Director of Engineering (Lake Forest)

Why Choose Us?

Novolex is a leading manufacturer of food, beverage, and specialty packaging that supports multiple industries including foodservice, restaurant delivery and carryout, food processing, grocery and retail, and industrial sectors. Novolex manufacturing and sourcing expertise spans a diverse range of substrates including resin, paper, molded fiber, aluminum and more. We provide customers a broad array of stock and customized solutions with 120 product categories, 250 brands and over 39,000 SKUs.

Our Sustainability Commitment

The Novolex sustainability vision is built upon three pillars: our products, our operations and our people. Each is critically important to our growth and future as a business. These pillars form the foundation of our company-wide commitment to sustainability, helping us achieve our ambitious goals through our wide-ranging initiatives.

Position Summary

The BU Engineering Director is responsible for leading engineering activities across an assigned business unit and supporting operational performance, manufacturing readiness, reliability improvement, capital project execution, and adoption of enterprise engineering standards across manufacturing plants. This role leads Operating Unit Engineering teams within the business unit while partnering cross-functionally to drive engineering alignment, operational performance, technical issue resolution, and effective execution of prioritized capital initiatives across manufacturing operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure compliance with company safety standards, engineering standards, and operational procedures.
• Lead engineering activities across assigned business unit operations.
• Provide leadership, coaching, technical support, and capability-building for Operating Unit Engineers within the business unit.
• Drive process optimization, reliability improvement, and engineering performance across manufacturing sites, including uptime, throughput, yield, and scrap reduction.
• Lead escalation management and support troubleshooting for complex operational, technical, process, and reliability issues across manufacturing sites.
• Drive adoption and implementation of enterprise engineering standards, tools, governance, and best practices across manufacturing sites.
• Support manufacturing readiness, startup stabilization, and operational performance improvement initiatives.
• Lead prioritization and execution of capital projects within the business unit, ensuring alignment to operational needs, business priorities, engineering standards, scope, schedule, budget, and safety expectations.
• Partner with Capital Project Engineering, Operations, and plant leadership to support project planning, readiness, execution, startup, stabilization, and benefits realization for approved capital initiatives.
• Perform additional duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Essential

• 10+ years of manufacturing engineering, process engineering, reliability engineering, or technical operations experience.
• 5+ years of leadership or technical leadership experience supporting manufacturing operations.
• Experience supporting high-volume manufacturing operations across 20+ plants.
• Experience improving operational performance related to throughput, uptime, reliability, yield, scrap reduction, and process capability.
• Experience supporting process troubleshooting, operational stabilization, and manufacturing readiness initiatives.
• Experience supporting capital project planning, execution, startup, stabilization, and operational handoff within manufacturing environments.
• Experience driving engineering standardization and best practice adoption across manufacturing operations.
• Strong leadership, communication, organizational, and cross-functional coordination capability.
• Ability to coach, mentor, and support engineering teams across 20+ plants.
• Ability to operate effectively within matrixed manufacturing organizations.
• Proficiency using common office technology and tools.

Preferred

• Experience supporting packaging, plastics, injection molding, extrusion, thermoforming, molded fiber, paper, or related manufacturing operations.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related technical discipline highly preferred.

A reasonable estimate of the current range is $180,000 - $220,000 + bonus + benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target salaries for the position across all US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. At Novolex, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case.

The benefits for this role include 401(k) plan with company match, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, flexible spending and health savings accounts, paid vacation, and sick days, paid parental leave, paid holidays and wellness program.

What You'll Get From Us

Benefits

With safety as our top priority and a commitment to employee well-being an important focus, we offer comprehensive and competitive benefits that include medical, dental and vision insurance as well as a variety of other well-being resources focused on mental, physical and financial health. Specific benefits and well-being programs may vary depending on where you work.

Community Engagement

At Novolex, giving back to the local communities that support us is important. Our Focused Giving Program prioritizes support for organizations whose missions promote sustainability initiatives or address food and hunger needs. We also encourage facility level support of activities in the communities where our employees live and work.

Training and Development

We offer constant opportunities for advancement. From skills development to advanced education programs, training and development programs and courses are available through MyLearning. Programs include company and industry training curricula, support for formal education through the Tuition Reimbursement Program (Non-Union), and a Learning Management System that supports and enhances employee skills at all levels of the organization.

Novolex is committed to providing equal employment opportunity in all employment practices, including but not limited to selection, hiring, promotion, transfer, and compensation to all qualified applicants and employees without regard to age, race, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, handicap or disability, genetics, citizenship status, service member or veteran status, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law. Any individual who, because of his or her disability, needs an accommodation in connection with an aspect of the Company's application process should contact View email address on apply.placed-app.com.