Plant Engineer

Petoskey Plastics aspires to stand out as an industry leader in sustainability, using advanced recycling technology to manufacture high-quality films, bags, and resins from post-consumer materials. Our commitment to eco-friendly innovation sets us apart, as we strive to earn the appreciation and respect of our customers, associates, and communities. If you are seeking a family-oriented company that values career growth and provides robust paid training, explore the comprehensive benefits listed below to see how Petoskey Plastics can support your professional journey.

The Plant Engineer serves as the second-in-command to the Plant Manager, with shared accountability for overall plant performance. This role is responsible for driving execution across engineering, maintenance, and operations, ensuring the facility meets targets in safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity.

This position acts as the primary technical and reliability leader in the plant, while supporting daily operations, capital execution, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Serve as second-in-command, acting on behalf of the Plant Manager in daily operations and decision-making.
• Drive execution of plant priorities across safety, quality, delivery, cost, and people.
• Lead cross-functional alignment between Production, Maintenance, Quality, and Engineering.
• Ensure consistent execution and accountability across all shifts and departments.
• Take ownership of plant performance gaps and drive resolution with a necessary degree of urgency.
• Partner with Maintenance to own plant reliability performance (uptime, MTBF, MTTR).
• Drive improvements in preventative and predictive maintenance systems.
• Ensure root cause failure analysis (RCFA) is completed on major downtime events with sustainable corrective actions.
• Establish maintenance prioritization aligned with plant performance needs—not just reactive work.
• Lead efforts to eliminate chronic equipment issues with long-term solutions.
• Serve as the primary technical leader, supporting extrusion, converting, and recycling operations.
• Lead troubleshooting of complex process and equipment issues.
• Develop and maintain process documentation, standards, and operating parameters.
• Identify and implement process improvements to increase throughput and reduce scrap.
• Evaluate equipment performance and recommend upgrades or modifications.
• Identify, scope, and justify capital projects aligned with operational priorities.
• Lead projects from concept to startup and performance validation.
• Ensure projects are delivered on time, on budget, and achieve expected results.
• Coordinate with internal teams and external vendors to ensure successful implementation.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on productivity, efficiency, and cost reduction.
• Lead root cause analysis and structured problem-solving for chronic issues.
• Improve plant performance through flow optimization, line efficiency, and process standardization.
• Support daily KPI management including OEE, scrap, downtime, and labor efficiency.
• Support development of technical capability and troubleshooting skills across the workforce.
• Drive standard work and training consistency for operators and technicians.
• Promote workforce flexibility and cross-training to improve plant performance.
• Reinforce accountability and expectations with supervisors and team leaders.
• Promote a behavior-based safety culture and implement engineering controls to reduce risk.
• Ensure equipment and processes meet safety, environmental, and regulatory standards.
• Partner with Quality to improve process consistency and defect reduction.
  
  

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or equivalent experience in manufacturing
  
  

Experience

• 5–10 years of experience in manufacturing, preferably in plastics, extrusion, or converting
  
  

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• Knowledge of extrusion, resins, recycling or related
• Strong MS Office and ERP systems knowledge
• Able to lead and inspire in a team environment
• Able to influence without direct authority
• Prior experience managing a budget
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Good organization skills, tasks and detail oriented
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Capable of delivering constructive criticism
• Quality System knowledge and auditing ability
  
  

Essential Functions

• Regular and Reliable Attendance
• Reading
• Writing
• Visual Acuity
• Ascend/Descend Stairways and Platforms with Heights of up to 50 feet
• Standing for 12 hours
• Walking
• Bending
• Twisting
• Reaching
• Pushing
• Pulling
• Lifting/Carrying up to 30 pounds (higher weights require a two-person lift)
• Concentration