Project Engineer Upstream, Capital Projects

Plantible•Austin, TX

7d•Onsite

About The Position

Plantible is developing the next generation of our commercial production facilities. The Upstream Project Engineer will own the engineering and field execution of the systems that grow, cultivate, harvest, and deliver Lemna biomass to downstream processing. You will sit between Plantible's agricultural and process experts and the people designing, supplying, and building our facilities. Your scope includes greenhouse structures, cultivation systems, water and nutrient delivery, harvest systems, biomass handling, and the utilities and infrastructure that support them. This role is both technical and field based. Your job is to turn upstream requirements into systems we can procure, build repeatedly, commission, and operate at scale.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Agricultural, Mechanical, Civil, Chemical, Biosystems Engineering, Construction Management, or a related technical discipline.
Typically 5-10+ years supporting industrial, agricultural, or controlled-environment capital projects through design and field execution.
Experience with commercial greenhouse construction, controlled-environment agriculture, irrigation or water systems, agricultural processing, or comparable large-scale repetitive construction.
Experience coordinating civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, controls, equipment vendors, contractors, and internal technical teams.
Ability to read and challenge layouts, civil and structural drawings, equipment specifications, utility plans, controls documentation, and vendor submittals.
Strong field instincts. You understand sequencing, crew productivity, logistics, work-front readiness, quality, and how design decisions affect installation.
Highly organized and able to keep parallel design packages, interfaces, decisions, and deadlines moving.
Willingness to spend significant time onsite during construction, commissioning, and startup.

Nice To Haves

Owner-side project engineering or greenfield facility experience.
Direct experience building commercial greenhouses or modular agricultural production systems.
Experience with high-volume repetitive construction such as solar, pre-engineered metal buildings, modular structures, racking, or agricultural facilities.
Experience with pumps, piping, water treatment, drainage, environmental controls, instrumentation, automation, and biomass handling.
Experience measuring installation productivity and driving contractor recovery plans.

Responsibilities

Translate requirements from Plantible's Engineering, R&D, Operations, Maintenance, and Food Safety teams into clear scopes and deliverables for external engineering partners and vendors.
Coordinate the disciplines required for your systems, including process, mechanical, piping, civil, structural, electrical, controls, utilities, and facility infrastructure.
Understand where systems interface, make sure every interface has an owner, and drive technical decisions to closure.
Maintain engineering deliverables, decisions, dependencies, risks, and open items against the overall project schedule.
Support FEL, conceptual design, FEED, and detailed engineering for assigned systems and project packages.
Coordinate development and review of Basis of Design documents, equipment lists, utility requirements, layouts, specifications, drawings, and other core project deliverables.
Lead design reviews with Plantible subject-matter experts, Operations, and external engineers.
Challenge designs for safety, constructability, operability, maintainability, hygienic design, cost, and unnecessary complexity.
Translate lessons from Ranchito into engineering standards and repeatable design packages for future Plantible facilities.
Develop technical scopes and bid packages for equipment, materials, and engineered systems.
Coordinate RFQs, technical evaluations, bid leveling, vendor selection, and technical alignment before purchase.
Manage vendor drawings, calculations, data, documentation, and interfaces with the broader facility design.
Track major equipment and materials from specification through fabrication, FAT, delivery, installation, and startup.
Serve as Plantible's engineering point of contact during construction for assigned systems and scopes.
Coordinate RFIs, submittals, design clarifications, field changes, and vendor questions.
Maintain a strong onsite presence during active installation: walk the work, verify progress, identify constraints, and drive issues to resolution.
Resolve conflicts between drawings, equipment, contractors, and Plantible requirements without losing design intent.
Support quality reviews, mechanical completion, punch lists, system turnover, and documentation closeout.
Plan for commissioning and startup before construction is complete.
Coordinate vendor startup requirements, FATs, SATs, commissioning, performance testing, and operator training.
Work alongside Operations and Maintenance to make sure systems are documented, tested, safe, and ready to operate.
Verify that assigned systems achieve required capacity, performance, quality, and reliability.
Capture problems and lessons learned and turn them into better standards for the next facility.
Commercial greenhouse structures, coverings, ventilation, environmental controls, and modular grow infrastructure.
Cultivation ponds or vessels, water circulation, nutrient delivery, level control, and water-management systems.
Propagation, inoculation, crop-transfer, harvest, dewatering, and biomass-conveyance systems through the defined downstream handoff point.
Civil preparation, grading, drainage, foundations, roads, and underground infrastructure required for upstream operations.
Upstream mechanical, piping, electrical, instrumentation, controls, and supporting utilities.
High-volume repetitive installation, including crew sequencing, work-front readiness, material staging, installation productivity, quality, and prevention of recurring defects.
Interfaces with downstream processing, site utilities, automation, laboratories, maintenance, and facility infrastructure.

Benefits

Competitive health and wellness benefits
Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
Discretionary Unlimited PTO Program
Paid Holidays
401k Program
Career Stipend
Career development and growth opportunities
Working in a rapidly growing, flexible and entrepreneurial environment
Team building and company-wide events
Financial support with your relocation, if necessary, ensuring a smooth transition
lots of beautiful land for outdoor activities!