Process engineer

Are you looking to catapult your career by driving high-impact transformation with household brands? Do you crave an entrepreneurial, fast paced, and engaging growth assignment working with incredible people from across the globe? At Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, we are excited to start a new chapter of accelerated growth as part of Froneri – a global pure-play ice cream leader. Come help us transform DGIC into the #1 ice cream brand!

With nearly 100 years of winning experience in the U.S, a robust portfolio of powerhouse brands that consumers know and love such as Häagen-Dazs, Drumstick, Dreyer’s & Edy’s, and the backing and coaching of European-based ice cream experts, we know we have the winning recipe. Headquartered in Walnut Creek, the Bay Area’s hub for up-and-coming food trends, our teams across our offices and factories are raising the bar on all things ice cream.

We are investing in significant capital expansions to grow our Operations and Supply chain and are transforming how we work at every level to become agile, accelerate growth and elevate our quality. With a renewed focus on frozen treats, our tight-knit team of ambitious innovators are fully immersed in the business and encouraged to flex and make decisions quickly. We are committed to pursuing every great idea and delivering the best ice cream experience for our consumers, when and where they want it. Unleash your potential at Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream and discover what a sweet career we have in store for you.

Purpose of the job:

This role is a combination of both project management and process engineering. In this role, the individual will be responsible for the execution of new product related trials and final execution within the factory, supporting with the startup and commissioning of new production lines, and various other projects within the factory. When needed, for major project initiatives, the process engineer will be part of the overall project team. They may be tasked as the end-to-end manager, operational startup lead or technical lead as needed depending on the project and/or task.

Role and Activity

• Working with the project manager to define and communicate project scope, objectives, and expectations
• Identifying project resource requirements and escalating resource constraints.
• Building and managing the project schedule, defining the critical path, tracking activities to ensure functional team members are meeting agreed upon deadlines, generating, and communicating status reports, and escalating critical issues
• Preventative management of roadblocks and generation of risk management plans
• Coordinating and facilitating project meetings including kick off meetings, project team meetings, risk assessments, lessons learned, and additional meetings as required
• To ensure the designed equipment and machines can produce products that meet the customer specification, quality, and food safety
• Ensure that health and safety requirements are fully met and support a positive safety culture
• Manage, monitor, and control costs to ensure project costs are within budgeted requirements
• Communicate effectively with the entire team, through meetings, memos, team briefings, etc. on a regular basis
• Support any operational issues and projects as required

Knowledge and competency

• Develop, learn, and pass on knowledge in the Ice Cream making and other processing areas cross functionally with primary goal of developing good troubleshooting skills and continuous improvement skills
• Keep yourself informed of production plans and any changes. It is important to be proactive in finding out what is happening rather than waiting to be told
• Look for issues. Do not wait to be told or instructed to complete a task
• Promote the Froneri culture of employees being owners rather than just employees
• Represent The Froneri Way of working through the behaviors and characteristics in our Operating Model and Core Values
• Look for issues. Do not wait to be told or instructed to complete a task
• Ensure that you walk the talk and use looking eyes, attend to the issues as and when they happen

Other duties as assigned

• Lead and participate in commissioning all new lines
• Ensure full maintenance and process records are kept on all equipment and allow full traceability of work
• Ensure effective handover between project teams to operations team
• Drive the production process to meet customer specification, quality, and food safety
• Create commissioning and ramp up plans for projects and work with all departments and teams to deliver the plan
• Have strong organizational skills and communication in order to be effective at delivering outcomes
• Drive line performances so that when line is handed over to operations, the line is operating at standard efficiencies (RTY, capacity, quality, etc.)
• Attend Product Portfolio Meetings and inform factory team of recipe changes and new products coming to the factory at regular intervals
• Organize trials in factory as required for new materials, recipe changes, and new product launches. This also includes scheduling, creating trial plan, working with team to execute, and preparing post-trial communications
• Follow up on any open items relating to trials to ensure final execution of new materials, recipe changes, and new products are successful

Measurable Outcomes

• Daily, weekly, and monthly project targets are fully met
• Successful startups and handovers of new equipment
• Training and development plans in place, producing measurable business benefits
• Create and execute the commissioning plans
• Equipment operating according to line standards
• Equipment creating quality product according to the CRQS that has been implemented
• Successful execution of trials and sellable product startups for new products

Levels of responsibility

• Quality and technical system adherence
• Training and development of factory teams
• Implementing Project works between Engineering and production

Behaviors And Core Values:

• We Take Ownership
• Stay committed to responsibilities from start to finish
• Make sound decisions and get into the right level of detail
• Apply resources to initiatives that add growth, improve efficiencies, or reduce waste
• We Do What Is Right
• Choose transparency over convenience, even if it means difficult conversations
• Set clear roles and responsibilities, enabling everyone to exercise appropriate initiative and judgment
• Speak up when you see something that does not align to our values and policies
• We Seek to Improve
• Strive to continuously improve and innovate to exceed expectations
• Value feedback from others and encourage open dialogue to understand how we can improve
• Learn from both successes and failures
• We Are Better Together
• Ensure decisions are based on what’s best for the whole business
• Practice inclusion by seeking diverse perspectives
• Treat everyone with fairness and respect

QUALIFICATIONS:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Possess good verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to read, write, and follow instructions and correspondences.
• Ability to learn technical terminology.
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.
• Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret graphs.
• Demonstrate strong mechanical aptitude.
• Ability to troubleshoot equipment failure.
• Ability to work well with others.
• Basic computer skills.
• Ability to make independent decisions.
• Ability to plan and prioritize work.
• Good customer service interaction, patient teacher, quick learner, good work ethic.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

Bachelor's degree chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, or a related engineering discipline. Passion for engineering and eagerness to learn new skills. Aptitude for automated mechanical processes with good troubleshooting and diagnostic skills. Excellent interpersonal communication, math and problem solving skills.

Work Environment:

In this position, the employee will regularly work with and around others; in a wet and/or humid environment; in areas of high noise level; and around mechanical, electrical, and pressurized equipment. The work is fast paced. Cold Temperatures: Parts of the facility, such as storage and production areas, may be kept at low temperatures. Requires use of cold-protective PPE. May involve standing, lifting, and walking in refrigerated zones for extended periods. Fast-Paced: Workers often operate under strict timelines to meet production quotas. High-speed manufacturing floor with frequent movement, line assignment changes, and tight production timelines. Standing for Long Hours: Many roles require prolonged standing and repetitive tasks. Repetitive hand and arm movements required. Must be able to stand for hours with frequent bending, reaching, and lifting. Food Safety Regulations: Employees must follow hygiene and safety guidelines, including wearing protective gear (gloves, hairnets, etc.). Team-Oriented: Workers collaborate to ensure smooth production and packaging. The position involves frequent exposure to nuts and other potential allergens.

The pay scale for this role takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. At Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. The pay range for prospective employees in this role is between $74,000 and $80,000, with opportunities for overtime, shift differential, cold premium pay and annual bonuses (variable depending on company performance).

We offer a comprehensive group benefits package including medical, dental, vision, life, paid time off, paid holidays, paid parental leave, 401K plan with employer match and annual contribution available. Visa sponsorship not available. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States now and in the future. The company does not provide visa sponsorship or any immigration support (including STEM OPT training plan and H-1B lottery registration) for this position. Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Inc. provides equal employment opportunities for all applicants, regardless of race, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.