THE ROLE: - This position will report to the: Plant Director
- Travel Requirement: 15%
- Location: Bakersfield, CA
- FLSA Status: Exempt
- Employment Category: Full Time - Regular
- Pay Range: $110,000-$130,000 D.O.E
WHAT YOU'LL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR IN THIS ROLE The Senior Process Engineer is a hands-on manufacturing engineering role and senior technical leader responsible for improving the stability, repeatability, throughput, yield, quality, and cost performance of Bakersfield processing systems. The role works directly with Operations, Maintenance, Quality/Food Safety, Engineering, Continuous Improvement, and OEM/vendor resources to identify chronic process losses, determine root causes, set technical direction, and implement sustainable corrective actions.
A critical responsibility is translating process needs into effective automation and control solutions. The Senior Process Engineer will work in close partnership with a Controls Engineer or Automation Specialist to develop functional requirements, troubleshoot control-related process issues, support and validate PLC/HMI, sequence, recipe, setpoint, interlock, instrumentation, and alarm changes, and confirm that improvements deliver the intended process result. This position provides the process expertise required to make controls changes effective and sustainable and is not intended to replace the controls/automation function.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR • Provide daily floor-level technical support for beverage processing systems, with emphasis on thermal, aseptic, blending, transfer, homogenization, evaporation/concentration, storage, and CIP operations.
• Serve as the senior technical process owner for assigned systems, independently prioritizing high-value opportunities, establishing technical direction, and driving cross-functional actions through verified completion.
• Troubleshoot complex process problems by evaluating product flow, temperatures, pressures, flow rates, levels, valve states, pump performance, instrumentation, control sequences, and interactions between unit operations.
• Lead root-cause analysis of recurring downtime, process instability, slow cycles, startup losses, product losses, and chronic faults; drive corrective actions through implementation, verification, documentation, and sustained performance checks.
• Analyze OEE and downtime losses, process cycle times, throughput constraints, yield, giveaway, product recovery, changeovers, sanitation/CIP time, startup/shutdown losses, utility consumption, and operating variability to establish improvement priorities.
• Establish and maintain process centerlines, critical operating parameters, recipes, setpoints, control limits, startup/shutdown standards, troubleshooting guides, and other operating standards for key systems.
• Develop process flow diagrams, control narratives, functional descriptions, operating philosophies, test protocols, and technical requirements for process and automation changes.
• Work jointly with a Controls Engineer or Automation Specialist to review logic and sequence behavior; troubleshoot PLC/HMI and instrumentation-related issues; define required programming changes; support offline/online testing; and validate changes in production.
• Optimize recipes, control loops, setpoints, alarm limits, interlocks, permissives, timing, valve sequences, and equipment coordination while maintaining appropriate change control, food-safety review, and documentation.
• Own or support commissioning, startup, qualification, and performance verification of process modifications and new equipment, including punch lists, test protocols, and clear acceptance criteria.
• Develop and maintain accurate SOPs, process specifications, centerlines, troubleshooting trees, change records, and technical training materials.
• Partner with Quality/Food Safety and the appropriate process authority to ensure changes affecting critical food-safety parameters are formally reviewed, validated, approved, and documented before implementation.
• Support sanitary design and optimization of hygienic piping, pumps, valves, tanks, instrumentation, heat exchangers, aseptic systems, and CIP systems; identify conditions contributing to fouling, poor cleanability, contamination risk, or excessive cleaning time.
• Use process historian data, trends, alarms, operator observations, maintenance findings, statistical methods, and structured problem solving to identify sources of variation and verify that improvements remain stable across shifts, products, and operating conditions.
• Provide technical input to capital projects when process changes or equipment upgrades are required, including scope development, design review, vendor evaluation, FAT/SAT support, startup, and performance validation.
• Provide technical coaching and mentorship to engineers, technicians, operators, and maintenance personnel to strengthen plant troubleshooting capability and establish repeatable engineering standards and best practices.
