Manager – Plant Engineering

Join Riverside Natural Foods Ltd., a Canadian-based, family-owned, and globally operating business, committed to leaving the world better than we found it. As a B-Corp certified, Triple-Bottom Line company, we proudly manufacture nutritious, 'better-for-you' snacks such as MadeGood and GOOD TO GO. We value teamwork, humility, respect, ownership, adaptability, grit, and fun.

We’re on an ambitious mission to double our business by 2030, and we need talented individuals like you to help us reach new heights. At Riverside, you’ll have the opportunity to chart your own path to success while contributing to ours. We believe anything worth doing is worth doing right, and our values will guide us through the rugged terrain – and yes, it will get rough. But that’s what makes the journey worthwhile.

So, lace up your boots and let’s tackle the climb together.

You can learn more about us at www.riversidenaturalfoods.com.

Position Summary

The Manager, Plant Engineering leads the plant engineering function. The role provides day-to-day leadership, prioritization, resource planning, coaching, standards deployment, small-to-medium project governance across plants, and plant performance improvement.

This role will provide dedicated plant engineering leadership across Riverside, helping build greater structure around plant engineering priorities while supporting productivity, innovation, plant efficiency, and operational improvement.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who can lead and develop a team while remaining closely connected to plant engineering priorities and technical execution. 

Key responsibilities

• Own plant engineering work intake, prioritization, resource allocation, and weekly execution routines across sites.
• Lead, coach, onboard, and develop Plant Engineers; provide performance input, technical guidance, training plans, and capability development.
• Manage the portfolio of small-to-medium site engineering projects, plant support requests, equipment modifications, and capacity initiatives.
• Ensure engineering standards, documentation practices, drawing control, commissioning discipline, and project closeout expectations are applied consistently.
• Support site master planning, bottleneck identification, capacity planning, reliability improvement, and annual capital planning.
• Coordinate plant engineering support for trials, commercialization, change parts, equipment upgrades, safety improvements, and post-startup stabilization.
• Partner with Site Directors / Plant Managers to align priorities, resolve trade-offs, and remove execution barriers.
• Collaborate with Capital Projects to ensure plant requirements are built into design, installation planning, commissioning, training, and handover.
• Drive root cause problem solving for recurring technical issues that cross sites or require engineering escalation.
• Manage external engineering support, contractors, OEMs, and vendors for plant engineering work as required.
• Escalate strategic, budget, staffing, and major capital portfolio decisions to the Director, Engineering & Automation while keeping day-to-day coordination out of the Director’s workflow. 

What we’re looking for

• Undergraduate degree in Engineering, PEng an asset
• Strong engineering experience within a manufacturing/factory environment.
• Significant overall engineering experience, with approximately 10 years being the target profile.
• Previous people-management experience, ideally 3–5 years.
• Demonstrated experience leading, coaching, and developing engineers.
• Hands-on plant engineering experience with exposure to equipment modifications, commissioning/start-up, plant layouts, capacity and bottleneck analysis, reliability improvement, and root cause problem solving.
• Experience supporting plant-focused engineering projects and capital planning.
• Experience working with OEMs, contractors, vendors, or other external engineering partners.
• Strong understanding of Quality, Safety, and operational standards within a manufacturing environment.
• Strong customer focus with the ability to adapt to changing plant priorities, balance competing requests, and work effectively across functions.
• Experience with AutoCAD, SAP, and Microsoft Office.

Success measures / KPIs

• Plant engineering request closure rate.
• Small-to-medium projects delivered on time and on budget.
• Engineering standards adoption across sites.
• Stakeholder satisfaction from plant leadership and cross-functional partners.
• Coaching, onboarding, and capability development progress for Plant Engineers.
• Site master plan progress and quality of capital planning inputs. 

At Riverside, we are committed to transparency and fairness in our compensation and job posting practices. The range above reflects the target compensation for the position at the time of posting. Exact compensation will be determined based on experience, skill set, education, and training, as well as other organizational needs, while balancing internal equity.

