Description:
Join our team at TreeHouse Foods' non-dairy creamer manufacturing facility in Wayland, Michigan. As a Process Engineer, Spray Drying, you will provide technical process engineering support for spray drying operations, partnering closely with Operations, Engineering, EH&S, Maintenance, and Food Safety & Quality teams to optimize process performance, improve yield and throughput, reduce process variation, troubleshoot technical challenges, and implement sustainable process improvements that enhance safety, quality, reliability, and operational efficiency.
You’ll add value to this role by performing various functions including, but not limited to:
- Serves as the technical subject matter expert for spray drying operations and related manufacturing processes.
- Partners with Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, EH&S, and FSQ to troubleshoot process issues and implement sustainable corrective actions.
- Develops, validates, and standardizes process parameters, operating procedures, and best practices.
- Leads root cause investigations related to process variation, product quality, equipment performance, waste, and downtime.
- Drives improvements in process capability, first-pass quality, reliability, throughput, yield optimization, energy efficiency, and OEE.
- Supports capital projects, equipment modifications, process trials, and start-up activities to improve safety, quality, capacity, and cost performance.
- Partners with FSQ and EH&S to ensure compliance with food safety, quality, and regulatory requirements.
- Supports product commercialization, plant trials, commissioning, process validation, and scale-up activities.
- Coaches' operations teams on process fundamentals, troubleshooting, and standard work.
- Leads structured problem-solving efforts using data-driven methodologies and continuous improvement tools.
- Shares best practices across both spray drying facilities and supports replication of successful improvements.
- Travels to the secondary site as required to support operations, projects, and technical initiatives.
Important Details:
- This is a full-time, on-site role on First Shift. Occasional flexibility is required to support alternate shifts.
- The anticipated compensation for this position ranges from $86,100.00 - 129,000.00 USD annually. This is the lowest to highest salary that we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, specific competencies, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, shift, travel requirements, sales or revenue-based metrics and business or organizational needs. For certain roles, the successful candidate may be eligible for annual discretionary merit compensation award, bonus and equity pay.
You’ll fit right in if you have:
- Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Food Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Process Engineering, or related technical field.
- Minimum 4 years of food manufacturing process engineering experience.
- 2+ years of direct spray drying experience strongly preferred.
- Strong understanding of data-driven process optimization, heat and mass transfer, process control, psychometrics, drying processes, agglomeration, bulk powder processing, and manufacturing systems.
- Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot complex technical and operational issues related to spray drying, including particle size distribution, product sticking, nozzle plugging, and moisture variability in a manufacturing environment.
- Experience leading cross-functional projects and influencing teams without direct authority.
- Experience supporting capital projects, equipment installations, and process improvements.
- Ability and willingness to travel between assigned manufacturing locations as business needs require.