Senior Process Engineer

GEA Group•Columbia, SC

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Process Engineer supports sales and execution of GEA process systems, particularly evaporation and crystallization technologies for the chemical industry. Based in Columbia, Maryland, the position is part of the North American Technical Offer Management team and supports offerings for chemical, food, and pharmaceutical markets. The engineer works closely with customers and regional sales managers to understand technical needs and serve as the primary technical contact. The role develops engineering documents and technical proposal content, reviews orders, and collaborates with Procurement, Contract Management, Sales, Project Management, and Engineering. The anticipated allocation is 30–40% oversight responsibilities and 60–70% individual sales and project execution assignments. The position participates across the project lifecycle, from customer meetings and pre-award sales support through engineering, commissioning, and optimization. It provides technical solutions, oversees specified technical project areas, supports design and scope decisions, and helps ensure that project work meets customer specifications, design standards, schedules, budgets, and contract constraints. The engineer also provides customer support through site evaluations, pilot trials, presentations, training, commissioning, troubleshooting, and plant audits. The role is based in a hybrid work arrangement under the stated current policy of two days in the office and three days at home. Travel is normally 10–20% of the time. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without current or future sponsorship.

Requirements

Bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree in Chemical Engineering.
At least 15 years of experience.
Proficiency in fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and thermodynamics.
Experience with process design, equipment sizing, and component selection.
Ability to read and interpret technical specifications and drawings.
Willingness and ability to travel, normally 10–20% of the time.
Excellent verbal and written English communication skills.
Effective interpersonal skills and ability to work both collaboratively and independently.
Self-motivated and able to work from home periodically; the stated current policy is two days in the office and three days at home.
Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office products.
Authorization to work in the United States without current or future visa or work sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

At least 2–3 years of hands-on chemical industry process engineering experience.
At least 5 years of process equipment industry engineering or sales experience.
Strong knowledge of ASME Section VIII, Division 1, and B31.3.
Knowledge of shop and/or field fabrication practices, including fit-up techniques and welding types and quality.
Experience selecting materials of construction, including corrosion testing techniques.
Ability to interpret CFD modeling results.

Responsibilities

Participate in project phases from initial customer meetings and pre-award sales support through cost estimation, proposal generation, engineering, commissioning, and optimization.
Take responsibility for specific technical project areas, following design standards and optimizing designs to meet customer specifications within time, budget, and contract constraints.
Collaborate with project teams to achieve project milestones and goals.
Support identification and justification of scope changes affecting process design throughout the project lifecycle.
Provide technical solutions that meet customer expectations and requirements.
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 and specify and/or design utility consumption.
Contribute to general arrangement plot plan and elevation-view drawings.
Evaluate and approve design changes, specifications, and drawing releases.
Develop process and functional descriptions of operation.
Lead and facilitate software factory acceptance testing (FAT) and confirm operation against process and functional descriptions (FDS).
Plan and implement test procedures and commissioning plans.
Provide technical troubleshooting support to resolve customer concerns about equipment and system performance.
Complete plant audits.
Ensure compliance with government regulations, safety and environmental requirements, industry standards, and sanitary requirements.
Support safety evaluations, including HAZOP meetings.
Collaborate with team members, technology centers, and GEA European Centers of Competence on technology improvements and project execution.
Coordinate with other disciplines to minimize deficiencies, errors, and omissions in technical documents and specifications.
Develop relationships with technical stakeholders on process design and operation considerations.
Provide pre-sale and post-sale support, including site evaluations, pilot trials, presentations, and training.
Technically evaluate third-party supplier proposals and equipment selections.
Work with customers in support of sales managers and build and maintain customer relationships.
Lead or support on-site commissioning activities and train customer personnel on GEA process systems during commissioning.
Provide ongoing troubleshooting support, train customer personnel, and report process improvement initiatives.