause and eliminate future occurrences through corrective actions. Maintains the plant's process failure mode and effects analysis that manages the plants highest risks in terms of severity, detection, and probability calculating a risk priority number to prioritize risk reduction actions.
• Lead Kaizen events as needed to gather team of experts including the operators and production supervisors to solve large scale problems and also for conceptual design projects.
• Promotes projects to reduce water, electricity, carbon burning fuels, and waste to meet Kerry's sustainability targets.
• Regularly explores new technology and equipment and subsequently develops projects to drive process improvement. Fosters a culture of process innovation with key partners in R&D, Quality, Operations and Finance. Key technologies include fermentation, sterilization, centrifugation, evaporation, spray drying, and packaging.
• Leads team in accordance with the Kerry values and with a growth mindset to direct energy into identifying new solutions instead of wasting energy justifying why process improvements are not possible. Holds the team accountable