Process Engineer I

COMPANY DESCRIPTION
At Beyond Meat, we started with simple questions. Why do you need an animal to create meat? Why can’t you build meat directly from plants? Thus, we make plant-based meats that allow families to eat more, not less, of the traditional dishes they love while feeling great about the health, sustainability, and animal welfare benefits of plant protein. Our goal is to bring exciting change to the plate—and Beyond.
The Process Engineer I will report to the Pilot Plant Manager and/or head of Commercialization team working in close, cross-functional collaboration with other Engineering, R&D, and Operations teams. They will bring new Beyond Meat innovation products from the feasibility stage through to production-scale capability and readiness, and aid in achieving successful and on-time production launches.
The Process Engineer I will focus on food process engineering, development, and scale-up, ensuring production lines deliver high-quality products within specifications. This role will involve developing and implementing new processes at the feasibility and pilot stage, followed by scale-up and commissioning of production-ready manufacturing processes.
The ideal candidate will be an Engineer with 2-5 years of successful experience, possess demonstrated process capabilities and a strong interest in scaling up bench-top processes to pilot or production levels, specifically for innovative food products. A team-oriented perspective is necessary. Frequent travel may be necessary and/or travel on non-regular intervals. The candidate will have experience applying robust science and data capture in executing food process development work. The individual must demonstrate self-initiative in organizing, executing, and delivering value-added results and deliverables that are aligned with project objectives and scope.

TASKS, DUTIES, & GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Assist in ideation, design, set up, and execution of pilot-scale experiments.
• Assist in identifying and testing new equipment for the development of new products in pilot plant.
• Optimize and troubleshoot equipment and processes to ensure desired product quality attributes are being achieved.
• Effectively communicate, coordinate, and execute within process engineering and the cross-functional product commercialization teams to align and deliver process engineering learnings, achievements, results and production line capabilities.
• Collaborate between R&D and Operations teams on new and renovated product development programs to meet program objectives, manufacturability, timelines, and cost targets.
• Organize and conduct process engineering development, including PFDs, energy and mass balance, process and equipment trials, process design, specification, and commissioning.
• Verify food manufacturing processes and equipment for production capability, scale, and readiness.
• Identify key product and process parameters and scaling factors necessary for production scale-up and success.
• Assess and identify existing or new food manufacturing process equipment and technology solutions for new or renovated products. Suggest creative ideas for future commercialization.
• Advance product and process development from the feasibility stage to new product introduction and production launch, working collaboratively with R&D, Manufacturing, Quality, and Supply Chain teams.
• Develop and achieve product and process viability and design-for-manufacturability at pilot scale, ensuring scalability and meeting project objectives.
• Ensure quality and food safety critical control points and requirements are built into the equipment and process specifications.
• Establish engineering specifications and provide oversight for equipment and associated tooling selection, procurement, installation, and commissioning.
• Inform the development of cost estimates, budgets (capital and expense), and associated plans for the process engineering portion of project activities.
• Maintain and follow GMP and Lab safety protocols in compliance with EH&S guidelines.

EDUCATION, SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS

• BS in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Process Engineering, Biosystems Engineering or Food Process Engineering – required.
• 2-5 years of relevant food process engineering experience working with R&D, Commercialization, and Operations in NPI process development, production scale-up, and commercial launches – required.
• Experience in the food industry – required.
• GMP and SQF experience – preferred.
• Computer literacy in Microsoft 365 (Office, Teams, Outlook, etc.) DOE software, AutoCAD, CFD – preferred.
• Proven engineering experience in a growth-oriented business environment, with a track record of overcoming difficult challenges to achieve business and project obj