Process Engineer

Process Engineer
Location:
Fairfield

At Sibelco, we advance life through materials.
For over 150 years, we've been a trusted leader in sourcing, transforming, and distributing specialty industrial minerals. Our work powers progress across industries as diverse as glass, ceramics, construction, coatings, polymers, and water purification. Beyond our materials, we're proud of our commitment to sustainability, innovation, and empowering people from all walks of life to thrive and make a meaningful impact.

Are We the Perfect Match?

At Sibelco, we believe building a successful career is a two-way journey. We're looking for individuals who share our values and vision, just as much as you're seeking a company that aligns with your aspirations. Together, we can shape the future.

Position Summary:
The Process Engineer is a highly visible role responsible for driving continuous improvement and operational excellence across a cluster of glass recycling plants. This position serves as the process expert, owning and optimizing optical sortation machines, monitoring plant processes, and analyzing data to recommend and implement improvements. Reporting directly to the Director of Operations for the cluster, the Process Engineer collaborates closely with Plant Managers, Maintenance, and Reliability teams to ensure exceptional plant performance, quality, and customer satisfaction.

Key Responsibilities:

• Process Monitoring & Optimization:
  • Oversee and optimize the performance of optical sortation machines and other critical plant processes.
  • Establish baseline performance metrics and identify improvement opportunities.
  • Monitor and maintain Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for plant performance, including yield, throughput, uptime, and quality.
• Data Analysis & Reporting:
  • Analyze operational data to identify trends, process inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement.
  • Develop and maintain daily, weekly, and monthly performance reports for the cluster.
  • Provide actionable insights to Plant Managers and the Director of Operations to drive strategic decision-making.
• Continuous Improvement Initiatives:
  • Lead and support continuous improvement projects aimed at enhancing plant performance and achieving operational excellence.
  • Collaborate with Plant Managers to implement root cause analyses and countermeasures for process failures.

• Quality Management:
  • Manage and maintain the quality system within the cluster, ensuring product specifications are consistently met or exceeded.
  • Work closely with Plant Managers to uphold and improve quality standards across all facilities.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration:
  • Partner with Maintenance and Reliability teams to ensure equipment is maintained and optimized for maximum efficiency and performance.
  • Collaborate with Plant Managers to develop and execute capital projects that support growth through improved yield, throughput, and quality.
• Support & Leadership:
  • Act as a key resource for Plant Managers, providing technical expertise and process knowledge to address operational challenges.
  • Drive cultural change by fostering a mindset of continuous improvement and accountability at all plant levels.

Financial Accountability

• Develop financial plans and cost analyses for continuous improvement and process optimization projects.
• Monitor project progress and ensure adherence to approved budgets and timelines.
• Provide regular updates on financial performance and cost savings achieved through projects.
• Ensure transparency and accountability by maintaining detailed records of project expenditures and outcomes.

People Accountability

• While the role is an individual contributor with no direct reports, the Process Engineer plays a critical leadership role through cross-functional collaboration.
• Work closely with Plant Managers, Maintenance teams, and Quality Technicians to ensure alignment on process and quality goals.
• Quality Technicians at the facilities will have a dotted line reporting relationship to this role, requiring guidance and indirect leadership to ensure adherence to quality systems and standards.
• Act as a mentor and technical resource for operational teams, driving engagement and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.

Organizational Positioning

Enter a simplified org chart of where the position is situated in the organization.

Responsibilities

Process Engineering Activities

• Drive Process Engineering projects in the cluster/site from idea to operational ramp up.
• Provide input and suggestions to the local cluster management. Initiate ideas and set priorities together with the internal customer
• Support the evaluation of technical and economic feasibility of improvement opportunities
• Organize trials to quantify, benchmark and baseline process performance within the cluster. Yield/Throughput/Quality focus.
• Support Process Improvement Planning and Execution
• Participate in project commissioning by assisting and training the operators and successfully transfer the project to the line
• Ensure Quality Control all across the Cluster.

Process Design

• Design new, innovative processing techniques based on data analysis to improve Yield/Throughput/Quality.

Process Audit

• Conduct technical and/or operational ad-hoc audits on specific plant processes to assess adherence to budget and baseline.
• Conduct Quality sampling audits to ensure Sibelco standards are being maintained at the plant level.

