CAPEX User Lead – Fermentation

Interested in a career that matters? Interested in a career that matters? Join Novonesis as a CAPEX User Lead – Fermentation and play a key role in delivering fermentation-related investments that support future production capacity, innovation, and operational excellence. As part of the User Management team Patexpansion in Mumbai, you will work across disciplines to ensure fermentation projects are successfully designed, commissioned, and transitioned into operations.

The role & your impact This is a senior technical role focused on medium and complex CAPEX projects related to fermentation processes and equipment. You will represent the user organization throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring investments meet business, operational, quality, safety, reliability, and performance requirements while also supporting future technology and capacity development.

Your Key Responsibilities In This Role

• Lead fermentation-related user activities from project definition through commissioning and operational handover.
• Develop, maintain, and approve user requirements, installation requirements, design criteria, and acceptance requirements.
• Review process concepts, layouts, PFDs, P&IDs, equipment specifications, automation functions, and operating concepts.
• Coordinate cross-functional inputs from Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Process Development, Quality, EHS, and Automation teams.
• Participate in risk assessments, HAZOPs, FAT, SAT, commissioning, startup, and operational readiness activities.
• Support technology planning, technical development initiatives, and evaluation of future fermentation technologies.

What You'll Need To Be Successful In This Role

• B.Sc. or M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Biotechnology, Process Engineering, or a related discipline.
• More than 10 years of relevant technical experience, including significant fermentation or upstream bioprocessing experience.
• At least 5 years of experience in production, process engineering, or CAPEX project execution.
• Strong knowledge of fermentation processes, production equipment, process design, and operational requirements.
• Experience with URS development, design reviews, risk assessments, FAT, SAT, commissioning, and project handover.
• Strong stakeholder management, collaboration, and influencing skills across functions.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.

Additional Skills & Interests We Value

• Experience supporting large-scale manufacturing expansion projects.
• Knowledge of equipment reliability, maintainability, and operational readiness practices.
• Experience training users or project teams within a CAPEX environment.

What We Offer You An opportunity to influence strategic fermentation investments and collaborate with experts across engineering, operations, quality, process development, and project execution. You will contribute to projects that support Novonesis’ future growth and technology development.

Working conditions This is an on-site position based in Talkhalapur, Mumbai, India.

Application deadline 19 October 2026.

Our purpose guides the way In Novonesis, we know that solutions rooted in biology can help solve humanity’s biggest challenges. Since we began more than a century ago, this has been our guide. It’s how we've gotten so far. And it’s how we'll impact the future. Now, more than ever, the world needs change. And with biosolutions, the possibilities for transformation are endless. If our purpose resonates with you, we encourage you to apply.

Opportunities for everyone We are committed to an inclusive recruitment process and equal opportunity for all applicants. Therefore we ask you to apply without a cover letter or photo and instead include a few sentences in your CV explaining your motivation for applying.

We make all employment decisions based on business needs and welcome candidates with a wide range of backgrounds, including ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status.

Explore Other Openings If this position isn’t the right fit, you may still find other opportunities with us. You’re welcome to explore open roles or create a job agent to stay connected with future opportunities at novonesis.com/Career