Senior Manufacturing Engineer

At Apeel, we look to nature to help the global food system extend quality, prevent waste, and ensure an abundant future for our planet.

We believe that our most essential ingredient in our recipe for success is our people. We strive to cultivate an environment where everyone is welcomed, and can bring their full, authentic selves into everything they do at Apeel. Humility, Ingenuity, Leadership and Teamwork are the values that define us and how we work with each other, customers, and communities across the globe.

Full vaccination against COVID-19 required, unless you qualify for a federally protected exemption.

About This Role

Apeel Sciences is seeking an experienced Senior Manufacturing Engineer to provide hands-on manufacturing support and expertise to the Manufacturing and Operations departments. You will assist in executing the in-house manufacturing of Apeel’s commercial products, while designing and implementing equipment modifications or additions to improve processes, capacities, yields, and efficiencies. This will include being involved with the handling of raw materials, and packaging the final product in a cGMP environment. 

This role will report to the Director of Manufacturing Operations and requires full time on-site presence at our facility in Goleta, CA.  Travel is required 10% of the time, domestically and internationally. 

What You'll Do

• Evaluate and implement opportunities (process and/or equipment changes) at commercial scale to ensure the department meets plant goals for production yields, capacities, efficiencies, and quality metrics, from raw material receipt through finished goods delivery at field sites
• Support technology transfer of products to or from R&D into commercial Manufacturing Operations or CMOs and external partners
• Aggregate data from a variety of equipment into a SCADA system and then implement data driven process improvements 
• Manage the manufacturing modules and product work definitions in an ERP system (ie. Oracle)

What You Bring

Minimum Qualifications 

• BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering preferred, but degrees in other fields or extensive work experience considered.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in a process or manufacturing engineering role in the food or pharmaceutical industry.
• Experience with Rockwell PLC programming and troubleshooting strongly preferred.
• Hands-on experience designing, specing, and/or operating powder conveyance equipment and manufacturing lines (i.e blending, VFFS machines, coders, printers, auger filling, screw feeders, etc) 

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiar with technical procedures, specifications, standards, piping and instrumentation diagrams, and other engineering and manufacturing related documents.
• Demonstrated skills working with sanitary design of equipment.
• Experience with implementing and managing manufacturing modules and product management in an ERP system (ie. Oracle).
• Experience developing engineering tests, FAT's, SAT's and commissioning test plans
• Familiar with and has some practical experience of Six Sigma methodologies (e.g., Kaizen, Lean, DMAIC, and DMADV) and tools (e.g., ANOVA, SPC, Capability Analysis, DOE, MSA, and FMEA).
• High level expertise with MSExcel to track, trend and manipulate data into actionable intelligence 
• A proficient understanding of regulatory agency requirements, including but not limited to FDA 21 CFR Part 117.
• The ability to interact well with diverse groups, including R&D chemists, engineering, and quality control; maintain collaborative working relationships with internal and external partners.
• Strong written and verbal skills to effectively communicate complex technical information to audiences of varied levels of experience and technical expertise.
• Demonstrated track record in generating technical options to resolve problems, prioritizing options to test, selecting optimal solutions based on available data, and implementing decisions.
• Demonstrated self-directed work habits and time management skills.
• Have passion to improve and achieve solutions.
• Ability to learn and is motivated to self teach on knowledge or technical skills gaps

Apeel believes that the scale of our impact is determined by the teams that work with us. As such, we seek to build high-performing teams of people from various experiences and backgrounds who can collectively push our company into new realms. We seek a diverse pool of applicants and consider all qualified candidates regardless of race, ancestry, color, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, citizenship, disability, Veteran status, marital status, or any other protected status. If you have a special need or disability that requires accommodation, please let us know.