Project Engineer - Sturgis, MI Plant

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 114,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

Job Title

Project Engineer

Working at Abbott

At Abbott, you can do work that matters, grow, and learn, care for yourself and your family, be your true self, and live a full life. You’ll also have access to:

• Production areas that are clean, well-lit and temperature-controlled
• Training and career development , with onboarding programs for new employees and tuition assistance
• Financial security through competitive compensation, incentives and retirement plan
• Health care and well-being programs including medical, dental, vision, wellness and occupational health programs, Medical Benefits start day 1
• Vacation – 120 hours of accrued vacation (1st yr is prorated) + vacation buy program + 3 personal days + 10 paid holidays
• Retiree Healthcare program
• Robust 401(k) retirement savings with a generous company match
• Tuition reimbursement, the Freedom 2 Save student debt program and FreeU education benefit - an affordable and convenient path to getting a bachelor’s degree.
• A company recognized as a great place to work in dozens of countries around the world and named one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune.
• A stable company with a record of strong financial performance and history of being actively involved in local communities
• A company that is recognized as one of the best big companies to work for as well as the best place to work for diversity, working mothers, female executives, and scientists.

The Opportunity

This position works out of our Sturgis, MI location in the Abbott Nutrition division. Our Nutrition business develops science-based nutrition products for people of all ages, from helping babies and children grow to keeping adult bodies strong and active. Millions of people around the world count on our leading brands – including Similac®, PediaSure®, Pedialyte®, Ensure®, and Glucerna® – to help them get the nutrients they need to live their healthiest lives.

For over 70 years, Abbott’s Sturgis, Mich. , has been impacting its community while producing products that provide essential nutrition to millions of families around the world. Working here, you’ll feel part of a family that is dedicated to making a difference and helping others.

What You'll Work On

An engineering professional who applies scientific knowledge, engineering knowledge, mathematics, and ingenuity to complete assignments related to a specific technical field or discipline.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Plans and conducts assigned small‑ to medium‑size projects within an engineering specialty using conventional plans, investigations, and/or equipment.
• Coordinates and monitors project activities, reviews plans, and tracks implementation status for assigned work.
• Makes judgments regarding quality of implementation within the discipline.
• Employs contingency plans to recover from schedule slippage and financial overruns, e.g., tracking actual expenditures vs. projected cash flow.
• Facilitates defining project scope with clients.
• Estimates needed resources (budget, time, materials, people) for individual tasks, e.g., coordinating work with associate engineers and technicians.
• Prepares project budgets and contingency plans.
• Participates in feasibility studies and economic analyses for alternatives.
• Shares responsibility for achieving financial targets in support of business objectives.

TECHNICAL / DESIGN

• Anticipates future directions through internal and external benchmarking.
• Recognizes changes in environment and present resources as indicators of future problems and opportunities.
• Prepares for such changes, e.g., initiates plans to acquire engineering skills needed due to technology shifts.
• Independently applies standard engineering concepts, theories, and techniques to design products/processes/equipment/systems/facilities.
• Conducts tests or experiments, gathers data, investigates issues, performs preliminary analyses, and reports findings.
• Prepares recommendations and communicates action plans.

PROBLEM SOLVING / INNOVATION

• Creates or modifies designs for intermediate problems and more complex components/processes.
• Writes detailed design specifications, e.g., new production flow diagrams or modifications to enhance construction processes.
• Predicts trends/patterns, identifies relationships among data, grasps complexities, and evaluates consequences and alternatives.
• Makes recommendations, e.g., developing manufacturing process improvements.
• Analyzes problems from multiple perspectives and improves methods/processes/designs.
• Implements innovations, good ideas, and cost‑reduction measures.
• Generates and adopts original solutions, reducing them to practice, e.g., implementing methods to reduce component costs.
• Creatively applies design ideas from others.

ORGANIZATIONAL INTERFACE

• Mentors others by sharing technical expertise, guidance, and feedback.
• Interfaces primarily with internal contacts (Regulatory, R&D, Quality, Supply Chain).
• Communicates frequently with outside and inter‑organizational contacts from the assigned TPM group.
• Prepares written communications and conveys information effectively through formal and informal documents with team members, designers, technicians, and other technical personnel.
• Uses appropriate communication protocols, e.g., developing proposals and conducting design reviews.
• Provides audience‑specific content and prepares summaries and design documentation.
• Obtains approvals for action plans.
• Establishes networks, follows through on goals, shares knowledge/resources, and collaborates effectively, e.g., in team meetings.
• Serves as a functional expert during design reviews.
• Builds strong relationships by initiating open, honest communication, understanding needs, promoting common goals, and following through on commitments, e.g., offering assistance.
• Interacts effectively with stakeholders at appropriate organizational levels.
• Resolves underlying issues, identifies full customer/client needs, and proposes solutions.
• Adjusts products or services to better meet recognized or unrecognized needs, e.g., partnering with external vendors for improved deliverables.

COMPLIANCE

• Complies with all applicable standards and regulations for Quality, Environmental, Health, Safety, and Energy (EHS&E), Abbott Engineering Standards, and other governance areas.
• Ensures quality and effectiveness of assigned tasks.
• Maintains awareness of defects or failure‑mode consequences related to design changes in established processes.
• Identifies compliance‑related risks.
• Initiates and tracks Quality System Change Requests for assigned projects.
• Communicates requirements to external organizations based on Impact Assessments.

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES MAY INCLUDE

• Develops standards and procedures.
• Coordinates with technical support staff for prototype or experimental product/process runs.
• Directs efforts of external resources and technicians.
• Writes Requests for Capital Expenditures (RCEs), scope documents, safety/quality checklists, etc.
• Develops and executes validation protocols.
• Resolves issues such as vendor deviations, production process deviations, urgent out‑of‑stock replacements, and crisis situations requiring rapid and informed decisions.
• Provides training on systems.

You’ll be accountable for meeting our compliance standards including FDA, OSHA and Abbott policies and procedures.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, science or closely related discipline, or equivalent technical experience plus demonstrated competence
• 4+ years industrial experience
• Exposure to manufacturing processes as it applies to multi-component assembly operations.
• Exposure to supplied material manufactured from external suppliers.
• Experience troubleshooting such processes to find solutions related to productivity, quality and product performance.
• Exposure to Six Sigma Green Belt techniques with the DMAIC process to find/implement root cause remediations.
• Regulated industry experience to document all actions involving changes to established processes.

Learn more about our health and wellness benefits, which provide the security to help you and your family live full lives: 

Follow your career aspirations to Abbott for diverse opportunities with a company that can help you build your future and live your best life. Abbott is an Equal Opportunity and Military/Veteran friendly Employer, committed to employee diversity.

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The base pay for this position is $61,300.00 – $122,700.00. In specific locations, the pay range may vary from the range posted.