Capital Projects Engineer

Butternut Box

Full Time

3 days ago

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Location: Zabrze

Role: Capital Projects Engineer

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours: Full-Time

📣A bit about the role

As a Capital Projects Engineer, you’ll be at the forefront of delivering engineering capital projects to ensure the successful build and development of our greenfield site in Zabrze; Sam’s Kitchen. You will be involved in the project delivery for go-live and subsequently the on-going installation of all equipment and site services to finalise the project to build a 1,200T/week fresh petfood facility.

You will work on continuous improvement on the site, everything from managing the install of new production lines, ovens, freezers to conveyors and robot automation. This is a hands-on, diverse role that will see you managing everything from strategy to execution while collaborating across teams to deliver impactful results.

A bit more detail

Engineering Expertise

Plan, design, and execute capital expenditure (CapEx) projects to meet business goals.
Develop equipment specifications and ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations.
Lead troubleshooting efforts and identify improvements to current systems and processes.

Project Leadership

Manage all aspects of project delivery, including scope, budget and all phases of the engineering project through to successful handover to Operations
Prepare and present project proposals, justifications, and investment cases to stakeholders.
Lead project teams and coordinate internal resources and external contractors to ensure seamless execution.
Conduct risk assessments and implement mitigation strategies to keep projects on track.

Stakeholder Collaboration

Provide regular updates on project progress and address any challenges proactively.
Facilitate effective communication among cross-functional teams to drive alignment and results.
Develop and support long-term strategies for site assets to ensure sustainability and efficiency.
Recommend upgrades or replacements for aging infrastructure to align with operational demands.

Compliance and Safety

Ensure all projects adhere to health, safety, and environmental regulations.
Implement and monitor safety protocols to minimize risks during project execution.
Provide training and support to teams to promote a culture of safety and compliance.

Continuous Improvement

Use data analysis to identify opportunities for process optimization and cost savings.
Explore and implement new technologies to enhance operational performance.
Document lessons learned from projects to improve future delivery processes.

🔎 A bit about you

To excel in this role, you should bring:

A degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Process Engineering (or equivalent experience).
Proven experience managing capital projects in a manufacturing environment.
A passion for automation will be a huge help
Project management expertise, ideally with certifications like APM, Prince 2, or equivalent.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
Flexibility for travel to vendors and OEM’s.

Loves dogs (naturally)

🐶 Background

Butternut Box was founded in 2016 and has seen outstanding growth and significant investment during its rapid evolution. A certified B-Corp, Butternut Box is committed to doing better for the planet, people and dogs. In 2023, the business secured £280m of investment from General Atlantic and L Catterton. This significant investment has allowed the business to rapidly develop its international expansion plans. These plans centre around European expansion with Czech Republic next market to launch. Beyond that, there are a number of markets that would be attractive considerations including: Austria, Nordics, Italy and France.

Butternut Box fully acquired PsiBufet, a Polish Direct to Consumer dog food brand in 2023. This business provides a foothold from which to establish a new manufacturing plant to serve these markets. As it stands, the business currently serves c.295,000 dogs with 200,000 in the UK, 30,000 in Poland, 20,000 in Benelux and 15,000 in Ireland. To achieve the growth demands will require the UK factory, ‘Rudie’s Kitchen’, to deliver increased output whilst a new Polish operation is commissioned and brought online.

The new site is in Zabrze. This new site will be 37,000 M2 (compared to the original UK site at 18,000 M2) and will eventually have 8 lines with the capacity to produce 1,200T per week.

Work is required to ready the building for food manufacturing, and this is underway. Once this is completed, equipment will be installed to allow a fulfilment operation to be moved from

an established site. It isn’t anticipated that many of the existing team will move so a new team will need to be recruited and trained to allow first orders to be processed by Summer 2025. Further equipment is being installed and commissioned in readiness for the first production to commence by the beginning of July 2025. Again, a production team will need to be recruited and trained to make this possible. It is envisaged that much of this training will utilise the knowledge and experience gained at Rudie’s.

To achieve these goals, a number of key hires need to be made. Initially, a Site Director has been recruited due to start January 2025. A Project Manager has also been appointed from August 2024 to work alongside the project management company who are managing the civil aspects of the site development. A number of additional leadership roles will be required including a Technical Manager, Engineering Manager, People Manager and Operations Manager.

It is expected that the Site Director, Project Manager, People Manager, Engineering Manager and Operations Manager will work together to build a team and ready the site for operation from July 2025.

Our Values & ways of working

A business with people at the very core. The company has great employee retention and prides itself on giving everyone the chance to stretch themselves in a supportive and inclusive environment.

The business’ values are: Dedicated and Determined; Open and Honest; Genuine Care; Strive for Better and For the Love of Dogs.

Recruitment process