Director, Capital Projects in Vista, California at Plantible Foods

Kindly be advised that we are handling the recruitment for this position internally and are not partnering with external recruiters.

We are a Biology Company

Plantible, backed by Astanor Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Piva Capital, Kellogg’s, and Vectr Ventures, is a vertically integrated biology company that is unlocking the power in plants in service of people & planet. Our mission is to create solutions that empower customers to make sustainable and regenerative choices without compromising on quality. We are beginning with the food industry. Please visit our website to learn more about our mission and continued success: https://www.plantiblefoods.com/

How you will contribute:

Plantible is scaling from building our first commercial facility to developing and executing the next generation of Plantible facilities. We are looking for a Director of Capital Projects to own the execution of those builds.

This is not a design-only or advisory role. You will be accountable for turning a defined facility need into an operating plant and will bring together Plantible's engineering, operations, development, finance, and technical teams with external engineers, contractors, vendors, and construction partners. You will own the project from FEL through design, procurement, construction, commissioning, and handoff to Operations.

What you will be working on:

Own the Build

• Own scope, schedule, budget, risk, and execution strategy for major Plantible capital projects.
• • The Upstream scope includes large-scale greenhouse and cultivation infrastructure. The Director of Capital Projects will provide overall leadership for execution strategy, contractor performance, installation productivity, and standardization across repeated modules.
  • The Downstream covers food-processing environments across biomass handling, maceration, extraction, centrifugation, solid-liquid separation, filtration, purification, drying, and CIP
• Build and maintain the integrated project plan from FEL through commissioning and startup.
• Know the critical path, what is slipping, why it is slipping, and what needs to happen to recover it.
• Establish clear project governance, decision rights, stage gates, and accountability across internal and external teams.
• Surface problems early. Bring leadership decisions and tradeoffs, not surprises.

Turn Engineering into an Executable Facility

• Partner with Plantible's engineering and technical leaders to translate process and operational requirements into buildable facility designs.
• Manage the interfaces between process, agricultural, mechanical, civil, structural, electrical, controls, utilities, and site infrastructure.
• Lead external engineering, EPC/EPCM, construction, and specialty partners.
• Challenge scope, design assumptions, and unnecessary complexity before they become expensive construction decisions.
• Make sure lessons from our previous designs become standards for the next facility rather than problems we solve twice.

Control the Project

• Own the project cost forecast, commitments, contingency, schedule, and change-control process.
• Partner with Finance to translate the project forecast and schedule into accurate cash-flow planning.
• Understand what has been spent, what has been committed, what remains at risk, and where the project is expected to finish.
• Evaluate changes based on cost, schedule, technical, and operational impact before approving execution.
• Establish reporting that tells leadership what they actually need to know to make decisions.

Build It

• Develop procurement and contracting strategies for major equipment and construction packages.
• Identify long-lead equipment before it becomes the critical path.
• Hold engineering firms, contractors, and vendors accountable for scope, schedule, quality, and performance.
• Oversee construction execution and drive resolution of RFIs, field changes, design conflicts, and contractor issues.
• Spend time where the project is happening. This is not a role that can be managed entirely from a conference room.
• Promote a strong construction-safety, process-safety, hygienic-design, and quality culture.

Start It Up

• Own the transition from construction through mechanical completion, commissioning, startup, and operational handoff.
• Bring Operations into the project early enough that we build something that can actually be operated and maintained.
• Establish commissioning and turnover plans before construction is finished.
• Capture what worked and what didn't and build those lessons into Plantible's next project.

Build the Capability

• Build and lead Plantible's Capital Projects organization as our project portfolio grows.
• Develop Project Engineers into strong owner-side project leaders.
• Establish the tools, standards, processes, and operating cadence required to repeatedly deliver major facilities.
• Help Plantible move from "building a facility" to having a repeatable model for how Plantible builds facilities.

What you bring to Plantible:

• Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Process Engineering, Bioengineering, Civil Engineering, Construction Management, or related technical field.
• 10+ years delivering industrial capital projects with increasing ownership and leadership responsibility.
• Required experience in biotechnology, food processing, fermentation, protein processing, pharmaceutical, biochemical, or similar hygienic process-manufacturing environments.
• Personally led a significant greenfield or major expansion project through engineering, construction, commissioning, and startup. We want to understand what you owned, what went wrong, and how you got it built.
• Experience owning project budgets, schedules, forecasts, contingency, and change control.
• Managed multidisciplinary engineering teams, contractors, equipment vendors, and external engineering firms.
• Strong understanding of FEL/FEED, detailed engineering, procurement, industrial construction, commissioning, and startup.
• Enough technical depth to challenge an engineering firm without needing to personally design every system.
• Strong people leadership. You create clarity, set expectations, hold people accountable, and get technical teams moving in the same direction.
• Comfortable making decisions with incomplete information and creating structure in an environment that is still evolving.
• Willingness to spend significant time at project sites during design, construction, commissioning, and startup.

Preferred

• Owner-side capital project experience.
• Delivered projects in the $50M–$250M+ range.
• Experience in food, ingredients, biotechnology, chemical/process manufacturing, agriculture, or another process-intensive industry.
• Experience building greenfield facilities around a technology or process that was itself being scaled.
• High-volume repetitive structural installation, modular construction, solar, PEMB, warehouse, or similar execution environments.
• Agricultural production integrated with downstream processing.

Choose Plantible Foods

Joining Plantible means contributing to a sustainable future for all. We are a venture backed startup that is both spreading happiness amongst our employees and to current and future generations. We believe diversity creates uniqueness. Our team is composed of highly talented people with different interests and hobbies, which makes for a rich working environment.

At Plantible we are continually working on our offerings to foster the best team. Check it out!

• Competitive health and wellness benefits
• Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
• Discretionary Unlimited PTO Program
• Paid Holidays
• 401k Program
• Career Stipend
• Career development and growth opportunities
• Working in a rapidly growing, flexible and entrepreneurial environment
• Team building and company-wide events
• Financial support with your relocation, if necessary, ensuring a smooth transition
• And of course, lots of beautiful land for outdoor activities!

Plantible Foods is an equal employment opportunity employer. Candidates are considered for employment without regard to race, creed, color, national origin, age, sex, religion, ancestry, veteran status, marital status, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, liability for military service, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. If you are interested in learning the status of your application, please note you will be contacted directly by the appropriate human resources contact person if you are selected for further consideration. Plantible Foods reserves the right to defer or close a vacancy at any time.

If you feel your skill set does not meet all listed qualifications for the role, we still encourage you to apply. As we continue to grow our company, we are seeking a range of candidates and would gladly consider you for other current or upcoming roles that may be a fit!

⚠️ Recruitment Fraud Alert

Plantible Foods is aware of fraudulent job offers and individuals impersonating our recruiters or employees.

Please note:

• We will never ask candidates to pay fees for employment, training, equipment, or background checks.
• We will never request sensitive personal or financial information during the early stages of the hiring process.
• All official Plantible Foods communications come only from email addresses ending in @plantiblefoods.com.
• Our only official company website is www.plantiblefoods.com, and our jobs are posted on our Careers page and our official LinkedIn page.

If you receive a suspicious message claiming to be from Plantible Foods, do not respond. Please report it to careers@plantiblefoods.com.