Lead Process Development & Scale Up (f/m/d) FoodTech Startup

Planet A Foods; Martinsried; On-site; EUR 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

30 days vacation

Sweets & snacks

Gym membership

Chocolate every day

International team

Job summary

Planet A Foods is seeking a Lead Process Development & Scale-Up to own and optimize the core production process. You will drive process design, feasibility studies, and tech transfers, coordinating with CTO, Production, and Procurement to ensure scalable, cost-effective solutions.

You will oversee pilot runs, define scale-up rules, and translate lab breakthroughs into production-ready specifications. Fluency in English is required; German or Czech is a plus.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in process engineering or scale-up in the food, chemical or powder-handling industry.
• Degree in Chemical, Process or Food Process Engineering.
• Strong math skills: thermodynamics, heat transfer, particle technology.
• Familiarity with ATEX environments and scaling effects on unit operations.
• Strong command of mass balances, process descriptions and techno-economic assessment (COGS, CAPEX, OPEX).
• Cross-functional translator who communicates process realities to R&D, engineering, finance and production.
• Fluent in English; conversational German or Czech is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own the Core Process, including process description, mass and energy balances, critical parameters and risks.
• Support shaping the capacity scale-up roadmap and data-driven decision making for CTO, Production and Procurement.
• Own end-to-end feasibility studies and tech transfers for new processes with clear approvals.
• Lead pilot and test centers, define scale-up rules and costed backup concepts.
• Translate lab breakthroughs into equipment specs and production requirements with robust tech transfer.

Skills

Process engineering

Scale-up

Mass balances

Techno-economic assessment

Cross-functional communication

English fluency

Education

Chemical/Process/Food Process Engineering degree

Job description

Do you want to make a delicious difference?

Planet A Foods is for people who want to change the future of food.

We are reinventing how the world produces food ingredients, replacing scarce and unsustainable raw materials with scalable, clean, and delicious alternatives. Our first product, a cocoa-free chocolate, is just the beginning. Our ambition is to build a new global champion in food ingredients.

At Planet A Foods, you'll join a bold, highly committed, international team of scientists, engineers, operators, and industry experts united by one goal: creating real, measurable planetary impact.

AsLead Process Development & Scale-Up (f/m/d), you will own our core production process. Your mission has two parts: make today’s process run at target capacity and cost, and turn the most promising innovations into a design basis our industrialization team can build. You will be the process authority for the CTO, Production, CAPEX and Procurement, connecting our Munich-based headquarters and lab with our production site in Pilsen, Czech Republic. You decide which ideas move forward and which don’t, and you stay with your process until it passes its performance test on site. Alongside our Experts for Flavor & Analytics and IP & Data, you will form our Science Hub, reporting directly to the Head of R&D (currently our CTO, Sara Marquart).

A Taste of What to Expect

• Own the Core Process:Hold full ownership of our current process, including the process description, mass and energy balances, critical process parameters, feasibility, and process risks.
• Set the Baseline for Decisions:Support shaping the strategic roadmap for capacity scale-up and COGS optimization, proactively providing the CTO, Production and Procurement teams with the data-driven direction needed to make sound decisions.
• Own Process & Governance:Own end-to-end feasibility studies and tech transfers for newly developed processes, holding clear review and approval authority over non-standard process modifications.
• Scale What Matters:Take selected concepts through pilot and test centers and pilot runs. Define scale-up rules, run risk assessments (incl. ATEX), and prepare costed backup concepts.
• Bridge R&D to Production:Translate laboratory breakthroughs into robust equipment specifications and production requirements, rigorous technology stress-tests and clear financial models

The Perfect Recipe of Skills & Experience

• 7+ years in process engineering or scale-up roles in the food, chemical or powder-handling industry, including developing process technology or leading scale-ups
• Educational background in Chemical, Process or Food Process Engineering, with solid chemistry knowledge
• Comfortable solving engineering questions with mathematical methods: thermodynamics, heat transfer, particle technology
• Familiarity with ATEX environments and a clear understanding of how physical scaling effects impact complex unit operations
• Strong command of mass balances, process descriptions, and techno-economic assessment (COGS, CAPEX, OPEX)
• Execution drive and resilience: you push things to completion, also when the ramp-up gets rough. You are assertive and structured in decision-making, and you’re willing to stop ideas that don’t hold up
• A cross‑functional translator who makes process realities clear to R&D, engineering, finance, and production
• Fluent in English; conversational German or Czech is a plus.

A Sweet Package

• Early ownership and responsibility in a fast‑moving environment
• Collaborate with a passionate international team working at the edge of what’s possible
• Work in a rare food‑tech startups that is scaling and operating in a 24/7 4-shift production system
• A position where you can help to challenge a trillion‑dollar industry!
• A very competitive compensation and opportunity to grow
• Stuff that other startups do as well (30 days vacation, tasty lunches, snacks, drinks, vouchers, gym…)
• PLUS: Chocolate. Every. Single. Day.