Job Description
Job Summary:
We are seeking a hands-on Mechanical Engineer - Food Manufacturing with 4-5+ years of industrial experience to support and improve operations in a frozen food manufacturing facility . This role focuses on equipment reliability, throughput, sanitation-friendly design, automation opportunities, and plant layout/time-space optimization. You will work across kitchen processing, packaging systems, conveyors/spirals, and refrigeration/freezer operations , driving practical improvements that increase uptime, safety, and efficiency. Key Responsibilities Process & packaging equipment support: Troubleshoot, maintain, and improve equipment such as kettles, grills, stoves, dicers/slicers, fryers, conveyors, ovens, mixers/grinders, breading/forming systems, continuous sealers, flow wrappers, and compressed-air-driven sealing/packaging equipment. Refrigeration & freezer support: Partner with refrigeration contractors/techs to support spiral freezers, freezers, and related systems; help identify root causes of downtime, temperature deviations, icing/frost, airflow issues, and mechanical reliability risks. Throughput & space optimization: Develop layout improvements, time-and-motion studies, line balancing, and "time/space" mapping to increase capacity and reduce bottlenecks, travel, WIP, and handling. Automation & controls ideas: Identify and scope automation opportunities (simple-to-scalable), including sensors, interlocks, data capture, reject handling, conveyor logic improvements, and changeover simplification. Sanitation-friendly engineering:
Improve cleanability and hygienic design—reduce harborage points, improve drainage, reduce overspray risk, improve access for cleaning, and support sanitation equipment performance (dishwasher/floor cleaning). Compressed air reliability:
Evaluate air distribution, filtration, dryer performance, leaks, pressure drops, and air quality impacts to packaging equipment; recommend improvements and preventive maintenance. Preventive maintenance & reliability: Build and improve PM plans, critical spares, lubrication standards, equipment condition checks, and failure trend tracking. Root cause & corrective actions: Lead structured troubleshooting (5-Why/Fishbone), document fixes, and implement preventive actions to reduce repeat failures. CapEx/CI projects:
Create scopes of work, ROI estimates, equipment specs, vendor comparisons, and project timelines; support installation/commissioning and operator training. Safety & compliance: Ensure all mechanical changes support safe operation (guards, LOTO, ergonomics) and align with food plant hygiene expectations. Documentation:
Maintain drawings, equipment maps, change logs, SOP/PM updates, and spare parts documentation. Preferred / Nice
to Have Experience in frozen food , spiral freezers , or industrial refrigeration interfaces. Experience with packaging systems:
flow wrap, continuous sealing, check weigh/reject concepts (even if vendor-supported). Qualifications B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (or related engineering discipline). 4-5+ years of experience in a manufacturing environment (food, packaging, or similar preferred). Provide day-to-day support for machine breakdowns, shutdowns, and other mechanical issues to help restore equipment quickly and minimize production downtime. Strong hands-on troubleshooting skills with rotating equipment, conveyors, sealing/packaging machinery, pneumatic, and basic electrical/mechanics interfaces. Familiarity with hygienic design and maintenance in wash-down environments strongly preferred. Comfort working on the floor in a hands-on maintenance support role—assisting with equipment repair, troubleshooting issues, testing fixes, and validating improvements. Able to create practical solutions:
sketches/layouts, basic CAD, parts selection, vendor coordination. Strong communication and documentation habits. Excellent problem solving, analytical and troubleshooting skills. Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and be flexible as needs shift. Knowledge of food industry guidelines concerning food safety, sanitation, and regulatory standards (e.g., FDA, USDA). Pay:
$80,000.00 - $85,000.00 per year Benefits:
401(k) Dental insurance Employee discount Health insurance Paid time off Vision insurance Application Question(s): How many years of hands-on experience do you have in a manufacturing environment? Have you worked with food manufacturing, frozen food, packaging, or similar production equipment? Which equipment have you worked with? Do you have experience with preventive maintenance, root cause analysis, or reducing repeat breakdowns? Work Location:
In person
