Senior Process Engineer

Senior Process Engineer

Location: Hawthorne, CA Employment Type: Full-Time Department: Engineering Reports To: Director of Engineering

About the Role

We are looking for a Senior Chemical Process Engineer to lead process development and simulation for high-performance energy and thermal-chemical systems. You will own process modeling, develop system architectures, and drive scale-up from lab and pilot to production.

This role is ideal for an engineer with strong fundamentals in thermodynamics, reaction engineering, mass/energy balances, and process control — and who enjoys working across disciplines to build real systems that operate safely under demanding conditions.

Key Responsibilities

Process Modeling & Simulation (HYSYS):

• Build, validate, and maintain steady-state and dynamic Aspen HYSYS models for energy/thermalchemical processes.

• Develop property packages, reaction sets, phase behavior, and convergence strategies

appropriate to system chemistry and operating conditions.

• Use models to evaluate design tradeoffs, bottlenecks, control strategies, and operability

envelopes.

Process Design & Architecture:

• Own end-to-end process flow diagrams (PFDs) and piping & instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs).

• Define operating conditions, equipment sizing, utilities, heat integration, recycle structures, and

safety systems.

• Translate simulation results into requirements for mechanical/electrical/control teams.

Scale-Up & Industrialization:

• Lead scale-up from benchtop to pilot and production, including identifying similarity criteria and

scaling risks.

• Define process specifications, acceptance criteria, and commissioning plans.

• Support transition to manufacturing with clear process windows and control limits.

Equipment & System Specification:

• Specify and size chemical process equipment such as reactors, separators, heat exchangers,

compressors, pumps, and pressure relief systems.

• Partner with suppliers on technical requirements and integrate DFM feedback into process

designs.

Safety, Controls & Reliability:

• Perform HAZOP/LOPA or equivalent hazard analyses; implement safeguards in simulation and

design.

• Define control narratives and support dynamic modeling for startup/shutdown/transients.

• Establish process monitoring metrics and alarm/response philosophy.

Testing & Validation:

• Plan and support experiments to calibrate models and validate process performance.

• Analyze test data, close gaps between predicted and observed behavior, and drive design

iteration.

Technical Leadership:

• Mentor junior process engineers.

• Lead design reviews, model peer-checks, and documentation standards.

Qualifications Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering (Master’s or PhD

preferred).

• 7+ years of industrial experience in chemical process design and development.

• Expert proficiency in Aspen HYSYS (steady-state required; dynamic strongly desired).

• Strong command of thermodynamics, reaction kinetics, mass transfer, and heat transfer.

• Proven experience producing and owning PFDs, P&IDs, and equipment specifications.

• Demonstrated success scaling processes from prototype/pilot to production.

• Hands-on problem solver with strong documentation and cross-functional communication skills.

Preferred:

• Experience with high-temperature, high-pressure, cryogenic, or otherwise extreme-environment

processes.

• Familiarity with complementary tools (Aspen Plus, gPROMS, MATLAB/Python for modeling,

CFD/FEA coupling).

• Experience with safety-critical or regulated industries (energy, aerospace, chemical, defense).

• Background in process control, instrumentation, and commissioning.

• Lean/Six Sigma or structured root-cause/continuous improvement experience.