Support

• Support Sibelco production sites to promote operational excellence and provide technical best practices and to ensure safe (HSE-compliant), efficient, effective, innovative, scalable and sustainable operations.
• Support in case of production issues or customer complaints
• Advise other departments on how to maximize the efficiency of existing installations by suggesting improvements and debottlenecking.

Continuous improvement

• Lead and /or participate (hands-on) in activities related to the Operational Excellence (OpEX) program in the cluster. He /She leads research and develop new ideas or solutions that contribute to create plants and systems in a cost-effective and efficient way.
• Stay up to date with new process engineering technologies and innovation in the industry
• Participate in project review to implement lessons learned in following phases/projects
• Act as change agent of the OpEx cluster transformation
• Drive specific Continuous Improvement projects.
• Support OEE performance dialogues and problem-solving matrix tool
• Promote, lead or participate in problem solving sessions, idea generation workshop and kaizen
• Active user of Lean & Six Sigma tools
• Perform Overall Process Efficiency (OPE) observations

Knowledge Management

• Share knowledge and good practices with peers and project stakeholders by proper reporting in the relevant system

Competencies

(Reference : Sibelco (Leadership) Competency Model)

Decision Making

• Able to respond to immediate problems by exercising good judgement from available information and established guidelines

Planning & Prioritizing

• Can effectively organise his/ her work
• Identifies priorities for self (and team) and develops effective schedules

Optimizes Work Processes

• Knows the operating model processes in own area of activity
• Organises self, people and activities for standard processes
• Identifies potential issue(s) in an existing process and suggests necessary improvements

Collaborates

• Encourages team collaboration and creates a sense of belonging and inclusivity
• Develops good relationships with others
• Actively solicits ideas and opinions from others to efficiently and effectively accomplish specific objectives

Drives Engagement

• Motivates his/her team
• Knows what drives each team member and uses it to get the best out of him/her
• Makes team members feel that their contributions are important

Integrity & Trust

• Is seen as trustworthy and honest
• Keeps confidences
• Admits own mistakes

(Technical) Capabilities

Industry knowledge

Expert understanding of glass processing. Working Knowledge of optical sorters, basic troubleshooting.

Engineering

Focused expertise in process engineering

Project Management

Ability to plan, execute and evaluate a project.

Operational Excellence

Knows and practice Lean & Six Sigma tools. Understand assets and labour productivity, efficient use of the energy and value driven maintenance and assets management principles.

People skills

Efficient and clear verbal and visual communication skills.

ICT skills

Basic knowledge of Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Databases, CAD, ...

Safety

Knowledge of Sibelco's safety regulations and ensure activities are in compliance with those regulations.

Behavioral skills

Open minded

Team player

Pro-active

Able to work independently

Self-motivated

Communication skills

Organisational & analytical skills

Main stakeholders/relationships

(what are the key relationships that the jobholder needs to build, both internal as external)

• Internal

With Whom

Nature of Contacts/ Communication

Director cluster Operations

Manager Operations

Production Operations

Hierarchy, Collaboration

Operations cluster

Collaboration, support

Engineering function

Collaboration, support

Sustainability cluster staff

Ad hoc

Health & Safety country staff

Ad hoc

• External

With Whom

Nature of Contacts/ Communication

External Engineers

Collaboration, Supervision

Suppliers, Contractors

Ad hoc

Educational Background and prior professional experience

Language requirements

• Bachelors Degree in Process Engineering or at least 5-10 years of experience in Glass Operations Processing Industry
• Trained on Lean & Six Sigma tools

• English - Advanced verbal and writing
• Local language of the cluster of base and main operations - proficient verbal & writing

Why Join Us?

Sibelco is more than a workplace-it's a community that encourages growth, innovation, and collaboration. Here's what you can look forward to when you join our team:

• Meet Our People: Careers
• Learn About Our Recruitment Process: Learn More
• Discover Our Sustainability Goals: Sibelco priorities

We also welcome applications from all backgrounds and are committed to providing reasonable adjustments to support you through the selection process.

How to Apply

Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter/X and Facebook to learn more about life at Sibelco. Submit your application in the Apply option.

Please note: We do not require agency services as we have a dedicated Global Talent Acquisition Team.