Manufacturing Improvement Engineer

Manufacturing Improvement Engineer

📍 New Brighton, MN | ✈️ Up to 25% travel (U.S. & Canada)

Are you interested in working for a company whose mission is to radically love and influence lives? We’re looking for a hands-on Manufacturing Improvement Engineer who thrives in industrial environments and enjoys solving complex problems across multiple sites. In this role, you’ll partner directly with production teams to improve safety, efficiency, quality, and reliability of manufacturing processes that produce wood utility poles and other critical wood structures across North America and Canada.

If you enjoy being in the production environment, leading improvement projects, and seeing your ideas turn into real operational results, this role is for you!

As a Manufacturing Improvement Engineer, you will:

• Lead and support manufacturing improvement initiatives across multiple treating and manufacturing sites
• Apply engineering and project leadership skills to improve, innovate, and standardize manufacturing processes
• Provide hands-on technical support for troubleshooting, repair, and maintenance of plant-scale wood processing and material handling equipment
• Support design, modification, and fabrication of equipment such as peelers, shavers, incisors, planers, cranes, and hoists
• Analyze manufacturing data and process flows to drive automation and operational improvements
• Manage and support capital projects focused on improving manufacturing performance
• Develop and maintain SOPs, process documentation, and work instructions
• Partner with Continuous Improvement, Production, Environmental, Safety, and Sales teams to support quality and business objectives
• Assist with customer specification kits and manufacturing prints
• Support safety and environmental initiatives, including training and risk assessments
• Participate in strategic planning, KPI tracking, and performance dashboarding
• Continue professional development through training, certifications, and industry involvement

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Industrial, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related field
• 1-3 years of experience in a manufacturing environment, (3-5 years preferred)

Other Skills & Requirements: 

• Experience with plant-scale manufacturing processes and industrial equipment
• Strong problem-solving, analytical, and decision-making skills
• Ability to lead projects and work independently while knowing when to escalate issues
• Comfortable working across multiple sites and cross-functional teams
• Strong communication skills—able to explain technical concepts to operators through senior leaders
• Experience with continuous improvement tools (Lean, 5S, Six Sigma, etc.)
• Familiarity with PLCs, HMIs, and industrial instrumentation
• Proficient with Microsoft Office/365 (Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Power BI)
• Willingness to travel up to 25% of the time

Discover how Bell’s mission and values are the core of our purpose — Learn more about our story. 

Benefits

• In addition to competitive pay, we offer a comprehensive benefits package including:
• Health, dental, and vision insurance (with HRA and FSA)
• 401(k) with company match
• Short and long-term disability insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid holidays and generous paid time off
• Professional development opportunities
• Employee assistance and employee/community hardship programs

Bell Lumber & Pole is an equal opportunity employer.

Bell Lumber & Pole is proud to be an equal-opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.

This applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship. Bell makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.

Bell is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please call 651-203-2719 or send an e-mail to [email protected] and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.

For additional details, you can read our EEO Policy.