Senior Director of Engineering Excellence, Innovation & Automation

Shearer’s Foods, founded in 1974 and headquartered in Massillon, OH, is a leading manufacturer of salty snacks, cookies, and crackers. Specializing in private label and co-manufacturing, Shearer’s is the largest supplier of private brand salty snacks and second-largest supplier of private brand cookies and crackers. 

With a strong focus on innovation, service, quality, and sustainability, Shearer’s has been awarded the food industry’s highest award for environmental sustainability, as well as multiple Supplier of the Year awards. 

Operating 16 locations across North America and employing more than 5000 team members, Shearer’s is driven by its core values of People, Grow, Impact and Win. The company mission is to deliver exceptional products and services that make snacking a time to celebrate for our customers, colleagues, and community. 

At Shearer’s Foods, we believe in a skills-first approach to recruitment and employment. This means focusing on what you can do and how you can grow, rather than traditional metrics alone. We are committed to adhering to anti-exclusion practices, removing barriers to access, and enhancing opportunities for all individuals based on merit and potential. Your skills, experience, and perspective are valuable—and we want to empower you to make your mark here with us.  

Senior Director of Engineering Excellence, Innovation & Automation

Remote

The Senior Director of Engineering Excellence, Innovation & Automation is responsible for transforming engineering into a scalable operating system that drives enterprise-wide reliability, process standardization, and automation-led performance improvement.

You will lead the identification, development, and deployment of engineering standards, advanced technologies (automation, AI, digital), and innovation initiatives to unlock capacity, reduce cost, and improve operational consistency across all manufacturing sites. Core responsibilities include:

Engineering Excellence & Standardization

• Define and deploy enterprise engineering standards across processing, packaging, and utilities
• Establish “gold standard” designs, process conditions, and control philosophies
• Drive consistency in equipment design, controls architecture, and documentation
• Own governance of engineering specifications, capital design standards, and technical practices
• Ensure all capital projects align with enterprise standards and scalability requirement

Automation, AI & Digital Strategy

• Build and execute a portfolio-driven automation roadmap aligned to business priorities
• Scale proven solutions (vision systems, ML detection, edge computing, digital monitoring) across plants
• Standardize controls, data architecture, and integration across sites
• Lead development of the Digital Factory strategy (real-time monitoring, predictive systems, analytics enablement)
• Partner with Operations to deploy automation that directly improves labor productivity, throughput, and reliability

Innovation & Capacity Unlock

• Lead identification and incubation of high-impact innovation opportunities (process, equipment, materials)
• Establish structured pipeline for ideation → pilot → validation → scale
• Partner with external suppliers, OEMs, and integrators to accelerate innovation
• Focus innovation on:
  • De-staffing / labor reduction
  • Yield and waste reduction
  • Throughput and capacity unlocking
• Ensure innovation is tied to measurable business outcomes and capital discipline

Reliability & Predictive Capability Enablement

• Enable enterprise shift from reactive to predictive maintenance and operations
• Deploy early detection systems (condition monitoring, AI-based failure prediction)
• Support integration of automation with reliability systems (CMMS, Redzone, digital tools)
• Partner with Reliability leadership to improve uptime, MTTR, and OEE performance

Operating Model & Governance

• Establish clear stage-gate processes for innovation and automation investments
• Embed engineering into the operating model as the governor of performance and standards
• Define KPIs and scorecards to track adoption, ROI, and performance impact
• Ensure alignment between Engineering, Operations, Finance, and Supply Chain leadership

Organization & Capability Building

• Build and lead a high-performing team focused on:
  • Controls & Automation
  • Digital / AI / Data Engineering
  • Process & Design Standards
  • Innovation Pipeline Management
• Develop technical capability across the organization (plants + corporate)
• Establish Centers of Excellence (COEs) for automation and engineering excellence
• Create bench strength and future technical leadership pipeline

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Industrial, Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, or related); advanced degree preferred
• 12–15+ years of progressive operations,  engineering and CI leadership in manufacturing (CPG/food strongly preferred)
• Proven experience leading:
• Automation and controls strategy
• Large-scale capital project deployment
• Engineering standardization across multiple sites
• Strong knowledge of:
• Processing and packaging systems
• Industrial automation (PLC, SCADA, MES, vision systems)
• Digital/AI applications in manufacturing
• Demonstrated ability to drive enterprise transformation
• Action-oriented, results-driven leader with strong bias for execution
• Thinks in systems (enterprise vs site optimization)
• Drives accountability and performance through metrics and governance
• Skilled at influencing senior leadership and cross-functional teams
• Balances innovation with capital discipline and ROI

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.