Principal Process Manufacturing Engineer The Principal Process Manufacturing Engineer serves as the technical authority for chemical manufacturing processes, new equipment design, process design improvements, process safety, and manufacturing performance optimization within a new chemical manufacturing facility. This role provides leadership in evaluating and implementing process design changes, identifying and executing manufacturing efficiency improvements, supporting capital projects, and ensuring new technologies are successfully transferred from Research & Development into commercial production. The Principal Process Engineer collaborates with Operations, R&D, Quality, EHS, Maintenance, and Engineering teams to ensure manufacturing processes achieve desired performance, stability, reliability, safety, and cost objectives. Following plant start-up, the role acts as the site's process engineering subject matter expert, driving continuous improvement, troubleshooting complex process issues, and supporting future capacity expansion initiatives. This position will require domestic travel 5-10% of the time What You'll Do as a Principal Process Manufacturing Engineer Leads process optimization initiatives to improve production efficiency, yield, throughput, quality, energy utilization, and manufacturing cost performance across chemical manufacturing operations. Evaluates, develops, and implements process design improvements, process modifications, and debottlenecking opportunities to increase plant capacity, reliability, and operational performance. Provides technical leadership for process engineering activities associated with new process technologies, scale-up projects, and technology transfers from Research & Development into manufacturing. Serves as the primary process engineering resource for plant start-up, commissioning, process validation, performance qualification, and operational readiness activities. Conducts advanced process analysis, data evaluation, modeling, and troubleshooting to identify root causes of process variability, quality issues, safety concerns, and production losses. Leads process hazard reviews, Management of Change (MOC) activities, Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) reviews, and risk reduction initiatives to ensure safe process operation and regulatory compliance. Provides technical direction for process equipment selection, design modifications, process control strategies, and operational improvements affecting reactors, mixers, distillation systems, heat transfer equipment, material handling systems, and associated manufacturing assets. Collaborates with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, Regulatory, and Supply Chain teams to support manufacturing performance improvements and sustainable operational excellence initiatives. Develops and maintains process documentation including process flow diagrams, process descriptions, operating windows, engineering standards, and performance monitoring tools. Mentors process engineers and manufacturing personnel while providing technical leadership on strategic engineering and operational improvement programs. The Experience, Skills, and Abilities Needed: Required Degree in Chemical Engineering, 15+ years of progressive experience in chemical process engineering, manufacturing support, process design, or production technology roles. Chemical manufacturing process engineering - 15+ years of experienceProcess optimization and continuous improvement - 8+ years of experienceProcess design, scale-up, and commercialization - 8+ years of experience Capital project support and process modifications - 5+ years of experienceProcess safety management and risk assessments - 5+ years of experience Manufacturing troubleshooting and root cause analysis - 5+ years of experience Cross-functional technical leadership - 5+ years of experience PreferredSpecialty chemicals, adhesives, coatings, polymers, or related chemical manufacturing - 5+ years of experience New facility start-up and commissioning activities - 3+ years of experienceProcess modeling and simulation software - 3+ years of experience Technology transfer from R&D to commercial manufacturing - 3+ years of experience Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or Operational Excellence programs - 3+ years of experience Management of Change (MOC), PHA, and Process Safety Management systems - 3+ years of experience Advanced chemical process engineering - 10+ years of experience Data analytics and process performance monitoring - 5+ years of experience Project leadership and stakeholder management - 5+ years of experience Technical problem solving and decision-making - 5+ years of experience
