Production Engineer

Vestolit, an Orbia business; Illinois; On-site; USD 95,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare coverage

401(k) retirement plan

Paid holidays

Paid vacation time

Paid sick time

Parental leave

Disability leave

Employee assistance program

Job summary

Vestolit, part of Orbia Polymer Solutions, seeks a senior maintenance leader to drive safety, reliability, and productivity in drying and packaging operations. You will lead initiatives to improve OEE, supervise maintenance teams, and coordinate capital projects to improve equipment uptime.

The role requires a chemical/mechanical engineering background and 5+ years in manufacturing with leadership experience, focusing on reliability, FMEA/RCA, and data-driven maintenance strategies.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in chemical or mechanical engineering.
• 5+ years in a manufacturing environment (chemical plant preferred).
• 5+ years of supervisory/leadership experience in manufacturing (chemical plant preferred).
• Work with maintenance to reduce corrective maintenance via reliability tools.
• Lead FMEA, RCA, Ishikawa for equipment failures and actions.
• Collect/analyze vibration, temperature, speed, lubrication, thermographic data.
• Detail analysis of critical equipment to improve preventive maintenance.
• Understand Reliability KPIs (MTBF/MTTR/MTTF) and monitor performance.
• Supervise or perform rotor balancing in balancing lab/field.
• Understand lubrication and oil sampling; promote online condition monitoring.

Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day leadership to operations personnel for safety, productivity, and dryer/packaging reliability.
• Develop and coordinate initiatives to improve safety performance and OEE.
• Support engineers with technical evaluations, SOP development, and product quality.
• Lead small projects to improve drying and packaging operations.
• Develop capital plans for improvement projects and integrate into CAPEX.
• Serve as project manager or plant liaison for process improvements and equipment upgrades.
• Review with logistics, manufacturing, and tech service to address customer complaints.
• Participate in safety, health, and environmental continuous improvement initiatives.
• Ensure procedures enable safe work with acceptable production costs and quality.
• Ensure preventative maintenance and routine inspections are completed.

Skills

Leadership

Safety compliance

Reliability analysis

FMEA

RCA

Ishikawa

Vibration analysis

Preventive maintenance

Rotor balancing

Lubrication management

Education

Bachelor's in chemical/mechanical eng

Tools

Balancing lab equipment

Job description

The materials that shape everyday life, from the cities we build to the healthcare we rely on, start with people like you.

At Orbia’s Polymer Solutions (Vestolit) business, we develop essential PVC solutions that enable progress in ways both visible and behind the scenes. As a global leader serving more than 80 countries, our work supports industries and infrastructure that people depend on every day. Count on a collaborative, purpose-driven environment where your work connects to something bigger. There’s a reason “people” comes first in our triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit. We foster a culture where individuals are valued and where you can contribute authentically as part of a global team.

Here, what we create matters, because everything we do is connected to advancing life around the world.

Provide day to day leadership to operations personnel to ensure safety, productivity and reliability of the drying and packaging operations. Develops and coordinates implementation of initiatives to improve the safety performance, increase OEE and improve the general condition of the dryer building operations.

Key Responsibilities:

• Operate with a focus on safety and environmental compliance.
• Evaluates and implements new technology and process improvements in the dryer and packaging operations to meet business objectives.
• Support Process Engineers by assisting in technical evaluations, SOP development and review, product development, product consistency improvement, and improvement in OEE performance for all lines.
• Lead the development and execution of small projects to improve the drying and packaging operations.
• Develop capital plans/estimates for improvement projects so they are built into the CAPEX plan.
• Serve as project manager and/or plant liaison for process improvement and equipment upgrade projects.
• Conduct periodic reviews with logistics, manufacturing, and tech service to ensure that customer complaints are properly addressed.
• Participates in safety, health, and environmental continuous improvement initiatives.
• Implement procedures and practices for employees to work safely in an environmentally responsible manner that meet production requirements at an acceptable cost level and meet customer expected quality performance.
• Ensure preventative maintenance and routine inspections are completed.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in chemical or mechanical engineering, or related engineering field.
• 5+ years of experience in manufacturing environment (chemical plant experience preferred).
• 5+ years supervisory/leadership experience in manufacturing environment (chemical plant experience preferred.)
• Ability to work closely with the maintenance team to reduce the level of corrective maintenance on site through the application of reliability driven tools and techniques.
• Ability to lead FMEA, RCA, Ishikawa, etc., for unplanned rotating equipment failures and ensure implementation of corrective actions.
• Trained to collect and analyze vibration, temperature, speed, lubrication and thermographic data to assess current equipment health.
• Ability to perform detailed analysis of critical equipment to develop and improve preventive maintenance plans.
• Detailed understanding of Reliability/Maintainability KPIs (MTBF, MTTR, MTTF, MBTM, Downtime, etc.) and how to implement and monitor equipment performance.
• Ability to supervise or perform dynamic rotor balancing in the balancing laboratory and in the field.
• Detailed understanding of lubrication to ensure the correct lubricants are being used, and that oil sampling analysis is completed.
• Ability to identify and promote the implementation of new technologies for monitoring online conditions.

Orbia’s Polymer Solutions (Vestolit) business is a global leader in the development and manufacture of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) specialties, backed by over 75 years of expertise and a strong industrial footprint in Europe and the Americas. Our materials are used across a wide range of industries, including construction, automotive, healthcare, and consumer applications, designed to meet high standards of quality, consistency, and reliability.

Committed to sustainable development, we continue to advance solutions produced with non-fossil-based resources while supporting the transition toward a circular economy. With a global network of production and innovation capabilities, we partner with customers around the world to meet evolving needs.

The compensation for this position is included above. The actual base pay offered to the successful candidate will be based on multiple factors, including but not limited to job‑related knowledge/skills, experience, geographical location, and internal equity.

The compensation package may also include short and long‑term incentive compensation. We offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes healthcare coverage, a 401(k)-retirement savings plan, paid company holidays, paid vacation time, paid sick time, parental leave, short- and long‑term disability leave, and an employee assistance program. At Orbia, we are committed to taking care of our employees and believe in providing comprehensive support so you can thrive at work and home.

Orbia is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.