Senior Director, Plant Capital

Job purpose: fairlife, a fast-growing leader in dairy-based low-acid aseptic beverages, seeks an experienced and visionary Director of Plant Capital to oversee engineering projects and capital management across fairlife's manufacturing network. This role involves driving the development of intellectual property, building a high-performing engineering team, and ensuring the reliability and process efficiency of assets. As a key leader in the fairlife organization, the Senior Director of Plant Capital will establish a robust and systematic capital process grounded in efficiency, ownership, and collaboration. This will be achieved by partnering with operations and supply chain leadership, and technical experts to drive solutions aimed at maximizing operational excellence, quality, and safety.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute the company's annual capital plan aligned with overall engineering strategy and business goals.

• Oversee the design, development, and execution of capital projects that improve and support critical KPI's

• Lead development of capital investment plans to support capacity expansion and creation of additional capabilities to support growth and innovation.

• Manage scope, schedule, and budgets for large-scale capital projects.

• Manage oversight of all plant capital budgets in close partnership with Plant Leadership and Finance. Engage and align key stakeholders to ensure proper funding, clear prioritization of initiatives, and timely execution of high-impact projects.

• Foster a culture of innovation and collaboration within the engineering and technical teams.

• Partner with operations teams to optimize production processes to ensure efficiency, scalability, and sustainability.

• Build a capital management process that provides relevant stakeholders with critical project updates on milestones, cash flow, and deliverables

• Drive the development of proprietary technologies to enhance product quality and operational efficiency.

• Protect intellectual property through effective patent strategies.

• Build and lead a world-class engineering team with a focus on professional development, engagement, and high performance.

• Establish clear objectives, provide mentorship, and hold team members accountable for results.

• Accountability or environmental operations including design and operation of wastewater, maintaining regulatory compliance and driving resource reduction in plants through the adoption of adoption of technologies.

• Drive a culture of PMP and PMO systems to support effective project management.

• Steward the development of an effective Transfer of Ownership process for completed projects being handed over to plant leadership
  

Skills and qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in engineering (Mechanical, Chemical, Electrical, or related field) required; advanced degree preferred.

• 10+ years of engineering leadership experience in a consumer-packaged goods company related to the production of dairy-based aseptic beverages.

• Proven track record of managing large-scale capital projects and scaling manufacturing operations.

• Demonstrated success in developing and protecting intellectual property.

• Exceptional leadership and team-building skills with experience in a high-growth, fast-paced environment.

• Strong financial acumen with the ability to manage budgets and drive cost-effective solutions.

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

• Resourceful, well organized, highly dependable, efficient and detail orientated.
  
  
• Confident, assertive and rational using engineering and financial data to inform and communicate decision making

Travel: 50% annually, domestic and international

position location: Chicago, IL, Coopersville, MI, or Webster, NY

reports to: VP, Manufacturing and Engineering