Director of Engineering

The Director of Engineering at AMVAC is responsible for leading and managing a team of engineers across multiple plant sites that supports manufacturing, sustainability, automation, process improvement, and operational excellence within the crop protection industry. This leader is accountable for sustaining engineering quality, leveraging engineering best practices, and creating process improvements aligned with the growth of the company and advancement of our portfolio.   This role is located at AMVAC’s Axis, AL location and requires some travel.

AMVAC®, an American Vanguard company, has successfully served the results‐driven global markets through development, manufacturing and marketing of products for agricultural and commercial use. At American Vanguard, we believe in growth, innovation, and opportunity. We understand that a successful business is built on the strength of its people which is why we are dedicated to nurturing talent, fueling success and cultivating potential.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

• Leadership Excellence: Set the vision, strategic plan and ensure execution in all aspects of manufacturing engineering and continuous improvement to achieve the annual organizational goals. Lead and coach a team of engineers and related personnel to support the execution of manufacturing, product quality, plant maintenance, efficiency improvement, capital expenditures, and shipment of packaged goods. Display a continuous improvement mindset and use progressive analytical and problem-solving skills to improve facility performance. Collaborate with cross-functional teams including manufacturing, supply chain, procurement, R&D, commercial, and regulatory to ensure seamless support for corporate goals and initiatives.
• Continuous Improvement Process: Establish a culture of continuous improvement with the engineering team and across the manufacturing facilities. Develop and implement operational excellence strategies and roadmaps in alignment with organizational goals. Identify, plan and implement process improvement projects utilizing Lean, Six Sigma, and other continuous improvement methodologies to accomplish business objectives. Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of improvement strategies. Lead the continuous improvement project management office. Use data to drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• Strategic Planning: Develop and implement technical strategies that drive innovation and optimize resources to deliver quality products to customers and algin with long term business goals and objectives. Coordinate and participate in long-range plant infrastructure improvement and expansion planning, organizational design and succession planning, as well as efficiency analysis. Prepare annual capital budgets and maintain conformance to those budgetary limits. Ensure capital project execution from project justification to completion.
• People Development: Mentor and coach the team to nurture a culture of responsible safety, operational excellence, and personal accountability to achieve business goals. Build teams and unlock individual potential. Attract, develop and retain personnel that are aligned with the company’s values and principles. 
• Manufacturing Support and Optimization: Research, develop, implement, and optimize chemical processes to improve production efficiency, yield, and quality while reducing costs. Create processes, procedures and workflow within the Engineering team to ensure efficiency and consistency in the design, manufacture and maintenance of technical data. Recommend new technology and ideas to optimize manufacturing footprint and improve efficiency.
• EHS & Quality Management: Support compliance with Process Safety Management (PSM) and environmental regulatory standards. Work with the Quality Assurance and control leaders to ensure the plant processes, documentation, procedures, and staff capability meet requisite standards for excellent product and packaging quality. Support the investigation of safety and quality incidents to correct all deficiencies in a timely and cost-effective manner and to prevent recurrence of identified issues.

Education Requirements:

• Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical or Mechanical Engineering from an accredited institution required 
  Master’s degree preferred 

Experience Requirements:

• Minimum eight (8) years of experience in a formal management role leading diverse groups of technical resources
• Minimum of five (5) years management experience in a chemical process manufacturing environment is preferred
• Five (5) years or more developing and driving strategic engineering initiatives
• Experience in the application of Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma principles is required - Design for Six Sigma experience is preferred
• Proven technical capability utilizing engineering best practices and industry standards to adhere to safety and environmental regulations as well as Process Safety Management (PSM) expectations
• Possess excellent skills in leadership, program / project management, effective delegation, and budget management
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to work effectively in a cross-functional and team-oriented environment
• Experience with capital project management from appropriation preparation to field start up
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to diverse stakeholders
• Willingness to travel up to 15%
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint) is required
• Must also pass post‐offer drug test, background check and other appropriate tests as required  

This Position includes:

Industry leading Medical, Dental, and Vision care; Life and Disability Insurance; Health Savings Account (HSA) / Flexible Spending Account (FSA); 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan and Employee Stock Purchasing Plan offered; Additional benefits include Vacation, Sick, Holiday time off as well as a Wellness program.  

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity in our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. 

                                             AMVAC, An American Vanguard Company, (NYSE: AVD)