Chemical Engineer

Prairie AquaTech, LLC dba Houdek Back 40 is a technology company based in Brookings, South Dakota that is improving animal health and nutrition by providing high quality feed ingredients and the solutions they enable. Using patented technologies licensed on a worldwide, exclusive basis from South Dakota State University and developed internally, the Company is upgrading plant-based commodities, such as soybean meal, to sustainable, high-quality ingredients with applications for use in aquaculture and other specialty animal feeds.

JOB DUTIES

As a key member of the Houdek Back 40 team, this role will report to the Vice President of Technology and will be responsible for the following:

• Strong project management and tech transfer skills managing timelines, budget, and communication
• Generate engineering documents (PFD, mass balance, P&ID's, process narratives, etc), equipment specifications and store them in a professional, orderly, and version documented manner.
• Support the generation of techno-economic analysis to drive continuous improvement.
• Supporting process investigations, equipment, and process troubleshooting. This is inclusive of substantial hands-on operational support in the manufacturing and pilot facilities.
• Developing strategy for and executing process validation activities, including process performance qualification and continuous process verification.
• Identifying and driving implementation of improvements to maximize throughput, capacity utilization (debottlenecking), while maintaining or enhancing product quality.
• Collaborate with manufacturing and support engineering, safety/health/environment, quality, and supply chain functions to provide robust and coordinated support.
• Defining relevant operational/technical standards and practices for the site.
• Provide technical leadership as a member of the Research and Development team for execution of engineering runs during technology transfer from development to manufacturing.
• Monitor, track, evaluate, and report data from unit operations to support project/client communication and deliverables.
• Perform statistical analysis.
• Respond to and trouble-shoot process issues related to assigned work and areas of expertise.
• Assess and select equipment to meet process needs, including safety, alignment with other equipment in process, sizing, debottlenecking, materials of construction, turndown assessment, etc.
• Perform material assessments as required.
• Develop scientific and technical understanding of unit operations and production processes.
• Define and justify critical and key process parameters and provide the support for regulatory submissions
• Develop specifications, standard operating procedures, work instructions and forms to support implementation of new processes.
• Train production staff to ensure they can perform duties involving new equipment and new processes.
• Generate protocols and reports for engineering validation GMP runs.
• Prepare change controls and perform change control assessments according to internal procedures as required.
• Comply with safety requirements and work to resolve any environmental, health and safety issues.
• Optimize processes to effectively and efficiently produce product that meets clients' quality specifications.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

• M.S./B.S. in Chemical Engineering, or related discipline with 10+ years of relevant industry experience in process development, technology transfer, and/or manufacturing.
• Works well in a high growth environment
• Strong project management and communication skills
• Budget management
• Sterile/Aerobic Fermentation
• Deep technical, operational, and hands-on equipment knowledge
• Experience in the scale-up and operation of large-scale biotechnology processes.
• Experience developing acceptance criteria for technology transfer and/or validation.
• Experience owning, managing, and executing change controls and using the management of change systems/processes.