VP, Plant Engineering & Reliability Leader

Daily Harvest

Twin Falls (ID)

On-site

USD 250,000 - 350,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

401(k) match

Parental leave

Wellness program

On-site gym (where available)

Job summary

Chobani is seeking a Vice President of Plant Engineering for its Twin Falls manufacturing campus. You will own the engineering strategy and drive maintenance, automation, and process improvements to deliver safe, high-quality products.

The role partners with Operations, R&D, Quality, and Sustainability to execute capital plans and plant modernization. You will lead a large engineering organization, manage multi-million-dollar CapEx portfolios, and champion a culture of safety, continuous

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Chemical, Electrical, Food, or Industrial Engineering.
15+ years of progressive engineering leadership experience in food, beverage, dairy, or CPG manufacturing; with at least 5 years in a leadership role.
Demonstrated expertise across maintenance/reliability, automation/controls, and engineering.
Proven track record leading large cross-functional engineering teams and managing multi-million-dollar CapEx portfolios.
Deep knowledge of food safety and regulatory requirements: FDA, USDA, HACCP, PMO, SQF, and GMP standards.
Experience with CMMS platforms (SAP PM, Maximo, or equivalent), SCADA/PLC systems, and advanced process controls.
Strong business acumen; ability to translate technical strategy into executive communications and business cases.
Exceptional leadership, communication, and influencing skills.

Responsibilities

Serve as the senior engineering voice on the Twin Falls leadership team; align engineering priorities with Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, and EHS.
Develop and execute a multi-year engineering roadmap spanning CapEx, technology adoption, reliability, and workforce development.
Lead, mentor, and develop engineering managers and frontline technical staff; build bench strength and succession plans across disciplines.
Own the site capital budget; develop business cases, manage spend, and report ROI to senior leadership and the C-suite.
Drive a culture of safety, food safety, continuous improvement, and accountability aligned with Chobani's values.
Partner with VP of Manufacturing, R&D, Quality, Supply Chain, and Sustainability on new product launches, capacity expansions, and plant modernization.
Establish a best-in-class Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) program; transition from reactive to predictive maintenance.
Implement and optimize a CMMS to maximize asset uptime, extend equipment life, and reduce unplanned downtime.
Define and track KPIs (OEE, MTBF, MTTR, PM compliance); establish dashboards and accountability structures.
Lead root cause analysis and corrective action for major equipment failures; maintain asset criticality rankings with operations.
Oversee spare parts strategy, storeroom management, and vendor/contractor relationships to optimize cost and responsiveness.
Ensure all maintenance activities comply with FDA, USDA, PMO, OSHA, and Chobani's internal food safety and GMP standards.
Own and advance the plant's automation strategy across PLCs, SCADA, HMIs, robotics, and advanced process controls.
Identify and prioritize automation opportunities to reduce manual labor, improve consistency, increase throughput, and enhance food safety traceability.
Develop and govern automation standards, programming guidelines, and change management protocols ensuring system stability and cybersecurity compliance.
Partner with OEM vendors, system integrators, and IT/OT teams to deploy, validate, and support automation technologies.
Build internal automation capability through structured training, career pathing, and knowledge management.
Evaluate and pilot Industry 4.0, IoT, and AI-enabled manufacturing technologies that drive competitive advantage.
Align capital plans and improvement priorities across all technical disciplines within Twin Falls.
Partner with cross-functional teams on new product scale-up, technology transfers, process validation, and plant trials to ensure manufacturing readiness.
Champion Lean, Six Sigma, and CI methodologies; sponsor high-impact improvement projects across the engineering organization.
Ensure compliance with FDA 21 CFR, PMO, HACCP, and SQF standards across all manufacturing systems.
Drive process optimization efforts in yield improvement, waste reduction, energy efficiency, and product quality.