Sr. Process Engineer, Paint

Unclassified - Normal, IL

Full-time - Mid Level

Normal, IL

About the position

As a Senior Process Engineer in the Paint department at Rivian, you will play a crucial role in ensuring the efficient operation of the paint shop. Your primary responsibility will be the daily execution of processes related to air supply houses, booths, robots, dispensers, and the overall infrastructure that supports paint processes within the plant. This position is based in Normal, Illinois, and reports directly to the Senior Manager of Paint Engineering. In this role, you will interface with maintenance personnel to ensure that all paint shop equipment is functioning optimally, and that predictive maintenance protocols are being adhered to. You will be tasked with troubleshooting and adjusting processes as necessary, maintaining a feedback loop for paint quality and process improvements. Utilizing problem-solving tools and techniques such as 5 Why's, DMAIC, and 5S, you will address issues promptly and work to define, resolve, and verify solutions that enhance paint finish quality. You will also be responsible for contributing to production reports and scheduling, providing management with performance reports of production against planned targets. Collaborating with production scheduling, you will ensure daily paint shop production readiness. Your engineering expertise will be applied to solve problems affecting manufacturing layout and the production of our paint application process. You will devise efficient systems that integrate workers, machines, materials, information, and energy to optimize the paint application process and the manufacturing floor layout. Additionally, you will perform process engineering and time studies, conduct line balance analysis for workstations, and write and train on Job Element Sheets, Standardized Work Sheets, and Standard Operating Sheets to establish standardized and repeatable processes. Leading Autonomous Maintenance initiatives, you will work to improve the Mean Time Between Failure of equipment by studying equipment performance and utilizing technical data related to complex equipment such as robots, applicators, pumping systems, and air handling systems. You will engineer and develop new application systems and equipment, coordinating fabrication and construction efforts to enhance Overall Equipment Efficiency. Conducting periodic safety walks in the paint shop will be part of your responsibilities to ensure compliance with safety procedures. You will also collaborate with the EH&S coordinator to generate reports for government regulation compliance and oversee the activities of supplier service representatives and contract personnel in the paint shop. Managing all activities required for the successful launch of new products, you will utilize best practices for project management and PPAP, while also developing KPIs and standards to monitor launch success and maintain quality, cost, and delivery performance of the paint line.

Responsibilities

• Interface with maintenance personnel to ensure that the paint shop equipment is running properly, and that predictive maintenance is being done.
• Troubleshooting and adjusting processes.
• Maintaining a feedback loop for paint quality and process.
• Using problem solving tools and techniques such as 5 Why's, DMAIC, 5S, etc., to address problems and verify problem resolution with paint finish quality.
• Contribute shifts and daily reports to management as required and provide performance reports of production to plan.
• Work with production scheduling to plan daily paint shop production and assure production readiness accordingly.
• Use engineering principles to solve problems affecting manufacturing layout or production of the paint application process.
• Devise efficient systems that integrate workers, machines, materials, information, and energy to optimize the paint application process and manufacturing floor layout.
• Perform process engineering and time studies as well as line balance analysis for workstations and areas.
• Write and train on Job Element Sheets / Standardized Work Sheets / Standard Operating Sheets to establish standardized and repeatable processes.
• Lead Autonomous Maintenance to improve Mean Time Between Failure of equipment through study of equipment performance and manufacturer's technical data.
• Engineer and develop new application systems and equipment and coordinate fabrication and construction to improve Overall Equipment Efficiency.
• Conduct periodic safety walks of the paint shop to assure that correct procedures are being followed.
• Participate with the EH&S coordinator in generating reports for government regulation compliance.
• Oversee the activities of supplier service representatives and contract personnel working in the paint shop.
• Manage all activities required for a successful launch of new products utilizing best practices for project management and PPAP.
• Cross functional development of new paints and models.
• Envision and develop KPIs and standards necessary to monitor launch success and continued Quality, Cost and Delivery performance of the paint line.

Requirements

• Prior supervisory experience in a manufacturing environment (1-3 years).
• 5 years of experience as a Process Engineer / Project Engineer / Maintenance Engineer in an automotive paint shop (OEM/Tier1 experience preferred).
• 1-3 years of experience with robotic electrostatic painting.
• Engineering degree in a technical area (BSME, BS Chemical Engineering, etc.) required.