Senior Engineering Manager — Manufacturing Excellence

Novolex; Lake Forest (IL); On-site; USD 155,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) with company match

Medical, dental, vision

Paid time off & holidays

Wellness program

Job summary

Novolex is seeking a Senior Manager, Operating Unit Engineer to lead engineering activities across multiple manufacturing facilities. You will guide blown film extrusion, inline converting, printing, and downstream bag operations to improve safety, quality, throughput and yield.

The role requires strong leadership, project management, and a hands-on approach to capital projects, equipment trials, and process optimization across 5–8 sites with frequent collaboration across teams.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of manufacturing engineering, process engineering, reliability engineering, or technical operations experience.
• Experience supporting high-volume manufacturing across multiple plants.
• Strong problem-solving, communication, and cross-functional coordination skills.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related technical discipline preferred.

Responsibilities

• Ensure safety and compliance with engineering standards and procedures.
• Lead engineering activities across plants; provide technical leadership for film and bag processes.
• Act as technical authority for inline-converting, printing, and bag-making operations.
• Lead capital projects, equipment specs, FAT/SAT, startup support and commissioning.
• Coach and develop plant engineering teams; drive uptime, throughput, and reliability.
• Collaborate with Centers of Excellence to implement standard practices.

Skills

Manufacturing Engineering

Process Optimization

Cross-functional Leadership

Troubleshooting

Capital Projects

Safety Compliance

Communication Skills

Team Coaching

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Tools

Office Software

Project Management Tools

Job description

Novolex is seeking a Senior Manager, Operating Unit Engineer to lead engineering activities across multiple manufacturing facilities. You will guide blown film extrusion, inline converting, printing, and downstream bag operations to improve safety, quality, throughput and yield.

The role requires strong leadership, project management, and a hands-on approach to capital projects, equipment trials, and process optimization across 5–8 sites with frequent collaboration across teams.