Solina · 1 day ago
Director Of Engineering
Bolingbrook, IL
Full-time
Onsite
Director/Executive
10+ years expSolina is a fast-growing company specializing in customized savory solutions for the food industry. The Director of Engineering is responsible for leading engineering and capital project execution across all Solina USA facilities, ensuring safe, on-schedule, and budget-compliant project execution while supporting business growth and operational excellence.
Food and BeverageFood ProcessingOrganic Food
Responsibilities
Develops and owns the annual and multi-year CAPEX plan for all Solina USA facilities, including project identification, prioritization, business case development, ROI/risk justification, and alignment with safety, food safety, quality, capacity, and cost initiatives
Leads CAPEX governance and execution discipline across all projects, including scope definition, design review, budget development, procurement strategy, schedule management, change control, commissioning/start-up, turnover to site teams, and project closeout documentation
Ensures CAPEX budget adherence through forecasting, variance management, and timely escalation of risks, scope changes, and cost drivers to executive leadership
Directly manages (1) Project Manager and provides coaching, prioritization, and accountability for project planning, execution, contractor management, and documentation standards across all sites
Provides functional leadership to Maintenance Leadership at each US site; ensures key maintenance KPIs are defined, measured, reviewed, and achieved (e.g., equipment uptime, PM completion, maintenance response time, reliability improvements, and contractor performance)
Standardizes and continuously improves preventative and predictive maintenance programs across sites, including CMMS utilization, work order quality, equipment history, PM optimization, and reliability-centered maintenance practices
Establishes and maintains a multi-site spare parts strategy, including critical spares identification, min/max stocking levels, vendor/service agreements, inventory accuracy controls, and reduction of excessive stock-level variance while protecting uptime
Acts as a technical liaison and escalation resource for Operations and Maintenance teams, supporting complex troubleshooting, root cause analysis, corrective and preventative actions, and technical decision-making
Leads and supports Solina’s future automation plan implementations in the US by providing electrical and controls expertise, partnering with integrators/contractors, and ensuring robust standards for PLC/SCADA systems, instrumentation, VFDs, and documentation
Supports Wonderware/SCADA and PLC change management best practices (where applicable), including backups, controlled access, version control, alarm/setpoint governance, and proper turnover of as-built documentation
Ensures strong sanitary design and hygienic engineering principles are embedded in all projects and equipment modifications, including cleanability, materials of construction, drainage, access for inspection, and prevention of harborage or foreign material risks
Champions a strong environmental, sustainability, food safety, and worker safety mindset in all engineering and maintenance activities, ensuring compliance with OSHA, FDA/FSMA expectations, local regulatory requirements, and internal Solina standards
Facilitates and leads cross-functional meetings with Operations, Quality/Food Safety, Sanitation, EHS, Supply Chain, and Finance to define inclusive project scopes, identify risks and constraints, and drive timely decision-making and execution
Develops and maintains multi-site engineering standards and templates (e.g., URS/specifications, sanitary design checklists, electrical/controls standards, vendor qualification expectations, and commissioning/validation checklists)
Manages key engineering and service suppliers (OEMs, contractors, integrators, utilities/service providers) to ensure safety compliance, technical performance, cost competitiveness, and service responsiveness
Provides concise, executive-ready updates and plans to leadership, including CAPEX status, milestone tracking, risk/issue logs, budget performance, reliability trends, and strategic recommendations
Travels to Solina USA sites as required to support project execution, maintenance performance reviews, technical problem solving, audits, and critical events
Qualification
Required
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 in a manufacturing environment
Working knowledge of electrical systems, industrial automation, PLCs, instrumentation, VFDs/servo drives, and SCADA concepts; ability to lead troubleshooting and partner effectively with integrators and controls specialists
Strong sanitary design and hygienic engineering knowledge applicable to sauce/seasoning and food processing facilities
Strong commitment to worker safety, food safety, quality systems, and environmental compliance; ability to lead by example and enforce standards
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to create concise executive summaries and facilitate cross-functional alignment
Proficient in AutoCad, Bluebeam Revu (or equivalent), MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook; comfortable with project tracking tools (e.g., MS Project or equivalent) and CMMS platforms
Willingness and ability to travel regularly to all US sites as business needs require
Preferred
Project Management Professional (PMP) certification or equivalent formal project management training
Experience implementing automation upgrades, line controls standardization, and/or data connectivity initiatives in a PLC/SCADA environment (Wonderware/AVEVA, Allen-Bradley, Siemens, or similar)
Company
Solina
Solina is a leading global partner for the food industry, food service, butchery and nutrition sectors, designing tailor-made food solutions, excelling in perfected taste, enhanced nutrition and optimised functionality, that contribute to the creation of food that is good in every sense of the word, good for people, good for the planet.
1001-5000 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
unknown2021-05-04Acquired
Leadership Team
Anthony Francheterre
CEO
Eric Terré
CEO
Recent News
2025-11-19
2024-03-11
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