Director Of Engineering

Primary Location: Bolingbrook, Illinois, United States of America. Solina USA is a member of the Solina Group and specializes in the creation of customized seasonings and sauces for food service, Quick Service Restaurants, Fast Casual, Casual Dining and food manufacturers.

Summary of Position

The Director of Engineering is responsible for leading engineering, capital project execution, and multi‑site maintenance strategy across all Solina USA facilities. The role owns the development and delivery of the annual and multi‑year CAPEX plan and ensures projects are executed safely, on schedule, and within approved budgets while supporting business growth, food safety, and operational excellence. The Director provides functional leadership to site maintenance leaders, ensures preventative maintenance plans are executed consistently, and drives reliability performance through standardized KPIs, best practices, and strong technical support. The Director also serves as a technical liaison to Operations, Quality/Food Safety, Sanitation, and EHS teams and supports electrical, controls, and automation initiatives under Solina’s future automation roadmap.

Essential Functions

• CAPEX Planning, Governance, and Execution (Consolidated) – Develop the annual and multi‑year CAPEX plan for all Solina USA facilities; lead governance and execution discipline across all projects, including scope definition, design review, budget development, procurement strategy, schedule management, change control, commissioning/start‑up, turnover, and closeout documentation; ensure budget adherence and risk escalation.
• Project & Team Leadership – Directly manage one Project Manager, providing coaching, prioritization, and accountability for project planning, execution, contractor management, and documentation.
• Maintenance & Reliability Leadership – Provide functional leadership to maintenance leaders at each US site; standardize and continuously improve preventative and predictive maintenance programs; establish a multi‑site spare parts strategy.
• Technical Leadership & Automation – Serve as a technical liaison and escalation resource for troubleshooting, root cause analysis, corrective actions, and decision‑making; lead support of future automation plans, electrical and controls expertise, partner with integrators, and maintain robust PLC/SCADA standards.
• Food Safety, Compliance, and Cross‑Functional Partnership – Embed sanitary design and hygienic engineering principles in all projects; champion environmental, safety, and worker safety mindset; facilitate cross‑functional meetings to align scopes, risks, and execution.
• Standards, Suppliers, and Reporting – Develop and maintain multi‑site engineering standards, templates, and vendor qualification expectations; manage key suppliers; provide executive‑ready updates and plans; travel to sites as required.

Required Skills, Education, and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, Chemical, or related field) required.
• 10+ years of progressive engineering, maintenance, and/or capital project leadership experience within food manufacturing or similarly regulated process manufacturing; multi‑site experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience building CAPEX plans and executing capital projects from concept through commissioning while maintaining budget and schedule adherence.
• Proven people leadership experience, including direct management of professional staff and functional leadership of site leaders.
• Strong understanding of preventative maintenance, reliability fundamentals, and KPI‑driven performance management.
• Working knowledge of electrical systems, industrial automation, PLCs, instrumentation, VFDs/servo drives, and SCADA concepts; ability to lead troubleshooting and partner effectively with integrators.
• Strong sanitary design and hygienic engineering knowledge applicable to sauce/seasoning and food processing facilities.
• Commitment to worker safety, food safety, quality systems, and environmental compliance.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for executive summaries and facilitation.
• Proficient in AutoCAD, Bluebeam Revu (or equivalent), MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook; comfortable with project tracking tools and CMMS platforms.
• Willingness and ability to travel regularly to all US sites.

Preferred Qualifications

• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification or equivalent formal project management training.
• Experience implementing automation upgrades, line controls standardization, or data connectivity initiatives in a PLC/SCADA environment.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Solina is a salaried employer that is open to talents of all backgrounds. The recruitment process is based on competencies, and the company welcomes all candidates of all types in accordance with its DEI commitment.