Senior Mechanical Engineer || Plant Projects + Floor + TPM || West Chicago IL On-Site

Pave Talent; West Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 110,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Pave Talent is recruiting for a senior engineering role with a major North American ink and coatings manufacturer. The position blends design, project management, TPM/EEM coordination, and field startup support across multiple sites.

The ideal candidate has a Mechanical Engineering degree and 10+ years in relevant manufacturing environments, with AutoCAD and PLC experience. On-site work with periodic travel required.

Qualifications

• BS in Mechanical Engineering is non-negotiable.
• 10+ years in chemical, ink/coatings, food & beverage, pharma, oil/gas, or packaging OEM manufacturing.
• AutoCAD across mechanical, electrical, architectural, and P&ID drawings.
• Advanced troubleshooting on mechanical, motion, and hydraulic systems.
• Basic electrical systems troubleshooting.
• PLC and instrumentation depth (diagnostics & improvements).
• Thermodynamics, physics, and pump design fundamentals.
• Up to 25% domestic US travel, planned 2+ weeks ahead.
• Hazardous area classification experience.
• Lean manufacturing or continuous improvement coursework.

Responsibilities

• Bridge design with project management, TPM, and EEM coordination.
• Lead capital projects and ROI modeling from scope to startup.
• Draft and review CAD drawings; support field and floor operations.
• Provide on-site troubleshooting and startup support across plants.
• Coordinate with maintenance and engineering teams across North America.

Skills

Design breadth

Project management

Lean manufacturing

Troubleshooting (mechanical)

Field operations

Travel readiness

Team collaboration

Problem solving

Education

BS in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

AutoCAD

PLC systems

P&ID drawings

Job description

What if you could spend the next decade inside one of the most stable engineering teams in North American manufacturing, never start over at a new employer to grow, and still see a clear path into upper management? That is not a stretch story here. It is the path most of the current engineering team is already on.

Pave Talent is hiring on behalf of our client, a major North American ink and coatings manufacturer with a global parent and active expansion across the Americas. Great Place to Work certified back-to-back, ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001 integrated, and 100+ years of manufacturing legacy through the parent company.

This is not a stay-in-your-lane role. The hiring manager has been here more than 15 years and moved up to lead engineering for the region. Half the department has been here longer than he has. Engineers from this team have grown into upper management and General Manager roles. The route from this seat is not theoretical, it is the dominant career path the team has taken.

A small, close-knit corporate engineering group of 10 to 12 across North America with 3 to 4 at the Technical Center. You will be the 4th engineer at the site, reporting directly to the Project Engineering Manager. Day to day you work alongside one PLC and integration engineer and one engineering and maintenance technician. The wider department spans the United States, Canada, and Latin America.

This is a deliberately broad role. The hiring manager said it directly: "Design is never going to be heavy. We don't have people that sit here and draft. We don't make equipment." Your time will move across four buckets, with the mix shifting year to year based on capital availability:

• Design (25 to 30 percent): drafting, calculations, process flows, P&IDs (Process and Instrumentation Diagrams)
• Project management (25 percent): budgeting, scheduling, and ROI on capital builds that recently have run into the millions
• TPM and EEM coordination (25 percent): you become the site coordinator for Total Productive Maintenance and Early Equipment Management using a company-wide methodology
• Field and floor (25 to 30 percent): observation, improvements, adjustments, maintenance and startup support at the home plant and remote sites
• Capital project leadership from scope definition through startup, including ROI modeling and budget control
• Process and equipment improvements across batch ink manufacturing operations (short runs, color changeovers, recipe systems)
• On‑floor troubleshooting alongside maintenance when production is down
• AutoCAD drafting across mechanical, electrical, architectural, and P&ID drawings
• PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) and instrumentation diagnostics and specification
• Site-level TPM and EEM coordination using the company-wide framework
• Travel up to 25 percent domestic US to plants in the Midwest, East Coast, and Southeast

Prior candidates fell short for one reason: they were too specialized. If you have spent the last 12 years buried in 3D modeling with no time on the manufacturing floor, this is not the right seat. The same is true if your career has been pure field inspection or construction‑site work without design and project management depth. Onboarding here also takes longer than at a John Deere or Amazon because the manufacturing process carries real IP (Intellectual Property) and the batch nature is genuinely unique. The hiring manager wants candidates who lean into breadth, ask questions on plant tours, and own specific deliverables rather than describing the team's work in the abstract.

• BS in Mechanical Engineering or related degree (non‑negotiable, set by the hiring manager)
• 10+ years in chemical, ink/coatings, food and beverage, pharma, oil and gas, or packaging OEM manufacturing
• AutoCAD across mechanical, electrical, architectural, and P&ID drawings
• Advanced troubleshooting on mechanical, motion, and hydraulic systems
• Basic electrical systems troubleshooting
• PLC and instrumentation depth (specification, diagnostics, and improvement, not just awareness)
• Fundamentals of thermodynamics, physics, and pump design (the hiring manager said directly that he cannot teach these; they come from an ME background)
• Comfort with up to 25 percent domestic US travel, planned 2+ weeks ahead
• Hazardous area classification experience (oil and gas or chemical background)
• Lean manufacturing or continuous improvement coursework

Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8 to 5, on‑site at the Technical Center. Informal work‑from‑home flexibility on occasion at manager discretion (for example, after a travel week), not a standing perk.

Average tenure across the company is 12 to 13 years, roughly 2.5 times the industry standard. The hiring manager is education‑supportive and is known for planning travel weeks in advance rather than dropping it on the team last‑minute. Engineers wear many hats by design: nobody on this team owns just one lane.

Apply via LinkedIn and we will reach out to schedule a conversation. Confidential search; your application is fully private.