Senior Process Engineer, Commercialization

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.
Reporting to the Sr. Director of Process Engineering.  This position is a pivotal engineering role working in close cross-functional collaboration with the Innovation, Commercialization and Operations teams to bring new Beyond Meat innovation from the feasibility stage through to production-scale capability and readiness, achieving successful and on-time production launches. Priorities include executing process engineering, development, and scale-up of food manufacturing processes which successfully deliver production manufacturing lines with demonstrated process capability that produces in specification product for commercial launch programs and initiatives. This role requires leading and executing successful process engineering pilot product-by-process development and scale-up through commissioning and verification of production-intent capability and readiness of the manufacturing processes and equipment. The ideal candidate will have strong and successful experience in applying robust science, data capture and project management in executing aggressive process development from pilot stage through to the commissioning and qualification of new food product introductions into high volume production for commercial launches.  And has demonstrated ability in active and successful collaboration with Innovation scientists in the feasibility stage in identifying the best process candidates for new products in development.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Effectively communicates and coordinates within process engineering and the cross-functional product commercialization team to assure well aligned, executed and delivered process engineering learnings, achievements, and ultimate production line capabilities and results. 
• Works collaboratively between Beyond Meat’s Innovation, Commercialization, and Operations teams on new and renovated product development and introduction programs to assure that the product and its production-intent processes meet program objectives, manufacturability, timelines, and cost targets.
•  Effectively executes assigned process engineering work in the development of product-by-process, the scale-up and commissioning of manufacturing processes and equipment, and the final verification of their capabilities and readiness necessary to achieve successful product launches and high-volume production.
• Organizes, leads, and conducts process engineering development, process and equipment trials, process design, specification, commissioning, and verification of food manufacturing processes and equipment for production-intent capability, scale, and readiness. 
• Demonstrates organizational agility with limited information and resources; works well in a highly ambiguous and aggressive team environment.
• Strong communication skills and ability to create collaborative relationships with all levels and functions of the organization.
• Lead and execute process engineering projects and activities required for the successful development and commercialization of food manufacturing processes and equipment.
• Assessing and identifying existing (in the BYND manufacturing network) or new food manufacturing process equipment and technology solutions for new or renovated products being pursued. Good judgement about which creative ideas and suggestions will work and ability to project them into the future.
• Advancing product-by-process development from the feasibility stage to final new product introduction and production launch by working collaboratively with the commercialization, innovation, manufacturing, quality, and supply chain teams throughout the process.
• Designing and running effective DOEs, sensitivity, scaling, and process capability trials.
• Developing and achieving product-by-process viability and design-for-manufacturability at pilot scale which is scalable and capable of meeting project objectives. Identifying key product and process parameters and scaling factors necessary for production scale-up and success.
• Ensuring quality and food safety critical control points and requirements are built into the equipment and processes.
• Establishing engineering specifications and providing engineering oversight for equipment and associated tooling selection, procurement, installation, and commissioning.
• Developing cost estimates, budgets (capital and expense), and associated plans for the process engineering portion of project activities, equipment, and tooling requirements.
• Implementing and verifying production-scale process capability.  Establishing the production process parameters, criteria, and capabilities for materials, processes, and equipment for production readiness and launch.
• Achieving reliable, scalable, and cost-effective processes and equipment solutions in the commercialization of new and renovated products launched into production.
• Problem solving ability to simplify complex processes/situations and figure out the steps to get things done in practice.
• Customer service orientation that seeks to understand and anticipate the needs of others, while practicing attentive and active listening and flexing style to meet the requirements of changing situations.
• Develop perspectives that paint credible visions of possibilities and ability to integrate different ideas and points of view.
• Drive for results that faces challenges head-on. Quickly senses what will help or hinder accomplishing a goal and ability to adjust for roadblocks, measuring performance against goals.
• Travel to facilities and suppliers in North America, and at times internationally. 
• Must be willing to travel 50% of the time.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Must be an experienced senior-level food process engineer with a proven track record of successful process development and production scale-up for new product launch programs and initiatives.  
• Successful process engineering development, scale-up, and commissioning skills with a track record of establishing, leading, executing high value-add work output, trials, and production launch results. 
• Relevant process engineering experience working with R&D, Commercialization, and Operations is required.
• Demonstrated engineering experience in an aggressive growth business environment with a track record of overcoming difficult challenges in achieving business and project objectives. 
• BS in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Process Engineering, Biosystems Engineering, or Food Process Engineering required. 
• Master’s degree preferred.
• Must have 7+ years of relevant food process engineering experience in NPI process development, production scale-up, and commercial launches. 
• Experience in the food industry is required.
• Demonstrated process scale-up predictive modeling experience including geometric design and similitude, energy and mass balance; computation fluid dynamics (CFD) is a plus.
• Strong oral and written communication skills and ability to be comfortable around higher management. 

Beyond Meat is an equal employment opportunity employer. Candidates are considered for employment without regard to race, creed, color, national origin, age, sex, religion, ancestry, veteran status, marital status, gender identify, sexual orientation, national origin, liability for military service, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. If you are interested in learning the status of your application, please note you will be contacted directly by the appropriate human resources contact person if you are selected for further consideration. Beyond Meat reserves the right to defer or close a vacancy at any time.