Principal Engineer (Onsite)
Tyson Foods, Inc.3 days ago
Springdale, AR, USAStaff+
Responsibilities
- Own the manufacturing intelligence layer, including metric definitions, AI agent governance, and evidence that capabilities work.
- Define written KPI contracts and canonical, versioned calculations for operational reports, performance boards, trends, and AI agents.
- Develop and test AI agents, deterministic tools, data models, ingestion pipelines, and edge applications in the platform codebase.
- Design governed operational-domain agents with defined scopes, tool allowlists, bounded memory, audit trails, and human-reviewed knowledge.
- Build and prove computer vision, safety, quality, energy-intelligence, and plant-floor edge solutions, then scale successful capabilities into production.
- Serve as the manufacturing subject matter expert for platform engineering by translating plant operations into requirements, priorities, and acceptance criteria.
- Guide and review plant-side contributors, engage plant and business leadership, and participate in operations reviews.
- Evaluate plant-floor intelligence vendors and recommend build-versus-buy decisions using cost and value analysis.
- Prepare data-backed reporting, recommendations, and value stories for operations leadership and the Executive Leadership Team.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Industrial, Chemical, or Computer Engineering or Computer Science, or an equivalent combination of plant leadership and hands-on technical experience.
- 10+ years of progressive manufacturing operations experience, including plant-level leadership, combined with demonstrated hands-on development of production software, data, automation, or AI solutions.
- Deep manufacturing operations expertise across safety, quality, throughput, yield, maintenance, people, and cost.
- Production experience building AI and LLM applications, including agentic systems, tool calling, prompt design, evaluation, and guardrails.
- Strong SQL and Python skills and experience with modern cloud data platforms and metric or semantic layer design.
- Working knowledge of PLCs, SCADA/HMI platforms, historians, IoT, and edge computing devices, including OT/IT integration.
- Experience applying computer vision to plant-floor safety and quality use cases.
- Understanding of ERP systems, preferably SAP, and controls for software write-back to systems of record, including auditability, reconciliation, and SOX.
- Comfort with Git-based workflows, code review, and AI-assisted development tools.
- Preferred experience in food, protein, or high-speed CPG manufacturing.
- Experience with Lean manufacturing, tiered meetings, centerlining, and OEE.
- Ability to collaborate with technical and non-technical teams, communicate with operators and executives, solve complex operational and systems problems, and mentor contributors.
Benefits
- Onsite role with first-shift work in the United States; relocation assistance is not available.
- Not eligible for immigration or work-authorization support now or in the future.
- Benefits include paid time off, 401(k) plans, and affordable health, life, dental, vision, and prescription drug benefits.
- Tyson provides responsible-AI-use expectations, including safeguarding sensitive information, following company policies, and validating AI-generated outputs.
Categories
AI ApplicationsData Engineering
About Tyson Foods, Inc.
Tyson Foods, Inc. is a public food company producing chicken, beef, pork, and prepared foods under brands including Tyson, Jimmy Dean, and Hillshire Farm. It supplies retailers, restaurants, and foodservice distributors in the U.S. and abroad, monetizing through branded and commodity protein sales. Founded in 1935 and headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, it trades on the NYSE under the ticker TSN.