Staff Engineer - SME Dryers
About The Position
Drying Systems serves as the enterprise technical authority for industrial drying technologies across the manufacturing network, with primary expertise in spray drying and supporting knowledge in other drying methods (e.g., fluid bed, drum, belt, and freeze drying). This role provides deep subject matter expertise in the design, operation, optimization, troubleshooting, and strategic application of drying systems supporting food and dairy processing operations. We are looking for a Staff Engineer - SME Dryers to join Agropur. The ideal candidate will serve as the enterprise subject matter expert for drying systems, with a primary focus on spray drying. This role provides technical leadership for spray dryers, fluid bed dryers/coolers, and associated powder handling and air handling systems. The Staff Engineer will lead technical reviews of major capital projects involving drying technologies and serve as the final technical authority for drying-related engineering decisions. This position supports strategic decisions regarding drying system design, technology selection, product capability, and system optimization, making high-quality technical decisions in ambiguous or high-risk situations. The role involves participating in concept development, feasibility studies, and engineering design reviews, as well as reviewing process designs and vendor proposals for drying systems. Additionally, the Staff Engineer will support Operational Excellence initiatives by addressing complex performance, product quality, reliability, and capacity challenges, and identifying optimization opportunities such as yield improvement, energy efficiency, uptime, and product consistency. The role also includes building and maintaining enterprise drying system design and operating standards, ensuring compliance in partnership with Engineering Governance, and driving adoption across the network. Establishing and promoting best practices for food safety and hygienic design, including prevention of contamination, cleanability (CIP), allergen control, and compliance with regulatory and internal quality standards, is crucial. Furthermore, the position involves establishing and maintaining best practices related to powder hazards and risk mitigation, including dust explosion prevention, zoning/ATEX considerations, ignition source control, and safe powder handling systems. Providing technical guidance on thermal efficiency, energy consumption, and sustainability considerations, including heat recovery, air system optimization, and evaluation of emerging low-energy drying technologies, is also a key responsibility. The role requires establishing best practices for powder quality control, including particle size distribution, bulk density, moisture, solubility, and thermal stability, and monitoring and evaluating emerging drying technologies to assess their potential to unlock new product platforms or improve cost, quality, safety, and sustainability performance.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering (ChE preferred)
- 10+ years experience in membrane system process engineering and/or capital project development/execution
- Experience developing technical standards and specifications
- Demonstrated expertise in membrane system design, operation, troubleshooting and optimization
- Strong understanding of dairy processing
- Strong organizational and communication skills; ability to influence technical decisions across multiple facilities and stakeholder groups
- Experience facilitating technical reviews and driving follow-up actions
- Experience supporting capital projects
- Experience implementing standards and effective change management to ensure adoption
- Experience with whey processing, protein concentration, and dairy ingredient manufacturing
- Experience working with leading membrane system suppliers and OEMs.
Responsibilities
- Serve as the enterprise subject matter expert for drying systems, with primary focus on spray drying
- Provide technical leadership for spray dryers, fluid bed dryers/coolers, and associated powder handling and air handling systems
- Lead technical reviews of major capital projects involving drying technologies
- Serve as the final technical authority for drying-related engineering decisions
- Support strategic decisions regarding drying system design, technology selection, product capability, and system optimization
- Make high-quality technical decisions in ambiguous or high-risk situations (e.g., fouling, powder quality variation, thermal degradation, capacity limitations)
- Participate in concept development, feasibility studies, and engineering design reviews; review process designs and vendor proposals for drying systems
- Support Operational Excellence initiatives by addressing complex performance, product quality, reliability, and capacity challenges; identify optimization opportunities (e.g., yield improvement, energy efficiency, uptime, product consistency)
- Build and maintain enterprise drying system design and operating standards; ensure compliance in partnership with Engineering Governance and drive adoption across the network
- Establish and promote best practices for food safety and hygienic design, including prevention of contamination, cleanability (CIP), allergen control, and compliance with regulatory and internal quality standards
- Establish and maintain best practices related to powder hazards and risk mitigation, including dust explosion prevention, zoning/ATEX considerations, ignition source control, and safe powder handling systems
- Provide technical guidance on thermal efficiency, energy consumption, and sustainability considerations, including heat recovery, air system optimization, and evaluation of emerging low-energy drying technologies
- Establish best practices for powder quality control, including particle size distribution, bulk density, moisture, solubility, and thermal stability
- Monitor and evaluate emerging drying technologies and assess their potential to unlock new product platforms or improve cost, quality, safety, and sustainability performance
Benefits
- Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Short and Long-term Disability Insurance
- 401(k) with 7% company contributions
- 3 weeks Paid Time Off
- Paid holidays and 2 floating holidays
- Paid parental leave
- Advancement Opportunities
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
