Staff Engineer - Capital Project Management

Job Location: Hershey, PA Preferred - Open to Remote in Eastern and Central Time Zones 

This position requires up to 50% travel from Hershey, PA. If you plan to work remote, this position requires up to 75% travel based on project needs. 

Summary:

The successful Staff Engineer illustrates their experience initiating and executing complex capital projects, from development through close-out. Although mentored and guided by the Senior Manager of Capital Engineering, this staff engineer knows the importance of delivering a capital plan on time and within budget. With experience in all aspects of running a capital project and managing a team of engineers, the PM is confident promoting and implementing the best use of technology. Experience has made them agile in developing solutions to complex engineering problems to meet the company's current and future business needs. In their work, the successful PM displays a sense of urgency while maintaining attention to detail. They are a model leader and provide clear instruction to engineers, plant staff, technical resources, contractors and others within the supply chain.

Specific Role Focus Area:

• Able to lead an engineering team in all aspects, maintaining personal and team accountability, where team members are motivated, productive, focused and confident.
• Shows empathy and motivates a team capable of handling changing business environments.
• Knows how to implement engineering solutions.
• Understands engineering as a business differentiator (cost, schedule, budget).
• Applies key financial measures (return on investment, cost of capital) to develop engineering and financial analysis.
• Conveys experience using root cause analysis tools to creatively solve complex scope, schedule and budget issues.
• Communicates verbally and in writing to all levels of the supply chain.

Interactions and Partnerships:

• Technical and professional employees within Global R&D and Tech Center Operations
• Manufacturing leadership within Engineering; Operations; Environment, Health and Safety; Quality Assurance
• Corporate Engineering functions including process, electrical, packaging systems, civil, utilities
• Other corporate functions including Quality and Regulatory Compliance; Environment, Health and Safety; Procurement; Marketing; Operations Business Development; Manufacturing Alliances; Supply Planning; Production Planning
• External vendors, contractors and engineering firms
• Governmental agencies

Travel Expectations:

• The PM travels as needed to fulfill job duties.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:
 

Deliver Capital Projects

• Provides leadership for the execution of all capital project phases: Initiating, planning, execution, testing, turnover, closure.
• Accountable for developing and implementing multiple capital projects simultaneously.
• Uses engineering knowledge, judgment, creativity and experience to lead engineering initiatives of high complexity and long duration.
• Provides technical direction to project teams to develop sound engineering alternatives and recommendations.
• When needed, establishes new procedures and technology, identifying new industry trends with a continuous improvement mindset

Capital Project Development

• Promotes and teaches a performance-driven (versus task-driven) project management process during the development of capital projects.
• Demonstrates negotiation skills to "sell" projects through the capital approval process.
• Develops the business case, technical feasibility and plan for customer (plant) acceptance.
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  Leading and Developing External Partnerships

• Develops and manages relationships with external engineering partners.
• Ensures external engineering partners follow Hershey’s Performance Driven Projects standards through the execution of capital projects.

Minimum knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform major duties and responsibilities: 

• Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Microsoft Project
• SAP system
• Microsoft Teams
• Capital budget administration
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Proven interpersonal skills
• Knowledge of good manufacturing practices

Minimum Education and Experience Requirements:
 

• Bachelor of Science in Engineering
• 10 years of engineering experience
• Minimum of 5 years managing multiple capital projects of at least $10M
• Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification preferred