Director, Process Engineering

The Director, Process Engineering is responsible for driving manufacturing performance, cost optimization, and scalability across SDJ’s global contract manufacturing network. This role ensures products are designed and produced for efficiency, consistency, and quality at scale by leading process optimization, technical transfer, and industrialization efforts. 

The role partners closely with Product Development, Quality, Procurement, and Supply Chain to enable successful new product launches, optimize core catalog performance, and support network transformation initiatives. This leader will build and develop a high-performing engineering team and establish best practices across manufacturing partners to deliver measurable improvements in cost, throughput, and reliability.  

Team Leadership & Capability Building 

• Lead and develop a high-performing process engineering team, setting priorities aligned with business impact and network needs. 

• Build capabilities in process optimization, technical transfer, and industrialization to support scale and complexity. 

Process Optimization & Cost Engineering 

• Own process performance across the manufacturing network, driving improvements in yield, throughput, and cost-per-batch. 

• Identify and implement opportunities to reduce waste, improve cycle times, and enhance overall manufacturing efficiency. 

• Lead root cause analysis and continuous improvement initiatives focused on measurable operational and financial impact. 

Technical Transfer & Network Optimization 

• Lead end-to-end technical transfers between contract manufacturers as a strategic lever for cost, capacity, and risk management. 

• Ensure consistency in process execution, quality, and performance across sites during transfers and scale-up activities. 

Manufacturing Performance & Standardization 

• Establish and scale best practices across manufacturing partners to improve process capability, equipment utilization, and operational consistency. 

• Monitor performance across sites and drive corrective actions to address variability and inefficiencies. 

New Product Industrialization 

• Partner with Product Development and cross-functional teams to ensure new products are designed and scaled for manufacturability, cost efficiency, and reliable execution. 

• Lead process validation, trials, and capability assessments to support successful commercialization. 

Supplier Process Capability & Continuous Improvement 

• Work directly with contract manufacturers to improve process capability, resolve systemic issues, and enhance performance across cost, quality, and service. 

• Drive a culture of continuous improvement within the external manufacturing network. 

Quality, Compliance & Risk Management 

• Ensure processes meet internal quality standards and regulatory requirements 

• Partner with Quality to lead investigations, implement corrective and preventive actions, and mitigate process-related risks. 

Cross-Functional Leadership 

• Experience and partnership with Product Development, Procurement, Quality, Packaging and Supply Chain to align process engineering priorities with business needs. 

• Provide technical leadership to support decision-making across product, process, and network initiatives. 

• Experience: 10+ years of experience in Engineering (Process, Manufacturing, Chemical) or a related technical field 
• Leadership: proven ability to lead teams and drive cross‑functional engineering initiatives 
• Performance: demonstrated success in owning continuous process improvements, scaling manufacturing processes, and delivering measurable results 
• Quality: strong grounding in quality-driven process validation and continuous improvement and continuous improvement methodologies  

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