Process Engineer

From our home in Janesville, Wisconsin, Impact Confections has been delighting candy lovers with bold flavors and timeless favorites for generations. We’re proud to be the makers of WARHEADS®, the iconic sour candy that dares taste buds everywhere, and the classic Melster® Candies, known for nostalgic treats like Circus Peanuts and seasonal delights that families have cherished for decades.

SUMMARY

The Process Engineer role enables the scale-up of new products and technologies to support Impact Confection’s innovation strategy, while also driving efficiency improvements and value optimization across existing manufacturing processes. This role acts as a key link between R&D and Operations, applying scientific and engineering principles to ensure robust, capable, and scalable manufacturing processes. The position also contributes to the development and protection of intellectual property that supports long-term business growth.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Process Design, Specification & Control

• Develop, implement, and validate process specifications by translating finished product key quality attributes into process parameters and in-process quality control measures.
• Establish standard operating conditions and define Statistical Process Control (SPC) settings and control limits to ensure processes consistently meet business and quality KPIs.
• Develop and maintain sampling plans, investigate significant process deviations, and support escalation and root cause analysis as required.
• Build a deep scientific understanding of process functionality, capability, and interactions with ingredients across unit operations.

Product & Technology Scale-Up

• Partner with the Innovation and R&D teams to conduct end-to-end research from bench-top through pilot plant and full-scale production.
• Plan, design, execute, and document line trials from pilot to production scale, including data collection, analysis, and reporting of results.
• Lead or support the validation and scale-up of new products, processes, and technologies in collaboration with Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, and Operations teams.
• Assess scale-up impacts on ingredient functionality, product stability, and shelf life.

Change Management & Intellectual Property

• Manage the integration of R&D-driven changes and improvements into manufacturing lines, ensuring minimal impact on current operational performance.
• Apply approved change management and validation protocols to implement process and product changes.
• Capture, document, and support the protection of company intellectual property arising from process and technology development.

Bills of Materials & Recipe Management

• Own and manage site Bills of Materials (BOMs), ensuring accuracy and alignment with approved product recipes.
• Validate recipes on production lines and translate product formulations into business and ERP systems.
• Support accurate product costing, raw material and packaging procurement, and production planning across all product families.

Continuous Improvement & Operational Support

• Collaborate with Operations, the site Continuous Improvement (CI) Engineer, and production teams to collect and analyze process performance data and business KPI’s.
• Identify and eliminate bottlenecks, waste, defects, and variation using CI and problem-solving methodologies.
• Apply tools such as Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, and Design of Experiments (DOE) to improve process capability and product quality.

Quality, Food Safety & Compliance

• Support Quality & Food Safety (Q&FS) programs, including internal audits, CAPAs, and S-CAPAs.
• Ensure processes comply with GMP, HACCP, regulatory, and food safety requirements.

QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelor’s degree in food science, Food Technology, Chemical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related discipline. At least 3–5 years of experience in a food manufacturing environment, with exposure to new product or process development, quality systems, and continuous improvement.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

This position has supervisory responsibilities.

EXPERIENCE & SKILLS

• Hands-on experience in food processing and/or packaging, with a solid understanding of manufacturing processes and equipment operation.
• Proven application of structured problem-solving and improvement tools (e.g., Six Sigma, Kaizen, DOE).
• Advanced knowledge of statistical tools and experimental design.
• Strong working knowledge of food manufacturing practices, including GMPs, HACCP, regulatory guidelines, and quality systems.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

Ability to communicate with co-workers and/or read instructions or written standards in English.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference, and fundamentals of plane and solid geometry and trigonometry. Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.

REASONING ABILITY

Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

Six Sigma Green Belt certification.

Experience supporting scale-up from pilot to commercial production.