Continuous Improvement Engineer

Build your career at Sazerac! With almost 400 years of rich history, Sazerac Company has thrived as an independent, American family-owned company with operations in the United States and around the world. Since the 2000s, Sazerac has averaged double digit growth every year! Sazerac Company produces and markets the most award-winning bourbons and whiskeys in the world, including Buffalo Trace, Pappy Van Winkle, Eagle Rare, Blanton’s, Traveller, and Sazerac Rye. Additionally, Sazerac owns many popular brands across a range of spirits, including Fireball, Svedka, Wheatley, BuzzBallz, Southern Comfort, Seagram’s V.O., Myers’s, Goldschläger, Parrot Bay, 99 Brand, and Platinum Vodka.

We’re proud of our award-winning culture and distilleries. Our Louisville office has been named one of the “Best Places to Work in Kentucky” four times, and our Buffalo Trace Distillery has earned the title of “world’s most award-winning distillery” through the dedication of our craftsmen for well over 200 years. Whether you’re a recent graduate or an experienced professional, Sazerac provides extraordinary opportunities for growth with competitive salaries and benefits in an exciting, entrepreneurial industry.

The Glenmore Distillery has been a fixture in the Owensboro Community since the late 1800s. During Prohibition, The Glenmore Distillery was fortunate enough to be one of four distilleries in the country allowed to operate on a limited scale for medicinal necessity.

In March of 2009 the Sazerac Company purchased the distillery and reprised the name The Glenmore Distillery. The distillery boasts one of the largest and most modern bottling facilities in the country and continues to be a sizable employer in the city of Owensboro, KY.

The Sazerac Company’s vision is to become one of the industry’s most desired places to be.  The company attributes its success to a unique blend of history, culture, brands, relationships, innovation, technology, and most importantly, its people.

For more information, please visit www.sazerac.com.  

The CI Engineer drives continuous improvement efforts at The Glenmore Distillery site by leveraging the foundations of Equipment Reliability and Operational Excellence to enhance efficiency, quality, and productivity across all departments. Improvements are driven by establishing robust processes and measured through key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure quantifiable and sustainable impact. In addition to technical and process optimization responsibilities, the CI Engineer leads culture change initiatives that foster a continuous improvement mindset.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead change initiatives that encourage proactive problem-solving, accountability, and collaboration at all organizational levels
• Lead the documentation and improvement of processes, focusing on accuracy, efficiency, and quality enhancement
• Drive culture change by fostering continuous improvement behaviors into daily operations, supporting change management and leadership development efforts
• Analyze process data and performance metrics to identify opportunities for improvement
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to analyze line efficiencies, troubleshoot production issues, and implement corrective actions
• Facilitate training, workshops, and coaching sessions to sustain continuous improvement capabilities across teams at all levels
• Train and coach process leads to elevate technical skills and operational performance, emphasizing safety, quality, and environmental standards
• Provide engineering and technical support to develop and coach process leads, promoting network-wide standardization and best practices
• Provide engineering expertise and project leadership in the planning, installation, and commissioning of new production lines and assets, ensuring seamless integration with existing operations and adherence to quality and safety standards

• Apply principles of Equipment Reliability Engineering to improve asset performance, reduce downtime, and enhance overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)
• Utilize Operational Excellence Engineering techniques to streamline processes, reduce waste, and boost plant productivity

Must

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related field
• Knowledge of continuous improvement principles
• Experience with lean manufacturing
• Strong project management skills with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously
• Ability to quickly learn new systems/processes
• Ability to communicate with all levels of an organization
• Strong ability to implement and maintain detailed processes
• Strong problem-solving skills supported by knowledge of root cause analysis techniques

Preferred

• Strong planning and organizational skills
• Experience in process design, implementation and improvement
• Working knowledge of MS Office Products (Word, Excel and Outlook)
• 2 years’ experience driving change in an organization
• 2 years’ relevant experience in a fast-paced environment

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