Process Engineer

GEA•Oakdale, MN

2d•Onsite

About The Position

GEA Group is seeking a Process Engineer for its Liquid, Fermentation, and Filling engineering team in Oakdale, Minnesota. The role supports sales, engineering, commissioning, and optimization of GEA process systems, with a focus on liquid and fluid processing for the beverage, food, and dairy industries. The engineer designs and improves equipment configurations, process flows, and systems to meet or exceed GEA standards and customer objectives, while supporting quality, safety, and environmental compliance. The Process Engineer contributes throughout the project lifecycle, from customer meetings and pre-award sales support through cost estimation, proposals, engineering, commissioning, and optimization. The role owns specific technical areas of projects and works with project teams and other disciplines to meet customer specifications, project milestones, schedules, budgets, and contract constraints. It also includes identifying and justifying scope changes, maintaining project records, providing technical solutions, and coordinating with technology centers and GEA’s European Centers of Competence. Technical work includes developing process diagrams and heat and mass balances; specifying process equipment and utility consumption; contributing to plant layouts and elevation drawings; evaluating design changes and supplier proposals; and developing process and functional descriptions. The engineer facilitates software factory acceptance testing (FAT), verifies operation against functional descriptions, plans testing and commissioning, supports safety evaluations such as HAZOP meetings, and provides troubleshooting and process optimization support. The position also involves pre- and post-sale customer support, including site evaluations, pilot trials, presentations, training, plant audits, and on-site commissioning. Travel of up to approximately 50%, including international travel, is required. The role is based in the United States and does not offer visa or work sponsorship; applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without current or future sponsorship.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Food Technology, or a similar related field is preferred.
At least 2–10+ years of related industry experience.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work both collaboratively in a team and independently.
Excellent time management skills, with the ability to meet deadlines and prioritize tasks.
Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
Willingness to travel up to approximately 50%, including international travel.
Must be authorized to work in the United States without current or future visa or work sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

Processing experience in the food, dairy, or beverage industry.
Liquid processing experience.

Responsibilities

Support sales, engineering, commissioning, and optimization of GEA process systems.
Participate in projects from initial customer meetings and pre-award sales support through cost estimation, proposal generation, engineering, commissioning, and optimization.
Manage specific technical areas of projects, ensuring design standards are followed and designs meet customer specifications within schedule, budget, and contract constraints.
Collaborate with project teams to achieve milestones and goals, and support identification and justification of process-design scope changes throughout the project lifecycle.
Provide technical solutions that meet customer expectations and requirements, and maintain accurate records of meetings, discussions, correspondence, and technical documents.
Develop Block Flow Diagrams (BFDs), Process Flow Diagrams (PFDs), Process and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs), and heat and mass balances.
Develop process equipment specifications; specify and/or design utility consumption; and contribute to plant general arrangement and elevation drawings.
Evaluate and approve design changes, specifications, and drawing releases.
Develop process and functional descriptions of operation; lead and facilitate software FAT; and confirm operation against process and functional descriptions.
Plan and implement test procedures and commissioning plans.
Troubleshoot equipment and system performance concerns, complete plant audits, and support process improvements.
Ensure compliance with government regulations, safety and environmental requirements, sanitary requirements, and applicable industry standards; support safety evaluations such as HAZOP meetings.
Collaborate with team members, technology centers, GEA European Centers of Competence, and other disciplines to improve technology and execute projects successfully.
Develop relationships with technical stakeholders and support sales managers in working with customers.
Provide pre-sale and post-sale support, including site evaluations, pilot trials, presentations, training, and technical support.
Technically evaluate third-party supplier proposals and equipment selections.
Support on-site commissioning and train customer personnel on GEA process systems; provide ongoing troubleshooting support and report process improvement initiatives.
Travel up to approximately 50%, including internationally.