What we expect:

• Values-led: You’ll be a member of a thoughtful and compassionate team that prioritizes respect, teamwork and resourcefulness along with a good dash of fun. Sometimes, even making granola bars is hard, and life’s too short to take ourselves so seriously that we don’t enjoy the journey.
• Unparalleled experiences and opportunities: We’re still determining who we are and what we can be. Help us shape what this organization will look like and what we’ll offer the world, into the future. This means rolling up your sleeves and sometimes building the process – fast! – while employing it. At Riverside, progress occasionally means proceeding imperfectly, and we’re okay with that, as long as we’re staying true to our values and learning and improving along the way.
• Access to everyone: We’re a flat organization with few silos which means you’ll have full access to everyone from our founders to our production staff. Even when employees dress up, they wear steel-toed shoes. So don’t be shy. Speak up, share your ideas and go places you normally wouldn’t – like the plant, or the boardroom.
• Personal development: We’ll support and empower you to chart your own path and reach any heights you set for yourself. Career paths at Riverside are carved by the people walking on them, not dictated by leaders. Count on us to give you the training and tools to grow and progress.
• Gratitude: As a growing business, we can’t always offer formal recognition like awards programs, but we do show our true gratitude and appreciation. At Riverside, we’re all in this together and we value you.
  
• Be a Riverside Brand Ambassador: Stay relentlessly close to our consumers and represent the brand in every interaction, decision, and deliverable. Bring the consumer voice into your work by protecting product quality, availability, and experience, acting early when standards slip, and delivering consistent value that earns trust, advocacy, and long-term brand love.

What We Offer:

• Values-led: We don’t cut corners or step on anyone or anything on our way to our summit. There is no winning at all costs here. Every step you take must align with our values, no compromises.
• Courageous determination: As a family-run, rapidly growing business, we are often challenged to find ways to deliver that aren’t obvious or easy. You must be willing to try, ask and answer challenging questions, test and learn, turn over every stone, keep moving forward and help us find a way through. Resourcefulness and grit will be your constant companions at Riverside and will serve you well.
• Humility: We’re a small (but growing) fish in a sea of whales and sharks. We know the products we offer are some of the healthiest and most sustainable, but we don’t brag about it, and know we have a steep path ahead. We pride ourselves in being respectful and supportive of others while shining brightly through our innovative, high-quality products. There isn’t one superstar at Riverside. We take turns leading the way as we climb to the summit.
• Continuous improvement: As a learn-as-we-go organization, we rely on each other to continuously improve everything we touch to make it better, more efficient, more sustainable, and more endearing to customers, consumers, employees, vendors, partners and the community. We own our mistakes and learn from them as we wind our way to the top.

Wait! There’s more!

• Immerse yourself in our comprehensive benefits program, with Riverside taking care of the costs!
• RRSP matching or 401k matching for an empowered financial journey
• Eligibility to participate in Riverside's Profit Sharing Plan
• Join Employee-Led Resource Groups (ERGs) championing mental health, sustainability, diversity, women, and LGBTQ+ rights
• Develop your career further through our Riverside University program and with our Tuition Reimbursement Program
• An open concept work environment that embodies our Values

How to Apply:

If you have the commitment to excellence, the energy, the attitude and experience we need, then please submit your resume to careers(AT)riversidenaturals.com with the job title you are applying for in the subject line or click the apply button!

Riverside Natural Foods Ltd. is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible environment for everyone. If you have a disability and require accommodation in the interview process, please let us know when you apply. We thank all applicants for their interest; however, due to volume, please note that only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

Disclaimer: As part of our recruitment process, we may use technology-assisted tools, including automated systems, to support the review and assessment of applications. These tools do not make final hiring decisions. All decisions related to screening, interviewing, and selection are made by our Talent Acquisition and hiring teams.