Your Opportunity as the Lead Engineer
This role sits at the center of manufacturing performance—turning data, process knowledge, and cross-functional influence into safer operations, stronger yields, faster throughput, and better product consistency. You’ll be a hands-on technical leader who translates problems on the floor into practical improvements, while also shaping how engineers and technicians learn, troubleshoot, and deliver results.
Location: Scottsville, KY
Work Arrangements: 7 am to 4 pm Monday–Friday with flexibility to support operations during occasional evenings, nights, or weekends, based on operational and business needs.
In this role you will:
- Serve as Process Engineer onboarding lead, mentoring/managing engineers and interns, building skills in troubleshooting, project management, and effective use of Operations Excellence tools.
- Can perform gap analysis on key production metrics and demonstrate deep understanding of the 7-Step Process.
- Lead failure analysis using Operations Excellence tools.
- Owns, executes, reports on, and can develop department and site Masterplan items.
- Perform a key role in building the fundamental understanding within the operating technicians in pursuit of a high-performance culture.
- Support technical efforts to evaluate and improve on processes and formulations in manufacturing plant to improve production rates, efficiencies, and yield while maintaining reliable and safe manufacturing systems by collaborating with production teams and leadership.
- Provide technical guidance between operations and R&D/Engineering on new product/process development, act as liaison between R&D/Engineering and Operations for scheduling and conducting plant test runs.
- Coordinate and lead plant trials to evaluate new ingredients and/or new processing parameters.
- Identify, Develop, and Execute savings projects, can include developing the funding request, managing the capital and engineering through start up.
- Provide technical leadership within cross functional teams to deliver initiatives and departmental projects.
- Serves as an expert within the plant in a key business area or discipline.
- Employs effective interpersonal time and resource management skills to complete projects assignments
- Leads multiple projects simultaneously, using best practices and knowledge of internal or external business issues to drive improvements
- Build and leverage strong internal/external network to gain insight, influence and information.
- Solve complex problems; take a broad perspective to identify creative and innovative solutions.
- Develop and improve process documentation.
- Help organization stay current with applicable new technologies/ingredients.
- Support and provide guidance to operations/engineering organizations on evaluation of new production opportunities, improving existing operations, cost-saving ideas, and troubleshooting of major problems.
- Monitor new products trends/competitive trend and activities.
What we are looking for:
Minimum Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering required, Mechanical, Chemical, or Industrial preferred
- Manufacturing experience, preferably in food
- At least 3 years of experience in project management/construction management is required
Additional skills and experience that we think would make someone successful in this role:
- Familiarity with food ingredient chemistry, food processing and packaging equipment is desirable
- Willingness to have a workload balance that includes systems tasks as well as laboratory, pilot plant, and manufacturing plant tasks.
- Problem solving ability
- Strong inter-personal skills
- Ability to teach and lead others, working independently, with guidance in only the most complicated situations
- An understanding of the Capital Delivery Process is desired
- Open to managing operating teams as needed (as backup or future assignment)
- Can support off shift or weekends as needed
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The Right Place for You
We are bold, kind, strive to do the right thing, we play to win, and we believe in a strong community that thrives together. Our culture is rooted in our Basic Beliefs, and we believe in supporting every employee by meeting their physical, emotional, and financial needs.
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We're an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, age, national origin, disability status or protected veteran status.
The J.M. Smucker Co. Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about The J.M. Smucker Co. and has not been reviewed or approved by The J.M. Smucker Co..
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Retirement Support — Retirement programs are described as strong, with a company 401(k) match, immediate vesting in some materials, and access to an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. These elements contribute to a favorable view of total compensation value.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave for all parents and on-site childcare at key locations signal a family-forward approach. Additional supports such as adoption assistance and pet-related leave reinforce this emphasis.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Paid time off, seasonal compressed schedules, and flexibility options are highlighted across materials. The ability to start with substantial PTO and buy additional time enhances perceived time-off breadth.
The J.M. Smucker Co. Insights
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What We Do
Each generation of consumers leaves their mark on culture by establishing new expectations for food and the companies that make it. At The J.M. Smucker Co., it is our privilege to be at the heart of this dynamic with a portfolio that appeals to each generation of people and pets with products found in 90 percent of U.S. homes and countless restaurants. This includes a mix of iconic brands consumers have always loved such as Folgers®, Jif® and Milk-Bone® and new favorites like Café Bustelo®, Smucker’s® Uncrustables® and Rachael Ray® Nutrish®. By continuing to immerse ourselves in consumer and pet parent preferences for food, how it’s purchased and how the companies that make it should operate, we will maintain the important role we play in their lives. This will allow us to continue growing our business and the positive impact we have on all of those who count on us.
