Staff Engineer – SME Dryers

• 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
• Participate in concept development, feasibility studies, and engineering design reviews; review process designs and vendor proposals
• Support Operational Excellence initiatives by addressing complex performance, product quality, reliability, and capacity challenges
• Build and maintain enterprise drying system design and operating standards; ensure compliance and drive adoption across the network
• Establish and promote best practices for food safety and hygienic design, including contamination prevention, cleanability (CIP), allergen control, and regulatory compliance
• 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, sustainability, heat recovery, air system optimization, and 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 improve product, 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.
• Travel Requirement: 50%

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in drying systems, particularly spray drying, with a strong focus on technical leadership, compliance, and best practices in food safety and hygienic design. Proven ability to influence technical decisions and optimize system performance through strategic design and operational excellence.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Spray Drying Expertise
• Membrane System Design
• Dairy Processing Knowledge
• Technical Standards Development
• Capital Project Execution

Hard Skills

• Process Engineering
• Technical Leadership
• System Optimization
• Risk Mitigation
• Thermal Efficiency
• Energy Consumption Analysis
• Powder Quality Control
• Feasibility Studies
• Technical Review Facilitation
• Change Management

Soft Skills

• Organizational Skills
• Communication Skills
• Influencing Skills

Certifications & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering
• Master’s Degree in Engineering

Industry Keywords

• Dairy Ingredient Manufacturing
• Whey Processing
• Protein Concentration
• Food Safety
• Hygienic Design
• Contamination Prevention
• Dust Explosion Prevention
• ATEX Considerations
• Safe Powder Handling
• Emerging Drying Technologies