Senior Process Engineer

Senior Process Engineer

Location: Remote in the US, with some travel to the China demo plant, especially during commissioning.

Role Summary

Our client is seeking a hands-on Senior Process Engineer to support process scale-up, capital-project execution, commissioning, start-up, and plant optimization.

This individual will serve as a technical owner across the project lifecycle, working directly with internal teams, EPC firms, technology licensors, equipment vendors, and plant personnel. The ideal candidate combines strong process-design fundamentals with practical plant and commissioning experience.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in chemical engineering or a related discipline.
• 8+ years of relevant experience in chemical-process engineering, capital projects, commissioning, or plant operations.
• Experience with both FEED and detailed engineering for chemical or industrial process facilities.
• Hands-on commissioning, start-up, plant-operations, or process-troubleshooting experience.
• Strong knowledge of process equipment, utilities, controls, PFDs, P&IDs, and heat and material balances.
• Experience overseeing EPC firms, technology licensors, or equipment vendors from the owner’s perspective.
• Working knowledge of Process Safety Management systems and tools, including HAZOP, LOPA, Management of Change, facility siting, Process Safety Information, incident investigation, and root-cause analysis.
• Fluent English and demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with international EPCs, vendors, and plant teams.
• Ability to travel internationally, including to project and manufacturing sites in China.
• Experience with techno-economic analysis (TEA) and COGS-reduction initiatives.
• Experience with EPC selection, contractor interviews, and techno-economic bid evaluation.
• Experience preparing or reviewing equipment datasheets, specifications, and vendor documents.
• Experience providing technical sign-off of equipment prior to fabrication.
• Experience with FAT/eFAT and vendor acceptance testing.
• Construction-support experience, including RFIs, field changes, and engineering redlines.
• Experience with pre-commissioning and commissioning planning.
• Capital-project execution experience, including FEL packages, contractor management, and schedule and cost control.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong preference: Mandarin Chinese proficiency.
• Strong preference: Scale-up experience from laboratory or pilot scale to demonstration or commercial operation.
• First-of-a-kind technology experience.
• Experience with wiped-film, falling-film, or forced-circulation evaporators.
• Experience with nitric acid absorption or other nitric-acid processes.
• Experience with ProSim or comparable process-simulation software.
• Familiarity with PDRI or comparable capital-project assessment tools.
• Experience with reaction kinetics, operations readiness, and plant-personnel training.
• Professional Engineer license or equivalent registration.

Engineering Team Deliverables

• A validated process design basis for the company’s demonstration plant and first commercial plant — PFDs, P&IDs, heat and material balances, and simulation models the organization can build from.
• FEED and detailed-engineering packages accepted by internal stakeholders and EPC partners, with technical scopes, datasheets, and specifications complete enough to bid and fabricate against.
• Equipment and vendor packages taken from bid evaluation through technical sign-off, FAT/eFAT, and delivery — on scope, on schedule, and fit for the intended duty.
• Process-safety deliverables closed out for each project stage: HAZOP and LOPA actions, facility siting, Process Safety Information, and Management of Change records.
• Successful commissioning and start-up: pre-commissioning plans executed, performance-test criteria met, and the plant handed to operations at demonstrated rate and quality.
• Documented improvements in throughput, yield, reliability, energy use, CAPEX, and COGS, with the underlying analysis captured for the next facility.
• Design, procedural, and training improvements informed by plant learning are fed back into the company’s future commercial facilities in the US and China.

Berkner Group has been retained to execute this search. If you were contacted by Berkner Group, please reply to the person who contacted you. If you are applying to a job posting, please email your resume and a brief introduction to [email protected] . Please include your name and the title for this position ([Your name] - Senior Process Engineer - 5W95R7V5) in the subject line of your email. We look forward to hearing from you!