Process Engineer

Overview

Sprout is a global IT hardware retirement provider for hyperscaler and enterprise clients. We leverage a nationwide footprint (and international partner network) combined with proprietary software to enable efficient end-to-end IT asset disposition with a focus on data-bearing devices from the client to the cloud. The company is headquartered in Charlotte, NC with additional operations near Sacramento, Dallas, and Boston. Sprout provides software and services to clients in the form of our IT Asset Disposition, Certified Destruction, and Responsible Recycling solutions.

Since our founding as an electronic waste startup from a Duke University dorm room in 2014, we have been expanding at an average rate of >50% each year. By adhering to our 3 values (One Sprout, Deliver Excellence, and Integrity Matters), we are proud of our culture to move at #SproutSpeed seeking to become the emerging leader in our industry

This is a hands-on, high-impact role focused on making Sprout’s physical operations faster, more consistent, and more predictable. Reporting to the Industrial Engineering function within Operations, you will own standard work, process automation, and continuous improvement for the Texas facility while supporting rollout of proven improvements across the network. You will spend meaningful time on the floor — timing processes, mapping value streams, and validating that documented work matches actual work — and meaningful time in data, using Sprout’s proprietary ERP, Power BI, and SQL to quantify bottlenecks and prove out results. This role exists to make improvements stick: not one-time projects, but documented, measured, owned standards that survive turnover and scale with volume.

Responsibilities

1. Standard Work and Work Instructions

• Design, document, and implement standard work across receiving, testing, refurbishment, teardown, and shipping processes to drive consistency, quality, and training effectiveness.

• Author and maintain Work Instructions (WIs) under Sprout’s QEHSMS document control process, including revision history and change control.

• Develop labor standards through time studies and process observation, and maintain them as processes and product mix change.

• Partner with Training and Operations supervision to ensure standard work is the basis for onboarding and cross-training, reducing time-to-proficiency.

2. Process Automation and ERP Workflow

• Identify manual, repetitive, and error-prone tasks that are candidates for automation, and build the business case for each.

• Lead automation implementation with cross-functional support, from requirements definition through validation and handoff to operations.

• Configure and optimize ERP workflows and routings to speed up execution, enforce process sequence, and capture traceability and metrics at the point of work.

• Work with the in-house development team to translate operational needs into system requirements and to validate releases against real floor conditions.

3. Lean and Continuous Improvement

• Drive Lean and continuous improvement initiatives using Kaizen, 5S, and value stream mapping to reduce waste, shorten cycle time, and increase throughput.

• Facilitate improvement events with floor teams, converting observations into prioritized, owned countermeasures with clear before-and-after measurement.

• Establish ownership and audit cadence for implemented improvements so gains are sustained rather than regressed.

• Reduce rework, re-testing, and re-processing through root cause analysis and permanent corrective action.

4. Data Analysis and Capacity Modeling

• Collect and analyze operational data to identify trends, bottlenecks, and cost-saving opportunities using Power BI, Power Query, SQL, and advanced Excel.

• Build and maintain capacity models that translate forecasted volume and product mix into labor, space, and equipment requirements.

• Define and track process metrics — throughput, cycle time, first-pass yield, labor utilization — and publish them in a form operations leadership can act on.

• Support customer TAKT time requirements by modeling demand against available capacity and flagging constraints before they become misses.

5. Cross-Functional Collaboration and Change Management

• Act as a liaison between Sales and Operations to ensure customer requirements and special processing notes are accurately captured, systematized, and executed.

• Drive change management for new procedures and systems, including communication, training, and post-implementation verification.

• Partner with Quality, EHS, and Compliance to ensure process changes hold up to ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, and R2v3 requirements.

• Support process implementation and improvement rollout at other Sprout facilities, adapting standards to local constraints without losing consistency.

Qualifications

Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Operations Management, or a related field.

• 3-6 years of experience in process engineering, industrial engineering, or continuous improvement within a manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, or reverse-logistics environment.

• Demonstrated experience writing standard work and work instructions that were adopted and sustained on a production floor.

• Proven track record of delivering measurable process improvements and leading cross-functional projects from an indirect position of authority.

Skills and Knowledge

• Working expertise in Lean and Six Sigma, including value stream mapping, time studies, and root cause analysis.

• Advanced proficiency in data analysis and reporting tools such as Power BI, Power Query, SQL, and Excel.

• Experience with ERP systems, including workflow and routing configuration, and the ability to align system capability with operational objectives.

• Strong project management skills, with a history of identifying risks early and implementing effective contingency plans.

• Familiarity with document control and quality management systems; exposure to ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, or R2v3 is a plus.

• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or higher preferred.

EEO – Equal Employment Opportunity

The Company is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, creed, color, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, gender, ethnicity, religion, national origin, ancestry, nationality, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, genetic information, or on any other basis prohibited by law (except where an attribute is a bona fide occupational qualification).