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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Principal Packaging Systems Engineer - **Company:** Leprino Foods Company - **Location:** Denver, CO, United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** $147,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Systems Engineering, Performance Tuning, Systems Integration, Indexer - **Published:** September 22, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.careerbuilder.com/job-details/principal-packaging-systems-engineer-denver-co--a6eecc67-4acb-4e98-9994-09752e9d5ef1 ## About the Role * Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related engineering field. * 10+ years of engineering experience in food, beverage, dairy, or another high-speed manufacturing environment. * Significant hands-on experience with high-speed packaging machinery and automated packaging systems. * Demonstrated ownership of major packaging capital projects with responsibility for technical scope, equipment selection, budget, schedule, installation, and startup. * Experience integrating multiple packaging machines into a complete production system, including conveying, accumulation, indexing, controls interfaces, and line synchronization. * Strong working knowledge of secondary and tertiary packaging automation, including equipment such as case packers, robotic palletizers, conveyors, stretch wrappers, labeling systems, and material-handling equipment. * Experience working directly with packaging machinery OEMs and systems integrators from specification and design review through FAT and commissioning. * Experience troubleshooting and optimizing automated packaging lines for throughput, bottlenecks, OEE, reliability, and changeover performance. * Ability to work effectively in operating 24/7 manufacturing facilities during equipment installations, startups, and production ramp-ups. * Ability to travel up to 70%. We Hope You Also Have (Preferred Qualifications): * Deep experience with EOL packaging automation and integrated secondary/tertiary packaging systems. * Experience with robotic palletizing, automated case packing, conveying and accumulation systems, stretch wrapping, labeling, and code dating. * Experience commissioning new packaging lines or major packaging-line expansions in active food or dairy manufacturing facilities. * Knowledge of sanitary equipment design and food-manufacturing engineering standards. * Experience with multiple major packaging-equipment OEMs, robotics suppliers, and systems integrators. * Experience leading line-performance optimization, including constraint analysis, line balancing, changeover reduction, throughput improvement, and OEE improvement., Analysis Skills, Automation, Best Practices, Budgeting, Capital Project, Commissioning, Conveyor Systems, Engineering, Equipment Selection, Equipment Specification, Food Production, Food and Beverage Industry, Grocery Stores, Identify Issues, Industrial Engineering, Leadership, Line Balancing, Manufacturing, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mentoring, Nutrition, OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), Order Picking/Packing, Pallet Jack, Performance Tuning/Optimization, Product Packaging, Production Systems, Quality Engineering, Robotics, Startup, System Integration (SI), System Start-Up, Systems Administration/Management, Systems Engineering, Technical Leadership, Willing to Travel ## Description Within our Corporate Engineering team located in Denver - Leprino is seeking a Principal Packaging Systems Engineer to lead the design, integration, and startup of high-speed packaging systems across our cheese and dairy nutrition manufacturing network. This role is focused on packaging automation, end-of-line (EOL) systems, and full-line integration-from case packing and conveying through robotic palletizing and stretch wrapping. You'll provide technical leadership on major capital projects from concept and equipment selection through FAT, installation, commissioning, and production ramp-up. At Leprino, starting compensation for this role typically ranges between $147,000 and $170,000. This position has an annual target bonus of 15%. Based on your experience, we may also consider you for our Engineer II or Senior Engineer levels. What You'll Do: * Serve as a technical authority for high-speed packaging systems, EOL automation, and packaging line integration across our manufacturing network. * Lead large, complex packaging capital projects from concept development and equipment specification through installation, commissioning, startup, and performance validation. * Design and integrate complete packaging systems incorporating case packers, conveyors, robotic material handling, palletizers, stretch wrappers, labeling, and code-dating equipment. * Develop packaging system concepts, equipment specifications, line layouts, controls and integration requirements, utility requirements, and commissioning plans. * Engineer material flow, accumulation, indexing, line balancing, and equipment synchronization to create reliable, integrated packaging systems rather than collections of standalone machines. * Evaluate and select packaging OEMs and systems integrators based on technical capability, equipment performance, sanitary design, lifecycle support, and application fit. * Lead technical reviews with OEMs and integrators and ensure equipment interfaces, controls architecture, guarding, product handling, and upstream/downstream dependencies are addressed before installation. * Support and lead FATs, SATs, commissioning, startup, and production ramp-up, troubleshooting mechanical, controls, material-flow, and equipment-interface issues in the field. * Diagnose packaging-line constraints and develop solutions that improve throughput, OEE, reliability, changeover performance, and line efficiency. * Partner with plant Engineering, Maintenance, Operations, Quality, and Corporate Engineering teams to solve complex packaging-system and automation challenges. * Establish and maintain engineering best practices for packaging equipment, automation, system integration, and installation. * Provide technical guidance and mentorship to engineers working on packaging and capital projects throughout the organization. * Travel to manufacturing facilities and equipment suppliers as needed to support design reviews, FATs, installations, commissioning, and startups., Overview We're Leprino Foods Company - the leading producer of mozzarella cheese and related whey & lactose products in the USA. Our heritage of entrepreneurial growth & innovation, exceptional