Ptocess Engineer

Vangrace; Danville, Northern (VA, KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Vangrace in Virginia is seeking a Process Engineer to develop, optimize, and support manufacturing processes for lithium battery separator production. You will own certain processes and use engineering methods, data analysis, and problem solving to improve safety, quality, yield, throughput, and cost.

Collaborate with Operations, Quality, Maintenance, R&D, EHS, and Supply Chain to troubleshoot, establish process windows, support scale-up, and drive continuous improvement through root cause

Qualifications

• Bachelor-level engineering degree required in Mechanical, Industrial or Manufacturing Engineering.
• 3–7 years of process engineering experience in lithium battery manufacturing or related fields preferred.
• Strong problem-solving skills with proficiency in SPC, DOE, PFMEA, Root Cause Analysis, and Lean/Six Sigma.

Responsibilities

• Own and support assigned manufacturing processes, including mixing, coating, slitting, material handling and related separator production operations.
• Analyze process performance, optimize operating parameters, improve safety, quality, yield, throughput, reliability, and cost.
• Troubleshoot process-related production issues, lead root-cause investigations, and implement corrective actions.
• Establish, document and maintain process windows, setup standards, and engineering procedures.
• Support production startup, process validation, equipment qualification readiness, and scale-up activities.
• Lead continuous improvement projects focused on scrap reduction, yield improvement, cycle-time reduction, and equipment reliability.

Skills

Process engineering

Root Cause Analysis

DOE

Six Sigma

SPC

Data analysis

Education

BS in Mechanical/Industrial/Manufacturing Eng

Tools

MS Office

Job description

The Process Engineer is responsible for developing, optimizing, and supporting manufacturing processes within a lithium battery separator manufacturing environment.

The Process Engineer owns assigned manufacturing processes and uses engineering principles, process data, and structured problem-solving to improve safety, product quality, yield, throughput, cost, and process stability.

The Process Engineer works cross-functionally with Operations, Quality, Maintenance, Research & Development, EHS, and Supply Chain to troubleshoot manufacturing challenges, establish robust process windows, implement improvements, support new product and process scale-up, and strengthen day-to-day manufacturing performance.

Responsibilities:

• Own and support assigned manufacturing processes, including mixing, coating, slitting, material handling, and related separator production operations.
• Analyze process performance, optimize operating parameters, improve safety, quality, yield, throughput, reliability, and cost.
• Troubleshoot process-related production issues, lead structured root-cause investigations, and implement sustainable corrective actions.
• Establish, document, maintain process windows, setup standards, and engineering procedures.
• Support production startup, process validation, equipment qualification readiness activities
• Lead and support continuous improvement projects focused on scrap reduction, yield improvement, cycle-time reduction, process capability, and equipment reliability.
• Apply engineering and statistical methods including Root Cause Analysis, SPC, PFMEA, DOE, and Six Sigma methodologies as appropriate.
• Identify and recommend process, equipment, controls, and material-handling modifications that improve manufacturing performance.
• Use process capability and trend data to identify recurring losses and prioritize improvement opportunities.
• Partner with R&D, Quality, and Operations to support new product introductions, process development, and manufacturing scale-up.
• Plan and execute pilot and production trials, including definition of trial objectives, data collection requirements, acceptance criteria, and technical conclusions.
• Evaluate new materials, technologies, equipment, and methods for production suitability.
• Translate development learnings into documented standards and repeatable production processes.
• Analyze manufacturing data, process trends, defects, and equipment parameters to support technical and operational decision-making.

Requirements:

• BS degree Mechanical, Industrial or Manufacturing Engineering
• 3-7 years of process engineering experience in lithium battery manufacturing, roll-to-roll, web handling coating/converting, extrusion, plastics, chemical processing, or advanced manufacturing preferred.
• Hands-on experience with manufacturing troubleshooting, process optimization, production trials, and continuous improvement preferred.
• Knowledge of manufacturing processes, engineering principles, and structured problem solving.
• Working knowledge of SPC, DOE, PFMEA, Root Cause Analysis, process capability, and Lean/Six Sigma methodologies.
• Interpret data, equipment parameters, process trends, quality results to make sound decisions.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and manufacturing data analysis or historian tools.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Strong written, verbal communication skills ability to work across technical and operational teams.
• Attention to detail, technical ownership, and commitment to safety and operational excellence.
• Travel as needed between plants.