Project Engineer - Gainesville

Job description

A mutually rewarding experience.

Work. Realize your ambitions. And realize there’s more to being in business than just making a profit. That’s the Mars philosophy. And the opportunity we offer every one of our Associates. An opportunity to take what you do and make it mean more for you, for those around you and for the planet.  What you get here is challenging, interesting work. You get the tools you need to do a great job and you get to have the best possible people on your side to help you do it. And at the same time as getting to find ways to do business better today than we did it yesterday and driving a great career, you also get to build a more enlightened business and drive sustainability.

Because it’s never just about a single person, a single project or a single brand. It’s about how you can grab everything that’s within your reach here and use it to pursue mutual, long-term gain. It’s about having ideas. And ideals. Being prepared to risk failure because the promise of success means we’ll all be a little better off. It’s that mix of integrity and ambition that makes Mars such a special place to work. And why working here is always about more than just a job.

Mars has net sales of more than $33 billion, operates six business segments including Petcare, Chocolate, Wrigley, Food, Drinks, Symbioscience, and more than 75,000 Associates worldwide that are putting its Principles into action to make a difference for people and the planet through its performance.

Mars brands include: Petcare – PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, WHISKAS®, BANFIELD® Pet Hospital, CESAR®, SHEBA®, DREAMIES® and NUTRO®; Chocolate – M&M’S®, SNICKERS®, DOVE®, GALAXY®, MARS®, MILKY WAY® and TWIX®; Wrigley – DOUBLEMINT®, EXTRA®, ORBIT® and 5™ chewing gums, SKITTLES® and STARBURST® candies, and ALTOIDS® AND LIFESAVERS® mints. Food – UNCLE BEN’S®, DOLMIO®, EBLY®, MASTERFOODS®, SEEDS OF CHANGE® and ROYCO®; Drinks – ALTERRA COFFEE ROASTERS™, THE BRIGHT TEA COMPANY™, KLIX® and FLAVIA®; Symbioscience – COCOAVIA® and WISDOM PANEL®.

Position Summary :

 

Engineers in our manufacturing plants, technical centers, and headquarters provide technical leadership across the Supply Chain. These roles create competitive advantage through exceptional technical innovation, project management, and business partnership. Leveraging reliability and system improvements and manufacturing technology excellence, our Engineers have rich and rewarding careers in Process, Packaging, Controls, Project, Reliability, and Facilities/Environmental Engineering, as well as Engineering and Maintenance Leadership. Our unique dual career ladder facilitates rewards and career progression equally for technical expertise leadership roles as for technical managerial roles.

 

The Project Engineer is a primary resource for technical project management.  Their overall role is to identify and lead / manage projects to meet business needs to improve efficiency, reduce costs and deliver new innovations to the market.  Project examples range from new dust control systems to new pumping and mixing systems to packing equipment to conveying systems to palletizing to new manufacturing lines and facility improvements (projects across all areas of the plant).

 

Major Responsibilities :

• Demonstrate technical and business expertise to improve systems, products, and technologies. 

• Demonstrate strong troubleshooting skills through the use of continuous improvement techniques (TPM). Show a good understanding of the interactions between machine, materials, methods, environment, and people to provide robust operating systems.

• Deliver projects ranging in size from upgrading processing unit operations to acquiring, installing and starting up new production lines using a collaborative approach and TPM based project delivery tools.

• Partner with plant operations associates to develop and execute improvement projects to eliminate safety hazards, improve product quality, solve plant problems and improve plant efficiency.

• Develop/maintain material balances and unit operation capability information to ensure optimal production rates, parameters, and formulas.

• Provide key technical leadership in capital projects and new product and packing initiative projects.

• Conduct capacity studies, enhance system reliability, and identify/implement productivity improvements including new technologies.

Principal Accountabilities

Business:

• Develop projects that address plant problems or opportunity areas

• Communicate with all stakeholders to ensure all project objectives are clearly defined and achieved.

• Ensure delivery of scope, time, budget, and cash flow for all projects.

Leadership:

• Collaborate with and drive results through technical and operations project associates.

• Drive project teams to focus on safety, environmental, food safety, etc. on all projects.

• Deliver results using a disciplined approach focused on planning the work and executing the plan.

Decision-making:

• Selection of technology platforms to meet business strategy.
• Cash flow projections and tracking.
• Contractor selection and management

Education/Training :

• B.S. in Engineering from ABET-accredited program (Chemical, or Mechanical Engineer preferred); Packaging Science or related fields will be considered.

• 3+ years of experience in engineering or manufacturing of consumer products with cross-functional experience.  Experience with TPM or IWS systems is a plus.

 

Experience :

• Recognized technical abilities and practical experience with strong capabilities in the following areas:

- Theory/functionality of manufacturing systems and unit operations

- Continuous improvement techniques (TPM)

- Food science/chemistry or packaging science is a plus

- Process measurement and control experience is a plus

- Advanced computer skills

- Mechanical aptitude

- Troubleshooting

- Ability to understand and apply general engineering principles

• Experience in leading and managing capital investments (projects range $5K - $2M)

• Processing and some Electrical / Controls experience preferred

• Track record of strategic thinking, managerial courage, innovation management, interpersonal savvy, project planning, and dealing with ambiguity

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities :  

• Developing and executing projects

• Managing project teams, construction contractors and engineering contractors

• Excellent critical thinking, communication, listening and influencing skills

• Collaborating multi-functionally to define and deliver the best overall solution

• Strong innovation management

 

Mars is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the application process because of a disability, it is available upon request. The company is pleased to provide such assistance, and no applicant will be penalized as a result of such a request.