customer service, and top-quality products continue to define our business success and company culture every day. Our customers include leading pizza companies, consumer food manufacturers, and food distributors. Given our industry leading technology (we hold more patents on mozzarella cheese-making technology than any other producer), and quest for future growth, we're expanding our international capabilities as well. Our Singapore hub and joint venture with Glanbia Cheese, UK positions us in key markets across the world. From our headquarters in Denver to our production plants located across the country, our growth continues to provide exciting career opportunities. It's our vision to become the world's best dairy foods ingredients producer, and we're looking for great people to help us get there. If you have a strong work ethic, a focus on providing excellent service to external and internal customers, an innovative spirit that's not satisfied with status quo, and a passion for producing quality products and services, we'd be excited to have you join our organization. Culture Our unwavering commitment to product quality and unparalleled customer service encompasses simple principles that guide the efforts of every member of the Leprino Foods' team. Quality Service Innovation People Perpetuating a fulfilling, challenging and safe work environment that encourages continuous improvement, provides equal opportunity, offers economic satisfaction through the recognition and rewarding of achievement, and ensures we maintain a healthy respect for our competitors, customers, suppliers and fellow employees in a clean and safe work environment. Ethics Conducting our affairs and nurturing our relationships with customers, suppliers, co-workers, mutual interest groups and others in a forthright and ethical manner. Citizenship Recognizing our responsibilities toward, and encouraging involvement in, our industry and local communities while respecting individual freedom of choice and maintaining the highest standards of environmental and regulatory compliance., * Exceptional customer service is the attitude of caring among all our employees that motivates them to go beyond traditional boundaries in order to facilitate the realization of our Vision. * Exceptional customer service involves serving others as each of us would like to be served. * Exceptional customer service must be pro-active, not reactive. It means anticipating a customer's needs. * Exceptional customer service is not limited to external customers, it must also be extended to our internal customers, to fellow employees, to our suppliers, and to all other business contacts. * Exceptional customer service takes everyone's efforts. One employee with a lack of effort can create poor customer service. * Exceptional customer service is fundamental to achieving our Vision. It is not a vision in and of itself. Growth Opportunities and Leadership Development Employees of Leprino Foods Company will agree that most positions and departments offer a high level of growth to the employees. This comes from both promotional advancement and personal growth opportunities. In addition, we offer an extensive list of training opportunities to all levels of employees. This can range from PC training and operator training all the way to leadership training and ways to further develop the competencies possessed by successful leaders. Mission and Philosophies Our mission and philosophy at Leprino Foods is to establish, through our actions, an unparalleled standard of excellence in people, products, and service while increasing our market share and perpetuating a healthy company that appropriately rewards all our efforts and investments. We believe that the health and longevity of our company can best be achieved through an uncompromising commitment by all of us to Leprino Quality as a way of life. Leprino Quality is exemplified by an attitude of continuous improvement in each of the following areas: * Product Quality: Operating our facilities in a neat, clean, orderly, and well-maintained fashion while producing distinctively superior quality cheese and whey products that add value to our customers' businesses. * Customer Service: Perpetuating a proactive customer-centered attitude among all of us, which produces distinguished service in every aspect of our internal and external customer relationships. * Leadership and Innovation: Breaking traditional barriers and constantly expanding the horizons of our industry through bold leadership in product and process technology which continues to create new standards of excellence in product value. * People: Perpetuating a fulfilling and safe work environment that: * Values the importance of clean, organized, and well-maintained facilities, * Encourages the involvement of everyone in the business problem-solving, decision-making process, while not tolerating Company politics, * Fosters a willingness to innovate and stretch personal and collective boundaries, * Provides equal opportunity for personal and leadership development, * Promotes company pride though an unselfish, teamwork-driven attitude among all of us, * Offers economic satisfaction through the recognition and rewarding of individual and collective contributions, and * Maintains a focus on safety in all aspects of our business. * Ethics: Conducting our affairs and nurturing our relationships with customers, suppliers, co-workers, mutual interest groups and others in a forthright and ethical manner. * Citizenship: Recognizing our responsibilities toward, and encouraging involvement in, the communities of which we are a part, while respecting individual freedom of choice, and maintaining the highest standard of environmental and regulatory compliance. Teamwork As an employee of Leprino Foods, you will have a chance to make a difference by joining one of the many Leprino Employee Involvement Teams and Task Forces. We all benefit from these teams by having employees bring better problem solving, new ideas, and efficiencies to the Company. Team members benefit personally as well. Through involvement in one or more of these teams, members enhance their knowledge of Leprino's operations and get the opportunity to work with people outside their normal contacts, doing tasks outside their normal scope of work. Team members also learn basic tools to help identify and work through problems - tools that will help them every day in their job and their personal life. Community Involvement Each of our locations has employees active in the communities they work and reside in. 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