Process Engineer

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Mississippi.

📋 Description

• Design and enhance the material flow from log intake through to primary breakdown, secondary processing, drying, surfacing, and staging of finished goods.

• Create and sustain mill layouts for sawmills, planer mills, panel plants, or engineered wood manufacturing facilities.

• Assess primary and secondary breakdown equipment requirements and outline optimal sequencing to maximize recovery and throughput.

• Analyze and specify automation and optimization systems, including scanning and optimization technologies, PLC-controlled sorting systems, and automated stacking and strapping lines.

• Conduct line balancing and bottleneck evaluations across mill operations.

• Carry out time studies and production flow assessments to establish standard work procedures, crew sizes, and shift capacity targets.

• Collaborate with maintenance, production, and dry kiln teams on equipment installation, mill reconfigurations, and capacity expansion initiatives.

• Implement lean principles to identify waste in lumber handling, sorting and stacking operations, trim optimization, and grade flow.

• Assist in the development of capital projects, vendor assessments, installation, and commissioning processes.

• Manage and update mill flow diagrams, equipment layout drawings, and standard operating procedures.

• Adjust to evolving priorities and support team and operational requirements.

⛳️ Requirements

• A Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, Process Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related technical field.

• Over 5 years of experience in process or industrial engineering within wood products manufacturing (including sawmills, planer mills, OSB, LVL, plywood, MDF, or similar settings).

• Knowledgeable in primary and secondary wood breakdown processes, encompassing log merchandising, sawing patterns, kerf and recovery optimization, surfacing, and grading.

• Practical experience in mill layout design and material flow planning, covering both green end and dry end configurations, lumber handling systems, and sort and stacker integration.

• Proficient in layout design tools such as AutoCAD.

• Familiar with scanning and optimization systems and how optimizer settings affect recovery and grade yield results.

• Experienced in assessing and implementing automation in mill environments, including PLC-controlled sorting lines, automated stackers, kiln tracking systems, and MES or production reporting platforms.

• Skilled in time study methodologies, OEE analysis, and capacity modeling applied to high-volume, continuous-flow wood processing.

• Understanding of kiln drying operations and the interplay between drying schedules, kiln capacity, and green inventory management with mill flow.

• Knowledge of lumber grading regulations and how product mix and grade targets influence equipment sequencing and line design.

• Excellent written and verbal communication abilities, with a capacity to collaborate effectively across mill operations, construction and installation teams, maintenance, forestry and procurement, and sales teams.

• Willingness to travel 25–50 percent.

🏝️ Benefits

• Comprehensive health insurance coverage at no cost for employees and their dependents (medical, dental, and vision).

• Full employer-paid life insurance and disability coverage.

• Paid time off along with company-recognized holidays.

• Flexible, unlimited time off policy.

• An opportunity to contribute to building something significant from the ground up in a vital, evolving industry.