Senior Manufacturing Engineering Lead - Food/Bakery

Dessert Holdings Inc.; Saint Paul (MN); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Dessert Holdings, a leading premium dessert company, seeks a Senior Manager of Manufacturing Engineering to guide engineering initiatives across its food manufacturing network. You will lead multi-site projects, develop standards, and enable product commercialization and capacity expansion.

Reporting to the VP of Engineering & Reliability, you will collaborate with Operations, Quality, R&D, and Supply Chain to drive performance improvements and operational excellence across the portfolio.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering required; Mechanical, Industrial, Manufacturing, Chemical, or related disciplines preferred.
• 8+ years of engineering experience within food, beverage, consumer packaged goods (CPG), or similar manufacturing environments, with a preference for experience in food and in prior GMP/FSMA facilities
• 3+ years of leadership experience managing engineers, technical teams, or cross-functional initiatives
• Experience supporting manufacturing operations through process optimization, manufacturing engineering, capital project execution, continuous improvement, or operational excellence initiatives
• Demonstrated success leading complex, multi-site engineering programs; preference for prior experience with large-scale capital projects, facility expansions, manufacturing start-ups, or product commercialization initiatives
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes, production systems, and operational performance metrics
• Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement certification preferred
• Ability to travel up to 60 to 75% within North America (U.S. and Canada)

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a high-performing Manufacturing Engineering team, providing coaching, mentoring, and technical leadership across multiple manufacturing facilities.
• Establish and drive manufacturing engineering standards, best practices, methodologies, and technical governance to ensure consistency and operational excellence.
• Partner with plant and business leaders to identify improvement opportunities, prioritize engineering resources, and support strategic business objectives.
• Serve as the Manufacturing Engineering lead for major capital projects, guiding scope development, design reviews, equipment selection, commissioning, startup, and performance validation.
• Collaborate with Operations, Maintenance, Reliability, Quality, Supply Chain, R&D, contractors, and OEMs to ensure successful project execution and operational readiness.
• Lead product commercialization efforts, including manufacturing feasibility assessments, process scale-up, validation activities, and launch readiness planning.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on productivity, throughput, yield, labor efficiency, quality, and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
• Analyze manufacturing processes, equipment performance, and operational constraints to identify root causes and implement sustainable performance improvements.
• Lead capacity planning, manufacturing studies, and network optimization efforts to support business growth, expansion strategies, and long-term operational planning.
• Develop manufacturing roadmaps, business cases, and technical recommendations for future capital investments and capacity expansion opportunities.
• Promote equipment standardization, process consistency, and replication of best practices across the manufacturing network.
• Act as a key cross-functional technical leader, supporting initiatives that improve safety, quality, service, cost performance, and long-term manufacturing capability.

Skills

Leadership experience

Process optimization

Cross-functional collaboration

Engineering leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Job description

Dessert Holdings, a leading premium dessert company, seeks a Senior Manager of Manufacturing Engineering to guide engineering initiatives across its food manufacturing network. You will lead multi-site projects, develop standards, and enable product commercialization and capacity expansion.

Reporting to the VP of Engineering & Reliability, you will collaborate with Operations, Quality, R&D, and Supply Chain to drive performance improvements and operational excellence across the portfolio.