Lead, Project Engineer

Lead Project EngineerThe Lead Project Engineer position will lead the definition, design, execution, and closeout of capital and continuous-improvement projects at the Oxford, NC manufacturing plant. This role owns multiple concurrent projects from concept through commissioning, ensuring solutions are safe, technically sound, cost-effective, maintainable, and aligned with plant production, quality, environmental, and business objectives. The position serves as a technical leader and cross-functional project owner, partnering with Operations, Maintenance, EHS, Quality, Procurement, Finance, suppliers, contractors, and plant leadership to deliver measurable results with minimal disruption to manufacturing operations.Responsibilities include leading a portfolio of complex capital, reliability, automation, capacity, quality, and cost-reduction projects; developing front-end project definition; applying expertise to specify, design, evaluate, and integrate manufacturing equipment; managing project controls; coordinating equipment procurement and contractor activities; planning and executing installations; leading factory/site acceptance activities; identifying, prioritizing, and leading continuous-improvement and automation opportunities; partnering with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, EHS, and Technical teams; ensuring projects comply with applicable safety, environmental, quality, engineering, and plant standards; developing technical standards and best practices; and communicating project status, decisions, risks, and recovery plans to plant leadership and other stakeholders.Minimum qualifications include a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering or a closely related engineering discipline; eight or more years of progressive engineering experience; demonstrated success leading multiple concurrent projects; working knowledge of mechanical design, manufacturing equipment, utilities, machine guarding, contractor management, and project cost/schedule controls; and ability to work effectively in an active manufacturing environment and coordinate work across operations, maintenance, technical, and external partner teams.Preferred qualifications include Professional Engineer (PE), Project Management Professional (PMP), Lean/Six Sigma certification, or equivalent project/continuous-improvement credentials; experience with tire, rubber, automotive, chemicals, heavy industrial, or similarly complex manufacturing processes; experience with automation, robotics, controls integration, material handling, process equipment, or reliability engineering; proficiency with CAD, project scheduling tools, cost estimating, and structured problem-solving methods; and experience applying Lean, Kaizen, TPM, OEE, or Six Sigma methodologies to manufacturing performance improvement.