• Support planned shutdowns, major process interventions, production trials, startups, and urgent troubleshooting as business needs require.
ADDITIONAL REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:• Strong working knowledge of sanitary liquid processing, including sanitary piping, pumps, valves, tanks, heat exchangers, instrumentation, CIP, thermal processing, and automated process systems.
• Demonstrated ability to solve recurring manufacturing process problems and convert data and analysis into sustained operational improvements.
• Ability to read and interpret P&IDs, process flow diagrams, process trends, electrical/control drawings, HMI screens, I/O information, and PLC logic sufficiently to diagnose process-control interactions.
• Ability to partner effectively with Controls/Automation personnel to translate process requirements into PLC/HMI, sequence, recipe, setpoint, instrumentation, interlock, permissive, and control-logic changes.
• Working knowledge of thermal processing fundamentals, including heat transfer, holding time/temperature relationships, regeneration, flash/vacuum cooling, homogenization, aseptic tanks, sterile boundaries, and product recovery.
• Experience troubleshooting automated pre-sterilization, production, intermediate cleaning, CIP, startup, shutdown, diversion/reject, and aseptic sequence conditions.
• Ability to use process historians, trend data, downtime/OEE information, and structured root-cause analysis tools to identify, prioritize, and verify improvement opportunities.
• Strong cross-functional leadership, communication, organization, facilitation, and technical documentation skills, with the ability to influence execution without relying solely on formal authority.
• Ability to manage multiple changing priorities, respond effectively to urgent production issues, and maintain disciplined follow-through on corrective actions.
• Commitment to plant safety, lockout/tagout, PPE, management-of-change practices, engineering standards, and protection of critical food-safety and quality controls.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:• Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Food Engineering, Process Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Minimum 7 years of process/manufacturing engineering experience in food, beverage, dairy, liquid nutrition, pharmaceutical, or another highly automated sanitary liquid-processing environment.
• Demonstrated experience working directly with Controls/Automation personnel on automated process systems and control-related process improvements.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and the ability to create clear technical documentation, operating standards, and engineering deliverables.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: • 10+ years of relevant process/manufacturing engineering experience in highly automated sanitary liquid processing.
• Hands-on experience with Tetra Pak Tetra Therm Aseptic VTIS systems or comparable direct/indirect UHT and aseptic thermal processing systems.
• Experience with low-acid and/or high-acid beverage processing, pasteurization, UHT/aseptic systems, evaporation/concentration, and sanitary liquid processing.
• Experience with Rockwell/Allen-Bradley, Siemens, or comparable PLC/HMI platforms; ability to read and troubleshoot control logic is strongly preferred, and hands-on programming capability is a plus.
• Experience with equipment commissioning, FAT/SAT, production startup, AutoCAD, historian/SCADA tools, statistical analysis, process simulation, or project-management tools.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS & ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS:• Regular work in both office and manufacturing environments, including extended periods of standing and walking on the plant floor.
• Ability to climb stairs/ladders as required and work around moving equipment and in hot, cold, humid, wet, and noisy manufacturing areas while using required PPE.
• Ability to lift or handle items up to 50 pounds when necessary.
• Exposure to normal food and beverage manufacturing hazards; must comply with all applicable plant safety, sanitation, and PPE requirements.
HOURS & WORKDAYS:• Full-time position with work schedule aligned to plant and business needs.
• Must be available to support planned shutdowns, startups, production trials, major process interventions, and urgent production issues outside normal business hours, including overtime or weekends when required.
WHAT WE OFFER plus more!Our rich benefits packages are designed to support the health and well-being of both our eligible team members and families.
- Medical, Dental & Vision
- Group Life and AD&D
- Voluntary Life and AD&D
- Group Short & Long-Term Disability
- 401(k)
- Paid Time Off
- Flexible Spending Accounts
- Employee Assistance Program
1st shift (Flex) - Based on business needs and Operational Equipment Efficiency
