Senior Plant Engineer

LSC Environmental Products, LLC; Lenoir (NC); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

LSC Environmental Products, LLC in Lenoir, NC seeks a Senior Plant Engineer to lead process capability, pneumatic conveying, controls strategy, and engineered improvements on the manufacturing floor. You will define process limits, boost throughput and quality, and drive capital projects with strong documentation.

This role requires deep mechanical and process-engineering expertise, with emphasis on pneumatic systems, SCADA, and data-driven optimization to sustain reliable plant delivery.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Chemical, or Paper Science & Engineering; master's preferred.
• 10+ years of hands-on process/plant engineering in bulk-material production.
• Ability to diagnose integrated systems using data, observations, and structured problem solving.
• Deep expertise in pneumatic conveying, including air flow, pressure, and equipment.
• Working knowledge of SCADA/PLC/HMI/VFD and instrumentation; support for integration.

Responsibilities

• Establish baseline capability, constraints, and operating windows for major process systems.
• Lead root-cause investigations and validate improvements with controlled trials.
• Optimize pneumatic conveying and material flow, improve moisture balance and throughput.
• Define critical parameters, setpoints, control limits, and acceptance criteria.
• Lead design, execution, and turnover of capital projects with engineers and contractors.
• Train operators and maintenance on new standards and processes.

Skills

Pneumatic conveying

SCADA/PLC/HMI/VFD systems

Root cause analysis

Troubleshooting mechanical/electrical

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Chemical Engineering

Tools

SCADA systems

PLC/Automation hardware

Industrial instrumentation

Job description

Company Description

LSC Environmental Products, LLC is a global manufacturer of products and equipment that address environmental challenges such as erosion, odor control, land reclamation, waste cover, seeding, and dust management. For more than 25 years, LSC has pioneered spray-applied alternate daily cover and solar-powered vent flares in the solid waste industry, and has since expanded its coatings technology into new products, industries, and markets. Located in rural New York between the birthplace of IBM and Cornell University, the company benefits from a strong regional base of technical talent. LSC focuses on creating innovative solutions that provide superior performance, lower total system costs, and reliable customer service for its partners. Team members join a mission-driven organization dedicated to practical, high-impact environmental solutions.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Senior Plant Engineer is the Lenoir site's technical lead for process capability, pneumatic conveying, controls strategy, and engineered improvement. The role turns recurring operating problems into defined technical causes and durable solutions. Working primarily on the manufacturing floor, this engineer establishes process limits, improves throughput, yield, quality, and stability, leads technical changes and capital projects, and builds the data and documentation needed to sustain results.

Operations owns daily production execution and Maintenance owns equipment care and repair. The Senior Plant Engineer owns the engineering analysis, process standards, and technical roadmap that improve what the plant can reliably deliver. This role requires a strong mechanical and process-engineering foundation, with particular depth in pneumatic conveying and bulk-material flow.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Process Capability & Improvement

• Establish and maintain baseline capability, constraints, and operating windows for the plant's major process systems.
• Lead structured problem solving and root cause investigations; validate improvements through controlled trials and data.
• Optimize pneumatic conveying and material flow, including airflow balance, pressure relationships, separation efficiency, plugging prevention, and reliable feed through the plant. Improve moisture and water balance, drying, refining, dosing, baling, and pelleting processes as applicable.
• Define critical process parameters, setpoints, control limits, and technical acceptance criteria.
• Partner with Operations to translate engineering findings into operating standards, training, and daily process control.

Controls, Instrumentation & Process Data

Own the site control philosophy and measurement strategy for PLC, HMI, VFD, instrumentation, and process data systems.

• Troubleshoot controls and instrumentation at a working technical level and direct integrators for larger or specialized changes.
• Improve sensor coverage, calibration, alarming, interlocks, and reliable data capture where process visibility is insufficient.
• Build useful trending for throughput, moisture, motor load, downtime, and other critical variables so decisions rest on evidence.
• Lead the design, development, and implementation of a site-wide SCADA system, including system architecture, PLC and instrumentation integration, data acquisition, historian capabilities, operator visualization, alarming, and performance reporting.

Capital Projects & Technical Change

Develop project scopes, technical specifications, budgets, schedules, and engineering justifications.

• Evaluate and manage equipment suppliers, contractors, controls integrators, fabricators, and outside engineering firms.
• Lead technical execution from design and installation through commissioning, startup, performance validation, and turnover; maintain engineering change control and updated technical documentation.
• Hold suppliers accountable to design and performance commitments using defined acceptance criteria.

Reliability, Safety & Knowledge Transfer

Partner with Maintenance to distinguish process, controls, and mechanical causes of loss and convert findings into PM, spares, inspections, standard work, or design changes.

• Evaluate process and equipment changes for combustible dust, deflagration, machine guarding, LOTO, and other applicable safety risks.
• Support dust collection, spark detection, and suppression systems and the applicable NFPA combustible-dust standards.
• Maintain process flow diagrams, control narratives, equipment specifications, setpoint sheets, and operating standards.
• Train and coach operators, team leads, and maintenance technicians so improvements remain effective after implementation.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or Paper Science & Engineering required; master's degree in engineering preferred.
• 10+ years of hands-on process or plant engineering experience in a continuous, semi-continuous, or bulk-material production environment.
• Demonstrated ability to diagnose integrated process systems using field observation, data analysis, structured problem solving, and sound engineering fundamentals.
• Deep, hands-on expertise in pneumatic conveying systems, including fans and blowers, pressure-drop and airflow relationships, conveying velocity, system balancing, cyclones, rotary airlocks, diverter valves, surge buffering, separation efficiency, wear, plugging, and reliable material transport.
• Working knowledge of SCADA systems, PLCs, HMIs, VFDs, motor controls, and industrial instrumentation, including the ability to support SCADA development and implementation, read PLC logic, troubleshoot with technicians, and direct controls integrators.
• Demonstrated capital project capability, including scope development, budgeting, contractor management, commissioning, and performance validation.
• Working knowledge of root cause analysis and engineering methods such as DOE, SPC, capability analysis, and FMEA.
• Strong communication and influence skills across operators, maintenance technicians, leaders, vendors, and engineering partners.
• Willingness to work primarily on the manufacturing floor and support off-shift startups, trials, and outages when required.

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE

• Fiber, biomass, wood products, pulp and paper, recycled material, agricultural processing, or another bulk-solids application.
• Experience with refining, size reduction, and thermal processing equipment such as refiners, hammermills, shredders, screens, dryers, balers, pellet mills, and dry or liquid dosing systems.
• Combustible dust hazard management, including NFPA standards and spark detection or suppression systems.
• Holding equipment vendors and integrators accountable through startup testing and documented performance acceptance.

WORKING STYLE & EXPECTATIONS

This role requires a high degree of self-direction, sound judgment, and personal ownership. The right candidate sets priorities based on business impact, engages operators and technicians as sources of knowledge, communicates clearly, treats every employee with respect, and owns outcomes - both good and bad. The engineer is expected to be floor-first, data-driven, practical, and persistent enough to carry problems through to verified resolution.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS & WORK ENVIRONMENT

This position requires consistent presence on the manufacturing floor and active engagement with process and equipment work. Exposure to paper and wood dust, industrial equipment, noise, mechanical, electrical, and hydraulic hazards, and varying temperatures is expected. PPE, including safety glasses, steel-toed boots, gloves, and hearing protection, is required in operating areas; respiratory protection may be required for specific tasks. Physical activity may include climbing ladders, working at elevation, lifting up to 50 lbs, and extended periods of standing or walking. Some travel may be required for vendor visits, equipment evaluations, other LSC facilities, or training.