Principal R&D Engineer

Keurig Dr Pepper•Frisco, TX

1d•$96,800 - $145,250

About The Position

The R&D Process Development Engineering team translates product ideas into robust, scalable, and manufacturable processes that deliver quality, safety, cost, and speed-to-market for Keurig Dr Pepper. This Principal Engineer role will strengthen KDP’s capability to commercialize complex beverage and adjacent food platforms through disciplined scale-up, plant readiness, technical troubleshooting, data-driven decision making, and future-ready ways of working. The Principal Engineer will lead process development, scale-up strategy, plant trial design, manufacturing readiness, process verification/validation, and technical commercialization support across a diverse innovation and productivity portfolio. This role requires deep hands-on experience with juice, dairy, and complex beverage formulations, including aseptic processing and other thermal processing platforms. The role will partner closely with Product Development, Quality, Packaging, Engineering, Procurement, Supply Chain, manufacturing sites, co-packers, suppliers, and external technical partners to convert product requirements into reliable manufacturing solutions. This is a senior technical leader role, someone who can manage ambiguity, challenge historical thinking, influence cross-functional partners, mentor others, and create practical solution paths that are technically sound, sustainable, scalable, and business-relevant. This role will also help advance the use of data science, AI-enabled tools, statistical analysis, and process modeling to improve trial design, validation strategy, learning capture, troubleshooting, and first-time-right commercialization.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Food Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical discipline; advanced degree preferred.
Minimum 10+ years of relevant experience in R&D process engineering, food/beverage processing, technical commercialization, manufacturing engineering, or related CPG technical roles.
Must-have experience with juice, dairy, and complex beverage formulation commercialization, including scale-up from bench or pilot through plant production.
Demonstrated hands-on knowledge of aseptic processing and other thermal process platforms used for beverage and food commercialization.
Strong understanding of beverage processing operations including batching, blending, thermal processing, filling, packaging interfaces, sanitation/CIP, process capability, and plant startup.
Experience leading plant trials, validation activities, process troubleshooting, technical risk assessments, and commercialization readiness evaluations.
Demonstrated capability using DOE, statistical analysis, data-driven problem solving, and structured technical decision-making.
Working knowledge or strong interest in applying data science, AI tools, predictive analytics, process modeling, plant historian data, or digital systems to improve R&D and manufacturing outcomes.
Proven ability to manage ambiguity and complex problems by creating solution paths that reflect sustainable, functional, and technically feasible options.
Excellent presentation, communication, influencing, and stakeholder management skills, including the ability to translate technical findings into clear tradeoffs and business implications.
Strong understanding of the interdependencies between product, process, package, quality, manufacturing, and supply chain requirements.
Self-motivated, collaborative, resilient, and able to manage multiple priorities in a fast-moving, changing business environment.
Travel inlcuded in this role (25%).

Responsibilities

Lead technical process development and scale-up for complex R&D projects from bench through pilot, plant trial, validation, and commercialization.
Define processing requirements for juice, dairy, and other complex beverage formulations, including process-critical parameters, operating windows, thermal targets, process capability needs, and manufacturing constraints.
Provide technical leadership for aseptic processing, hot-fill, pasteurization, HTST/UHT or other thermal processes, batching, blending, deaeration, homogenization, filling, packaging interfaces, sanitation/CIP, and startup readiness.
Lead complex test plans, research trials, DOE studies, risk assessments, pilot plant trials, plant trials, process verification/validation activities, and commercialization readiness reviews to generate insight into key design spaces, system limitations, and scale-up opportunities.
Apply first principles, experimental data, statistical analysis, data visualization, and light modeling approaches to explain technical phenomena, establish tradeoffs, and influence decisions with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Explore and apply data science, AI-enabled tools, predictive modeling, historical validation data, plant data, and digital knowledge systems to improve technical learning, process decisions, troubleshooting, and future commercialization effectiveness.
Partner with Product Development to translate formulation intent into scalable process designs that protect flavor, color, texture, stability, food safety, and finished product quality.
Support manufacturing plants and co-packers through capability assessments, process fit evaluations, gap assessments, startup support, troubleshooting, corrective actions, and qualification recommendations.
Create clear technical documentation including process flow diagrams, manufacturing instructions, trial protocols, validation summaries, technical reports, presentations, standards, and lessons-learned documentation.
Lead root cause analysis for process-related quality, stability, throughput, yield, sanitation, or manufacturing performance issues and recommend practical corrective and preventive actions.
Collaborate with Procurement, suppliers, and external partners to assess ingredient/process impacts, alternative materials, productivity opportunities, and supplier technical capabilities.
Pro-actively identify and implement improvement opportunities within Process Development Engineering and across functions, including process, tools, standards, systems, and ways of working.
Build strong relationships with internal and external partners while demonstrating KDP values, ownership, collaboration, resilience, and a strong technical voice.
Act as an advisor, coach, and mentor to engineers and cross-functional partners on complex technical challenges, trial design, troubleshooting, commercialization governance, and disciplined documentation.