Sr. Engineering Manager

Enjoy a career, packaged with care, whilst helping protect food, people and the planet

We are a key global provider of sustainable packaging solutions. We're on a mission to make all packaging recyclable, reusable, or compostable. Every day, we ensure the hygiene and safety of food and drink for people around the world. We are Huhtamaki.

You could be part of our vision. Because it's our talented people that make it happen. Our people on the shop floor producing innovative, sustainable products. Our people in our offices delivering excellence for our customers every day. It's every one of us working together.

We offer a place where you can feel safe, be supported, and make an impact so we can all focus on the future together.

What you'll bring to the role

Key Responsibilities:

Engineering Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop engineering team members across applicable disciplines (process, mechanical, electrical, automation, and project engineering).
• Establish engineering standards, best practices, and design guidelines to support operational excellence and continuous improvement.
• Partner with Operations, Maintenance, WCO, Safety, and Quality teams to ensure engineering solutions aligned with plant goals and production needs.

Capital Project Management

• Own and lead the annual capital planning process, including identification, prioritization, and development of capital projects.
• Prepare and submit capital requests with clear business justification, scope definition, cost estimates, risk assessments, and ROI analysis.
• Manage capital projects from concept through detailed design, procurement, installation, commissioning, and successful operational handoff.
• Ensure projects are delivered on time, within approved scope, and within budget, while meeting performance expectations.

Safety & Compliance

• Ensure all engineering designs and projects incorporate Design for Safety principles and comply with applicable safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements.
• Lead or support risk assessments (e.g., hazard analyses, lockout/tagout considerations, machine safety reviews) during design and installation phases.
• Promote a strong safety culture by embedding safety accountability into engineering and project execution activities.

Financial & Scope Accountability

• Maintain full accountability for project scope control, cost tracking, forecasting, and change management.
• Evaluate contractor and vendor proposals, manage external engineering resources, and ensure contract compliance.
• Identify cost-saving opportunities without compromising safety, quality, or reliability.

Continuous Improvement & Reliability

• Support equipment reliability, process optimization, and capacity improvement initiatives.
• Drive standardization, lifecycle planning, and long-term asset strategies to improve plant performance.
• Leverage data, lessons learned, and post-project reviews to improve future capital execution.

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, Industrial, or related discipline).
• 7+ years of engineering experience in a manufacturing or industrial environment.
• 3+ years of engineering leadership or project management experience.
• Proven experience leading capital projects from justification through startup.
• Strong knowledge of manufacturing processes, equipment, and safety standards.

Preferred:

• Professional Engineer (PE) license or Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
• Experience managing multi-disciplinary engineering teams.
• Familiarity with capital budgeting, ROI analysis, and financial justification models.
• Experience with automation, controls, or process improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma).

Key Competencies

• Leadership and team development
• Capital project execution
• Safety-focused design and risk management
• Budget and scope accountability
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Strong communication and decision-making skills
• Values similar to ours: Care, Dare, Deliver

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to work in indoor and outdoor industrial environments, including exposure to all weather conditions, heights, and confined spaces.
• Ability to wear appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
• Overtime, nights, holidays, and weekend work may be required based on plant needs and equipment demands.
• Visual acuity (corrected) to read directions and prints and to inspect machine parts, product to ensure parts meet specifications.
• Manual dexterity is sufficient to operate machinery for precision work.
• Physical ability to do work requiring frequent stooping, standing, squatting, bending, crawling, twisting, and lifting of 50 pounds.

What we offer in return

• Our products are only as good as the people we hire, so we make sure to hire the best and treat them accordingly. Huhtamaki offers a comprehensive traditional benefits package including medical insurance as well as dental, vision, life insurance, disability insurance, 401K, and a pension. We also proudly offer a slate of more nontraditional perks - opportunities like online learning and development courses, tuition reimbursement, employee referral bonus program, wellness program, onsite medical staff, monthly employee plate store benefits, monthly onsite boot truck, and various mentorship programs - that encourage our associates to grow personally as they develop professionally. You'll also enjoy Paid Time Off and holiday pay because we believe a work-life balance is more than just a buzzword - it's part of our culture.

• Trace your own Path! Join us to shape the future together!

Go ahead, apply today!

If this sounds like a good fit, then we'd love to hear from you. Once we review applications, we'll then be reaching out to qualified candidates to schedule interviews.

Join us. Help protect food, people and the planet.