Lead Process Engineer - Dallas, TX Hub

Kindly be advised that we are handling the recruitment for this position internally and are not partnering with external recruiters. 

We are a Biology Company

Plantible, backed by Astanor Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Piva Capital, Kellogg’s, and Vectr Ventures, is a vertically integrated biology company that is unlocking the power in plants in service of people & planet. Our mission is to create solutions that empower customers to make sustainable and regenerative choices without compromising on quality. We are beginning with the food industry. Please visit our website to learn more about our mission and continued success: https://www.plantiblefoods.com/

Plantible Introduction:

To support Plantible’s rapid production scaling of its first commercial production facility in Texas, the company has opened a hub in Dallas, TX. The commercial production facility “Ranchito” in Eldorado, TX is a first of its kind greenfield development project, completely designed and built by Plantible. 

The facility has an approximate footprint of 140 acres, and includes a series of greenhouses and cultivation infrastructure, as well as a processing facility and all utilities required to support the operation. The processing facility and support utilities have been completed to their final capacity, and greenhouse construction has been scaling along the timeline of the processing facility’s commissioning and capacity scaling. 

Plantible sells its Rubi Protein to a number of well known food and feed companies. This is a unique opportunity to work alongside top-engineers on the further development and growth of the modular production facility and its operations philosophy: Ranchito is an operational example of what much larger facilities will look like.

Rapid increase in market demand for Rubi Protein has led to a need for additional support in the engineering team. Several process improvements in both the cultivation and processing infrastructure are planned to be implemented over the next 12 months, after which the company will focus on the detailed engineering of rapidly scalable cultivation and processing modules based on the design and operational performance of Ranchito.

How you will contribute:
You will be part of the growing Engineering Team, playing a critical role in efficient scale-up design and implementation of processing technologies to further improve the performance of our commercial production facility. Your skills in Process Engineering are put to work in the optimization of existing process steps and processing infrastructure, as well as in the development of new process steps and in further scale up of the existing facility.

This job will be based at our Texas hub. Plantible’s commercial production facility in Eldorado, Texas, is approximately 3 to 4 hours of travel from the hub, and regular travel is required. The candidate is expected to be on-site when engineering support is needed to work with the operations teams, construction team, and contractors. Responsibilities include designing, improving, and installing equipment and engineering solutions to enhance the performance and robustness of our commercial facility.

What you will be working on:
Engineering existing and new developments:

• Develop, design, install, and optimize full-scale manufacturing systems to maximize yields, reduce costs, and improve equipment performance and reliability within the production process.
• Focus on scaling up manufacturing technologies developed in our pilot plant.

Project Management:

• Prepare project documentation, including volume and mass balances, budgets, technical and quality specifications, and SOPs.
• Coordinate with suppliers and contractors and to source materials and prepare for contracting services.
• Support and lead major capital projects to expand and improve our commercial production facility.

What your week will look like:

• Work closely with the engineering, operations and pilot teams to optimize current processes and scale up new developments.
• Spend time at the commercial facility working on process improvements & new engineering developments to successful tech transfers.
• Develop and communicate process designs using process flow diagrams, P&IDs, process narratives, and volume and mass balances.
• Create and execute capital projects to implement plant and process improvements utilizing data developed in collaboration with other teams.
• Monitor project progression, resolve any issues that arise, and coordinate team activities to maintain the approved