Vice President of Engineering and Projects
Location: Staples, OntarioIndustry: Agriculture / ForestryOccupational Categories: Engineering / Manufacturing / Production / OperationsEmployment Type: Full-Time / Direct HireCompensation: $200,000 CAD + BonusThe OpportunityOur client, a leading organization in the agriculture sector, is seeking an experienced Vice President of Engineering and Projects to join its leadership team in Staples, Ontario.
Reporting directly to the CEO, the Vice President of Engineering and Projects will provide strategic and operational leadership for the company’s engineering, capital projects, infrastructure, automation, and facility maintenance functions. This executive will oversee the full lifecycle of company assets—from greenhouse design, permitting, and construction through commissioning, automation, maintenance, and continuous improvement.
The successful candidate will play a critical role in supporting the company’s continued growth by ensuring capital projects are delivered safely, on time, and within budget while maximizing operational efficiency, asset reliability, scalability, and return on investment.
Key Responsibilities- Lead major greenhouse construction and expansion projects from land acquisition, planning, engineering, and permitting through construction, commissioning, and operational handover.
- Oversee multi-million-dollar CAPEX programs, including project budgets, billing, schedules, Gantt charts, documentation, forecasting, and financial performance to maximize return on investment.
- Coordinate with municipal and regulatory authorities, utilities, engineering firms, contractors, vendors, and internal stakeholders to ensure projects meet regulatory, technical, quality, budget, and schedule requirements.
- Drive automation, mechanization, and technical innovation initiatives that reduce labor dependency, increase throughput, enhance product quality, and improve overall operating efficiency.
- Develop and implement standardized technical specifications, engineering standards, and SOPs for greenhouse, packhouse, and distribution center systems, ensuring scalability across North American operations.
- Provide executive oversight of facility infrastructure, utilities, building systems, and preventive and predictive maintenance programs to maximize equipment reliability and minimize operational downtime.
- Partner closely with Operations, Growing, Finance, and other senior leaders to align infrastructure capabilities, technical priorities, and capital investments with production requirements and long-term financial objectives.
- Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of engineers, project managers, maintenance leaders, and technical specialists across multiple locations.
- Evaluate emerging technologies, equipment, processes, and infrastructure solutions to identify opportunities for continuous improvement, cost reduction, productivity gains, and operational scalability.
- Establish project governance, performance metrics, and reporting processes to ensure visibility into project status, costs, risks, timelines, and expected business outcomes.
- Maintain ultimate accountability for job-site safety, environmental compliance, regulatory requirements, and the advancement of a strong Safety First culture across engineering, projects, and technical operations.
Qualifications- Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Engineering, Construction Management, or a related technical discipline; a Master’s degree is preferred.
- 10+ years of progressive engineering, construction, project management, or technical operations experience, including at least 5 years within high-technology greenhouse growing and packhouse operations.
- Previous experience within the produce or broader agriculture industry is strongly preferred.
- Proven experience successfully leading large-scale greenhouse