Process Engineer—Chemical Operations

The Wonderful Company•Bend, OR

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Suterra is the world’s leading provider of biorational products for crop protection and commercial pest control. The company is dedicated to researching, developing and commercializing environmentally-friendly products using naturally occurring compounds such as pheromones. Suterra is growing rapidly and investing heavily in new product development and active ingredient chemical synthesis. Suterra’s parent company, The Wonderful Company, has invested over $80 million in a modern, state-of-the art facility in Bend, Oregon to synthesize active ingredients and manufacture proprietary dispensing technologies. Continued investments are planned to expand capacity for future sales growth. In order to support Suterra’s continued investment in sustainable technology we are currently recruiting for a Process Engineer in our Chemical Operations group. The Process Engineer will be responsible for validating and improving processes used to make chemicals at commercial scale. This includes defining processes, specifying equipment and leading the launch process for new chemicals and production improvements. This person will interface closely with chemical development, production, maintenance, and environmental, health and safety teams to achieve and sustain mass production of high-quality chemicals safely and efficiently. Our Commitment Suterra is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply and bring their unique perspectives to our team.

Requirements

A Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering.
Three to five years of experience in an engineering role involving product development or manufacturing.
Understanding of and experience with tools for characterizing and validating processes, including Statistical Process Control and Design of Experiments.
Experience at a site under Process Safety Management and direct involvement in implementing the elements of the program.
Ability to use lab equipment for testing chemicals. Ability to train other team members in the basic operation of lab equipment for in-process quality control.
Familiarity with programmable logic controllers and an ability to troubleshoot chemical, mechanical and electrical issues.
Demonstrated ability to solve problems while mitigating risks to resources and deadlines.
Enthusiasm for teamwork at multiple levels and across multiple functions of the organization.
Strong written and oral communication skills.

Responsibilities

Publishing new and updated standard operating procedures (SOPs) to reflect agreed process changes.
Publishing new and updated batch records to reflect agreed process and BOM changes.
Maintaining the bill of material (BOM) for each production output for use across the organization.
Securing approval for changes to SOPs and batch records from affected stakeholders prior to publishing.
Defining functional requirements for new equipment to achieve process performance.
Prescribing criteria and running tests to confirm equipment changes or upgrades.
Definition of maintenance required to maintain all aspects of process performance.
Devising trials for demonstration of production process capability pertaining to new products.
Analyzing trial data to identify issues and propose improvements.
Define material specifications, SOPs, and process parameters that are compatible with our goals for Safety, Quality, Delivery and Cost in mass production.
Determining the root cause of quality issues and working cross-functionally to propose and implement solutions.
Generating and assessing proposals for process improvement including changes in procedures, equipment, and tools.
Analyzing production data to identify issues and propose improvements.