Principal Process Engineer

Baxter International Inc.•Round Lake, IL

4d•Onsite

About The Position

This is where your work makes a difference. At Baxter, we believe every person—regardless of who they are or where they are from—deserves a chance to live a healthy life. It was our founding belief in 1931 and continues to be our guiding principle. We are redefining healthcare delivery to make a greater impact today, tomorrow, and beyond. Our Baxter colleagues are united by our Mission to Save and Sustain Lives. Together, our community is driven by a culture of courage, trust, and collaboration. Every individual is empowered to take ownership and make a meaningful impact. We strive for efficient and effective operations, and we hold each other accountable for delivering exceptional results. Here, you will find more than just a job—you will find purpose and pride. Your role at Baxter This is where your expertise helps people. Automation engineer that supports process and automation improvements in a manufacturing site. Resources will collaborate with Manufacturing, Operational Excellence, and Quality to drive improved performance on production equipment. Responsible to deliver equipment that supports process reliability, Industry 4.0 initiatives, and plant-wide efficiency and to ensure the process design and operation consistently meet Engineering/Quality standards.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Chemical, or related field preferred).
Ability to work in a Penicillin/Cephalosporin facility.
5+ years of relevant engineering experience in a manufacturing environment.
Onsite, fulltime role with less than 10% travel.
Strong understanding of regulatory compliance, safety standards, and validation practices.
Experience with automation platforms, including: Bring strong technical capability across motion control, VFDs, pneumatics/hydraulics, plus mechanical aptitude; experience with Serialization and SCADA is a plus.
Apply structured risk‑reduction tools (FMEA, failure‑mode prevention), Industry 4.0 technologies (AI vision, robotics), and methodologies like Six Sigma, DFSS, and VOC.

Responsibilities

Support daily operations by improving control systems, addressing obsolescence, and increasing equipment reliability.
Develop and implement improvement strategies aligned with site priorities and long‑term business objectives.
Troubleshoot and optimize automated equipment to boost throughput, uptime, and repeatability.
Map process flows and critical control points to enable data‑driven decision‑making.
Advance digital transformation through automation, data integration, and Industry 4.0 technologies.
Use Lean, Six Sigma, and statistical tools to remove bottlenecks and enhance process capability.
Lead or support root‑cause analysis and problem‑solving for project‑specific challenges.
Execute continuous improvement initiatives focused on safety, quality, and operational efficiency.
Develop and update SOPs, protocols, and work instructions to align with process and equipment changes.
Lead NCR/CAPA investigations and drive effective corrective and preventive actions.
Manage change controls for equipment and process modifications.
Deliver training and provide ongoing technical support to production teams.
Act as an SME for equipment troubleshooting and process performance improvements.
Guide cross‑functional teams and vendors while providing technical leadership on complex engineering initiatives.
Optimize automated systems for high reliability, minimal operator intervention, and stable performance across varying production conditions.
Reduce human error by simplifying interfaces, designing fail‑safes (poka‑yoke), and creating processes that naturally guide correct actions.
Improve alarm systems by eliminating nuisance alerts, prioritizing actionable alarms, and using data to enhance operator response and situational awareness.

Benefits

Baxter offers comprehensive compensation and benefits packages for eligible roles.
Our health and well-being benefits include medical and dental coverage that start on day one, as well as insurance coverage for basic life, accident, short-term and long-term disability, and business travel accident insurance.
Financial and retirement benefits include the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), with the ability to purchase company stock at a discount, and the 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan (RSP), with options for employee contributions and company matching.
We also offer Flexible Spending Accounts, educational assistance programs, and time-off benefits such as paid holidays, paid time off ranging from 20 to 35 days based on length of service, family and medical leaves of absence, and paid parental leave.
Additional benefits include commuting benefits, the Employee Discount Program, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and childcare benefits.
Join us and enjoy the competitive compensation and benefits we offer to our employees.

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