Process Engineer

Job Title: Process Engineer

Job Description

The Process Engineer supports day-to-day manufacturing operations within a food production environment, with a strong focus on batching, blending, and processing activities. This role drives improvements in batch consistency, standardizes processes across production lines and shifts, and authors and implements Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure safe, efficient, and repeatable operations. The position is ideal for a food manufacturing professional, preferably with dairy or yogurt experience, who has a proven track record of improving batch efficiencies while maintaining strict food safety and regulatory standards.

Responsibilities

• Support batching, blending, and processing operations to ensure consistent product quality, throughput, and adherence to specifications.
• Standardize manufacturing processes across production lines and shifts to reduce variability and improve repeatability.
• Author, revise, and implement Standard Operating Procedures for batch making, sanitation, and processing activities in a regulated food environment.
• Partner closely with production, quality, sanitation, and maintenance teams to ensure procedures are practical, clearly understood, and consistently followed on the plant floor.
• Analyze batch performance data to identify opportunities to reduce variability, waste, rework, and downtime.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives focused on reducing cycle time, improving yields, and increasing labor efficiency.
• Support the scale-up of new or modified formulations into routine production while maintaining product quality and food safety standards.
• Ensure all process changes and improvements align with food safety, GMP, HACCP, and regulatory requirements.
• Assist with investigations related to batch deviations, quality issues, or process upsets, and contribute to root cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Provide hands-on floor support during process changes, trials, and improvement initiatives to ensure smooth implementation and operator engagement.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support multiple production lines or facilities as needed, sharing best practices and standardized procedures.
• Contribute to enhanced documentation, standardization, and reporting to support continuous improvement and regulatory compliance.

Essential Skills

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Food Science, or a related technical field.
• 2 to 5 years of experience in food manufacturing process engineering.
• Direct experience with batching, blending, and processing operations in a food production environment.
• Demonstrated experience authoring, revising, and implementing SOPs in a regulated food environment.
• Strong understanding of food safety principles, including Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).
• Proven ability to support manufacturing engineering and process improvement initiatives on the plant floor.
• Ability to work cross-functionally with production, quality, sanitation, and maintenance teams.
• Comfort working in a hands-on capacity on the plant floor, supporting operations during process changes and continuous improvement projects.
• Strong analytical skills to evaluate batch performance, identify variability, and propose data-driven improvements.
• Effective communication skills to translate technical concepts into clear procedures and training for operations teams.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience in dairy or yogurt manufacturing, including familiarity with the unique characteristics of these products.
• Experience improving batch efficiency and reducing process variability in a food manufacturing setting.
• Familiarity with allergen controls and sanitation processes, including clean-in-place (CIP) systems.
• Experience supporting multiple production lines or facilities and standardizing processes across them.
• Background in continuous improvement methodologies within manufacturing environments.
• Experience with sanitation processes and practices specific to the food industry.
• Exposure to modern, evolving food production environments with a focus on documentation, standardization, and throughput.

Work Environment

The role is based in a food production facility with a strong heritage in dairy and food manufacturing and a modern, evolving operational environment. Employees work on and around the plant floor, supporting batching, blending, processing, and sanitation activities in a hands-on manner. The facility operates with strict food safety, GMP, and HACCP standards and uses regulated processes typical of the food industry, including sanitation systems and clean-in-place (CIP) equipment. With recent and ongoing capital investment and expansion, the work environment is one of change and growth, featuring new equipment, evolving processes, and increasing expectations around documentation, standardization, and throughput as production scales to meet customer demand. Team members collaborate closely across production, quality, sanitation, and maintenance functions in a continuous improvement culture that values operational excellence, process optimization, and consistent product quality.

Job Type & Location

This is a Permanent position based out of Burlington, NC.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $70000.00 - $90000.00/yr.

Comprehensive medical benefits package for eligible employees and their families, PTO & 401k

Workplace Type

This is a fully onsite position in Burlington,NC.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Jun 6, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 30,000 consultants and more than 4,500 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email actalentaccommodation@actalentservices.com for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.