Senior Project Manager, Engineering

Treehouse Island, Inc.; Oak Brook (IL); On-site; USD 132,000 - 199,000; Full time

Job summary

TreeHouse Foods is seeking a Senior Project Manager, Engineering, to lead capital planning and large-scale project execution across multiple food manufacturing facilities. This hands-on role manages scope, budget, and schedules while coordinating internal and external teams to deliver safe, sustainable results.

The position requires 7+ years of PM experience in a food manufacturing setting, with ability to travel ~50% and work near major airports in the Chicago, Atlanta, or Dallas areas.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related technical field.
• 7+ years of project management experience.
• Experience leading capital projects in a food manufacturing environment.
• Experience with multi-site capital planning.
• LEAN Capital Initiative Management experience is a plus.
• Familiarity with utility systems, packaging, and process equipment.

Responsibilities

• Own capital projects end-to-end from concept to start-up and handoff to Operations.
• Lead cross-functional resources to develop a 5-year capital plan for facilities.
• Manage scope, budget, and schedule balancing cost, quality, safety, and operations impact.
• Create capital-approval deliverables like charters, estimates, and business cases.
• Lead vendors, contractors, and internal teams through procurement, construction, and commissioning.
• Monitor KPIs: safety, food safety, environmental impact, on-time delivery, and budget.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional leadership

Communication

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or related field

Tools

AutoCAD

Microsoft Excel

PowerPoint

Microsoft Project

Job description

Employee Type: Full time Location: IL Oak Brook Job Type: Engineering Job Posting Title: Senior Project Manager, Engineering

About Us:

TreeHouse Foods is a leading manufacturer of private label packaged foods and beverages, operating a network of over 20 production facilities and several corporate offices across the United States and Canada. At TreeHouse Foods, our commitment to excellence extends beyond our products and revolves around our people. We are investing in talent and creating a performance-based culture where employees can do their best work and develop their careers, directly impacting our mission to make high quality, affordable food for our customers, communities, and families. We hope you will consider joining the team and being part of our future. Named one of America’s Best Large Employers by Forbes Magazine, we are proud to live by a strong set of values and strive to “Engage and Delight – One Customer at a Time.” Guided by our values—Own It, Commit to Excellence, Be Agile, Speak Up, and Better Together. We are a diverse team driven by integrity, accountability, and a commitment to exceptional results. We embrace change, prioritize continuous learning, and foster collaboration, transparency, and healthy debate. Together, we set each other up for success to achieve enterprise-wide goals.

What You Gain:

Competitive compensation and benefits program with no waiting period – you’re eligible from your first day! 401(k) program with 5% employer match and 100% vesting as soon as you enroll. Comprehensive paid time off opportunities, including immediate access to four weeks of vacation, five sick days, parental leave and 11 company holidays (including two floating holidays). Leaders who are invested in supporting your accelerated career growth, plus paid training, tuition reimbursement and a robust educational platform – DevelopU – with more than 10,000 free courses to support you along the way. An inclusive working environment where you can build meaningful work relationships with a diverse group of professionals. Take advantage of opportunities to build on our team-oriented culture, such as joining one of our Employee Resource Groups. Access to our wellness and employee assistance programs.

Job Description:

About the Role:

We are seeking a strategic and collaborative Senior Project Manager, Engineering, to lead capital planning and project execution across multiple food manufacturing facilities. This hands‑on role will own high‑impact capital projects from concept through start‑up and handoff to Operations, modernizing process, packaging, automation, utilities, facilities, and safety systems across our manufacturing network. You will guide on‑site technical resources in developing and executing a 5-year capital plan aligned with our broader business strategy and use a structured Initiative Management process to deliver safe, reliable, and sustainable results. You’ll add value to this role by performing various functions including, but not limited to:

• Own assigned capital projects end-to-end, from concept and scope through design, procurement, installation, commissioning, start-up, and seamless handoff to Operations.
• Collaboratively form and lead internal and external cross functional resources to develop a 5-year capital plan for manufacturing facilities in scope.
• Build and drive project scope, budget, and schedule, balancing speed, cost, quality, safety, and operational impact.
• Create clear capital‑approval and engineering deliverables, including charters, screening scopes, estimates, business cases, justifications, schedules, and technical specifications.
• Lead vendors, contractors, partner engineering firms, and internal experts through procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning.
• Responsible for the team’s project KPIs including safety, food safety, environmental impacts, operational impacts, adherence to scope, CQV performance, on time delivery, cash flow, and overall budget tracking.
• Identify and manage execution risks early, maintain stakeholder alignment, and use disciplined escalation and change management to protect project outcomes.
• Lead start‑up and early equipment management to deliver stable, repeatable performance and a confident ramp‑up for manufacturing teams.
• Mentor, coach and lead team members, both internal and external, to ensure resources meet the business’ engineering needs.

Important Details:

This is a full‑time role that is expected to travel approximately 50% across assigned plants. This remote role may be based near any of our manufacturing facilities, with preference for candidates near a major airport, particularly in the Chicago, Atlanta, or Dallas metro areas. The anticipated compensation for this position ranges from $132,300.00 - 198,500.00 USD Annually. This is the lowest to highest salary that we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, specific competencies, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, shift, travel requirements, sales or revenue‑based metrics and business or organizational needs. For certain roles, the successful candidate may be eligible for annual discretionary merit compensation award, bonus and equity pay.

You’ll fit right in if you have:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related technical field
• 7+ years of project management experience, including responsibility for multiple capital projects totaling approximately $10M annually
• Demonstrated experience leading capital projects in a food manufacturing environment across project engineering and/or project management
• Experienced in multi‑site capital planning.
• Demonstrated strategic planning capabilities
• Experience with utility systems, wastewater pre‑treatments systems, ingredient handling, food processing, and primary and secondary packaging systems preferred
• Formal project management training or certifications are a plus
• Demonstrated track record of following LEAN Capital Initiative Management processes
• An operational excellence mindset, challenging current processes both internally and externally with a commitment to bringing adaptable solutions forward
• Clear, confident communication, technical writing, stakeholder management, and cross‑functional influence skills.
• Comfortable communicating, presenting & influencing senior leadership on key technical issues
• Proficient with CADD and Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Project.
• Proven effectiveness in working collaboratively within a matrix organization

At TreeHouse Foods, we embrace diversity and inclusion for innovation and growth. We are committed to building inclusive teams and an equitable workplace for our employees to bring their true selves to work to help us “Engage and Delight – One Customer at a Time.” TreeHouse Foods is an Equal Opportunity Employer that prohibits discrimination or harassment of any type. All qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Applicants who require an accommodation to participate in the job application or hiring process should contact disability‑[e-mail]

TreeHouse Foods is a private label food and beverage leader focused on customer brands and custom products. When customers partner with TreeHouse they can expect access to an industry‑leading portfolio, strategic vision, on‑trend innovation and insights, world‑class supply chain, operational excellence and flexibility, collaborative approaches, and dedicated customer service. Our strategy is to be the leading supplier of private label food and beverage products by providing the best balance of quality and cost to our customers. We engage with retail grocery, food away from home, and industrial and export customers, including most of the leading grocery retailers and foodservice operators in the United States and Canada. Our portfolio includes a variety of shelf‑stable, refrigerated, and snack products. Customers can expect comprehensive flavor profiles including natural, organic, and preservative‑free ingredients in many categories and packaging formats. TreeHouse Foods is best known for food and beverages produced by our two largest businesses Bay Valley Foods, LLC (including E.D. Smith and Sturm Foods) and TreeHouse Private Brands. With more than 10,000 employees in over 26 plants across the United States and Canada, TreeHouse Foods is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.