Cappello's is making magic in the food world, dedicated to crafting gourmet, grain-free, and gluten-free products. With a mission to innovate in the natural foods space, Cappello's values quality, sustainability, and bold thinking in every aspect of its operations. 

The Facilities & Engineering Manager is responsible for leading all aspects of facility maintenance, equipment reliability, and engineering support for the company’s owned manufacturing facility (which produces ~40% of total company volume) and supporting equipment at external contract manufacturers. This role manages preventive and corrective maintenance programs, oversees equipment purchasing and procurement, and partners closely with the Plant Manager and Operations team to drive efficiency, uptime, and safety. The ideal candidate is hands-on, proactive, and preferably bilingual (English/Spanish) to effectively support a 30-person hourly workforce.

The position reports to the Senior Director of Operations and serves as a key technical resource to ensure the plant’s performance and growth. This is an on-site position located in Arvada, CO. Only local candidates will be considered.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

Maintenance & Reliability

• Develop, implement, and oversee preventive and predictive maintenance programs to ensure equipment uptime and reduce unplanned downtime
• Troubleshoot equipment failures and self-perform or coordinate with outside contractors for timely repairs
• Maintain accurate records of work orders, downtime, and parts usage to drive continuous improvement

Facilities Management

• Oversee building systems (HVAC, utilities, safety systems, wastewater, nitrogen system, IT, etc.) to ensure compliance with regulatory standards and safe working conditions
• Manage service providers (electrical, plumbing, nitrogen system, refrigeration, pest control, etc.) and negotiate contracts to ensure quality and cost-effectiveness
• Oversee physical state of buildings to ensure proper upkeep and compliance with regulatory standards and safe working conditions

Procurement & CapEx

• Source, evaluate, and purchase maintenance parts, tools, and supplies to ensure availability and control costs
• Support equipment procurement projects for both internal facility and external co-manufacturers, from specification through installation/start-up
• Collaborate with Plant Manager and Senior Director of Operations on capacity planning and CapEx strategy to support growth and throughput goals
• Attend factory acceptance tests as needed for new equipment purchases, ensuring equipment meets outlined goals

Operational Partnership

• Work closely with Plant Manager, Production Supervisors, and Ops team on continuous improvement (efficiency, throughput, ergonomics, safety)
• Provide engineering/technical support on process optimization and new product scale-ups
• Provide packaging recommendations from an equipment capabilities standpoint for new product development
• Communicate with manufacturing staff & management to identify potential areas of improvement (Spanish strongly preferred)
• Train employees on proper use of equipment
• Develop & train employees, alongside Plant Manager, on optimal line setups (with accompanying drawings)

Compliance & Safety

• Ensure compliance with OSHA, FDA/USDA, food safety, and environmental regulations
• Champion a culture of safety and continuous improvement within the plant.

Qualification Summary:

• Strong knowledge of preventive/predictive maintenance systems, CMMS, and equipment reliability programs.
• Experience in equipment selection, procurement, and vendor management
• Familiarity with food plant utilities and systems (compressed air, refrigeration, HVAC, wastewater)
• Familiarity with current equipment
• Excellent project management and problem-solving skills.
• Bilingual (English/Spanish) highly preferred.
• Comfortable working hands-on in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.
• Highly organized and familiar with key tenants of project management
• Strong computer skills (excel, CAD & flow charts a plus)

Education / Experience Desired:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Industrial Technology, Facilities Management or equivalent experience
• 6–10+ years of maintenance and engineering experience in food manufacturing, CPG, or a related process industry.

Language/Mathematical/Reasoning Ability:

• Must be able to write and speak English both clearly and effectively.  Effective, regular, communication with a cross-functional team will be critical to success.
• Bilingual Spanish speaker a plus
• Must be comfortable working with numbers, spreadsheets, and information systems
• Must be able to multi-task in a fast-paced environment
• Strong math skills required

Supervision Given:

• This position will report to the Senior Director of Operations and will be on site in Arvada CO, mfg facility
• The position holder is expected to be able to work with minimal oversight at times, able to confidently handle situations on their own

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit, stand, use hands to finger, handle or feel; reach with hands and arms; talk or hear; use hands to handle tools, controls, and machinery. The employee is frequently required to walk; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl. The employee must be able to lift and/or move up to 15 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include looking at a computer screen and equipment and ability to adjust focus. The employee is required to communicate using telephone and email.

Travel Required: 10% or less – May be asked to visit contract manufacturers or equipment suppliers from time to time