Senior Director, Liquid Processing & Capital Projects Engineering

Position Overview

Our vision is loved brands, done sustainably, for a better shared future. We strive to provide cutting-edge excellence in ingredients, innovation, design, and marketing.

The Senior Director, Liquid Processing & Capital Projects Engineering is a senior technical and project delivery leader responsible for developing network strategies and executing complex processing, blending, and multi-scope capital projects across company-owned and co-manufacturing facilities. This role combines deep engineering expertise with disciplined project management to deliver safe, reliable, cost-effective, and scalable manufacturing solutions.

The successful candidate will lead projects from strategy and concept development through design, procurement, construction, commissioning, startup, performance validation, and operational handoff. The role requires the ability to work independently, lead cross-functional teams, influence stakeholders across the network, and coach less-senior engineering personnel while maintaining a constructive, solutions-oriented approach.

This role requires a significant amount of travel (70-80%). Therefore, the preference is to have the incumbent reside near major airports in the Midwest or West Coast regions.

What You’ll Do for Us

• Create and execute multi-year strategies for liquid processing, blending, utilities, infrastructure, and related manufacturing capabilities across the network.

• Lead large, complex capital projects with multiple scopes and disciplines, including process, blending, utilities, automation, electrical, civil, building, packaging interfaces, and site infrastructure.

• Own full project lifecycle delivery from business case and concept development through detailed engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, startup, stabilization, and operational handoff.

• Develop and control project scope, estimates, budgets, cash flow, schedules, resource plans, risk registers, change control, and performance metrics.

• Provide technical leadership for processing and blending systems, including sanitary design, batching, mixing, ingredient handling, thermal processing, CIP, utilities, controls, and process integration.

• Lead multiple concurrent projects across a geographically dispersed manufacturing and co-manufacturing network, balancing priorities, resources, business continuity, and execution risk.

• Develop technical specifications, basis-of-design documents, process flow diagrams, P&IDs, equipment requirements, bid packages, and acceptance criteria.

• Lead cross-functional teams that include Operations, Quality, Safety, R&D, Commercialization, Supply Chain, Finance, Procurement, OEMs, engineering firms, integrators, contractors, and plant personnel.

• Build strong relationships with equipment suppliers, engineering partners, and co-manufacturers; establish clear expectations for safety, quality, scope, schedule, cost, and technical performance.

• Provide strong on-site leadership during design reviews, construction, installation, commissioning, startup, and ramp-up to ensure execution quality and timely issue resolution.

• Establish effective project governance and provide concise, transparent reporting on status, financial performance, milestones, risks, decisions, and mitigation actions.

• Identify, evaluate, and deploy new technologies that improve capacity, capability, product quality, reliability, flexibility, sustainability, and total delivered cost.

• Partner with network and plant leaders to identify long-term capability, capacity, obsolescence, and infrastructure needs and translate them into prioritized capital roadmaps.

• Coach and mentor less-senior engineers and project managers, strengthen technical capability, and promote common engineering and project management standards across the network.

• Work independently with sound judgment while actively collaborating across teams; escalate critical issues promptly and drive decisions to closure.

• Adapt strategies and execution plans as business priorities change while maintaining accountability for outcomes.

Qualifications & Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical, Mechanical, Electrical, or a related engineering discipline.

• Minimum 10 years of progressive engineering and capital project experience, including extensive leadership of processing and blending projects in food, beverage, consumer products, pharmaceutical, chemical, or other regulated manufacturing environments.

• Demonstrated success leading large, complex, multi-scope capital projects from concept through commissioning and operational handoff.

• Advanced project management capability, including scope, schedule, budget, cash flow, risk, change control, procurement, contractor management, and stakeholder alignment.

• Deep technical knowledge of liquid processing and blending systems and the ability to evaluate system design, process performance, equipment selection, sanitary requirements, automation, and utility interfaces.

• Experience managing multiple concurrent projects across multiple manufacturing sites or a distributed production network.

• Strong financial acumen, including capital and expense budgeting, business case development, estimating, cash-flow forecasting, and financial project analysis.

• Ability to develop strategic plans, translate business needs into technical roadmaps, and influence investment decisions across the network.

• Exceptional analytical, troubleshooting, and technical decision-making skills, with the ability to resolve complex issues under schedule and operational pressure.

• Strong written, verbal, and executive communication skills, including the ability to simplify complex technical topics and present clear recommendations.

• Demonstrated ability to work independently, collaborate effectively on teams, and lead through influence in a matrixed organization.

• Constructive, accountable, and solutions-oriented working style with sound judgment, adaptability, and a strong commitment to safety, quality, and business results.

• Ability and willingness to travel 70% to 80%, including extended presence at manufacturing and co-manufacturing sites during critical project phases.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in engineering, engineering management, or business administration.

• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification or comparable formal project management training.

• Experience in beverage or food manufacturing, including batching, blending, ingredient handling, aseptic & thermal processing, sanitary piping, CIP, and process controls.

• Working knowledge of project scheduling, CAD, process design, data visualization, and project governance tools such as Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Co-Pilot, AutoCAD, Power BI, and Microsoft 365 applications.

• Experience with stage-gate capital processes, FAT/SAT, commissioning and qualification, operational readiness, and performance validation.

• Knowledge of applicable safety, quality, environmental, food safety, and regulatory requirements, including GMP and hygienic design principles.

• Experience developing engineers, project managers, and technical standards across multiple locations.

What We Can Do for You

• Provide a highly visible leadership opportunity with meaningful impact on manufacturing capability, capacity, innovation, reliability, and long-term network strategy.

• Offer the opportunity to lead technically challenging processing, blending, and capital projects across a broad manufacturing and co-manufacturing network.

• Enable you to shape engineering standards, develop technical talent, and influence strategic investment decisions supporting NAOU.

• Connect you with iconic and innovative brands and a diverse group of colleagues, suppliers, bottlers, and manufacturing partners.

Our Purpose and Growth Culture

We are taking deliberate action to nurture an inclusive culture grounded in our company purpose, to refresh the world and make a difference. We act with a growth mindset, take an expansive approach to what is possible, and believe in continuous learning to improve our business and ourselves. We value how we work as much as what we achieve.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.