Sr. Equipment & Process Engineer

JOB DESCRIPTION

Position Title: Senior Process and Equipment Engineer

Reporting Relationship: Senior Director of Engineering

Location: Oceanside, CA

Company Overview

Solecta plays a globally impactful role in the development of novel and critical separation technologies for high value process feed streams that directly support the improvement of people’s lives. Whether it be advancements in the production of nutritionally sound food, materials for everyday life, or mitigation of environmental footprint, our team is driven to provide thoughtful and meaningful leadership in advanced separations. With a deep focus on understanding our clients’ industries and applications, Solecta strives to deliver superior value and agility to navigate today’s complex business environment. Solecta maintains manufacturing facilities and an R&D center in Oceanside, CA., and commercial offices in Minneapolis, Boston, and Chicago. Solecta is a wholly owned subsidiary of True North Venture Partners.

Position Summary

The Senior Process and Equipment Engineer is responsible for improving existing and developing new membrane and element manufacturing and test equipment and processes. The successful candidate will use lean thinking, and statistical and robust engineering methodologies to develop new and improve existing equipment and improve existing processes that improve factory capabilities, reduce scrap and setup and improve plant throughput.

Essential Functions

• High energy with a strong work ethic; willingness to roll up one’s sleeves and learn.
• “Hands-on”; comfortable on the shop floor working with all levels of technical, professional, and managerial staff, operators and technicians.
• Good teamwork, time management, problem solving, and critical thinking skills. Customer orientation mindset.
• Investigate and resolve problems in production including troubleshooting equipment and process problems:
  1. Regularly monitor equipment and process performance to ensure operations meet safety, quality, and capacity/cycle time requirements.
  2. Solve problems using structured problem-solving methods. (ex: Ishikawa/fishbone, Six Sigma, A3, PDCA, root cause analysis, etc.)
  3. Perform data mining and data analysis.
  4. Perform root cause analysis of element and membrane product defects and implement short term containment/workarounds and long-term solutions.
  5. Assist maintenance personnel as required with troubleshooting and repair of equipment including reading and interpreting electrical schematics and manufacturers’ documentation related to plant equipment and plant facilities equipment maintenance.
• Design, build, and qualify new production and test equipment and processes:
  1. Analyze existing capacity and make recommendations of process and equipment improvements to maximize capacity, productivity and throughput.
  2. Define and conduct engineering tests for experimental data collection.
  3. Define, select, and develop new or modified processing concepts.
  4. Develop and execute new equipment build, existing equipment modification, and test and acceptance plans.
  5. Oversee and drive associated projects into manufacturing through the change control board, documentation and training.
• Communicate (written and oral) technical concepts clearly and concisely to audiences with varied levels of educational and technical backgrounds. Excellent influencing skills. Develop clear written instructions (including but not limited to: operations procedures, SWI’s/Standard Work Instructions, corrective and preventive maintenance and troubleshooting procedures, and RFC’s/Response Flow Checklists) and train staff.
• Lead Continuous Improvement efforts.
• Compile and evaluate test data to determine appropriate limits and variables (CTQs) for process or material specifications. Perform materials characterization.
• Evaluate product performance and opportunities for improvement.
• Collaborate with R&D and Operations to take product and equipment improvements from concept to production.
• Engage with and assist other professional staff including Finance, Sales, Marketing, Operations, Engineering, R&D, Supply Chain, and Quality.
• Comfortable working in a fast paced rapidly changing environment.
• Other duties as assigned.

Position Qualifications

Education and Experience:

• B.S. (M.S. preferred) in an Engineering discipline plus 8+ years of engineering experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Record of defining and managing manufacturing equipment and process improvement projects to completion. Ability to influence and facilitate process and behavior change.
• Proficiency with mechanical design packages (Solidworks, AutoCAD, etc.)
• Parts and equipment fabrication experience (machining, fabrication, electrical and mechanical assembly, welding, electrical box build)
• Strong project management skills
• Proficiency with MS Office, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint

Additional desired experience or willingness to learn:

• Working knowledge, and hands-on experience with industrial electricity and control systems including Allen Bradley PLC’s and controls integration, programming, and troubleshooting
• Working knowledge and hands-on experience with robotics such as Fanuc.
• Electrical troubleshooting skills including demonstrated ability to read and interpret P&ID’s and electrical schematics and diagrams, AC and DC circuit knowledge, ability to perform electrical tests, read results and diagnose and repair electrical problems.
• Understanding of general and preventive maintenance processes and methods.
• Demonstrated data analysis skills. Experience with DOE methodologies and with statistical packages such as JMP, Minitab, SPC, Matlab, etc.
• Experience in Lean, Six Sigma, Theory of Constraints and Taguchi methods.
• Exposure to statistical process control, DOE, robust engineering methodologies and engineering analysis tools.
• Exposure to Quality systems.

The salary range for this position is $67,200 to $124,800. The actual salary offer will carefully consider a wide range of factors, including your skills, qualifications, job-related knowledge, experience, and location. No relocation available.

EOE