Pilot Line Supervisor

NoPalm Ingredients; Wageningen; On-site; EUR 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs)

25 days vacation allowance

Commuting allowance

Pension plan

Flexibility in working from home

Team outings

Job summary

NoPalm Ingredients, located in Wageningen, Netherlands, is seeking an experienced Pilot Line Supervisor to lead operations. This role involves both hands-on work and leadership, focusing on supporting R&D and executing pilot runs, ensuring high-quality results, and compliance with environmental standards.

The ideal candidate should have a Bachelor’s or Master’s in a relevant field and 3-5 years of pilot-scale fermentation experience, coupled with strong leadership skills.

In return, you will join a growing start-up with a commitment to sustainability and receive a comprehensive benefits package, including vacation days and a pension plan.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years of hands-on experience operating pilot-scale aerobic fermentations.
• Experience supervising operators or technicians.
• Practical knowledge of bioreactor control and downstream unit operations.

Responsibilities

• Schedule and execute pilot runs in both batch and continuous modes.
• Enforce EH&S standards and maintain quality records.
• Coach and supervise a small team of operators.

Skills

Operational leadership

Bioprocess engineering

Aseptic techniques

Documentation discipline

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Bioprocess Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology, or related field

Tools

Bioreactors

DSP equipment

Job description

We are looking for an experienced and hands‑on Pilot Line Supervisor to join our team!

About us

NoPalm Ingredients produces yeast oils and fats made from agri‑food waste streams that are substitutes for palm and other vegetable oils in food, cosmetics, and home care products. Our products help reduce both the use of palm oil and food waste.

NoPalm Ingredients is on a mission to help companies and product manufacturers implement local, circular, and sustainable oils as an alternative to palm oil.

By upcycling agri‑food side streams into circular yeast oils, we are contributing to a waste‑free world, decarbonizing the value chain with 90% less greenhouse gas emissions, and reducing land use by 99%.

About the role

As Pilot Line Supervisor, you will play a key role in supporting R&D, engineering, and business development by developing and validating NoPalm’s technology and products. You will lead a small team of pilot line operators and be responsible for executing both upstream (USP) and downstream (DSP) pilot line activities at our facility. This role combines hands‑on operational work with leadership responsibilities, driving cross‑functional collaboration across R&D, production, business, and engineering environments.

The main focus of the role:

Pilot Operations & Planning

• Schedule, coordinate, and execute pilot runs in both batch and continuous modes, including media prep, sterilization/SIP, inoculation, monitoring, harvest, and DSP (solid‑liquid separation).
• Own short‑term run planning (weekly/daily), resource allocation, materials and consumables inventory, and maintenance coordination.
• Translate experimental plans from R&D into robust pilot run plans, including SOPs, checklists, and sampling plans.
• Own readiness of pilot equipment, including bioreactors, pumps, sensors, centrifuges, and filters.
• Coordinate preventive maintenance and basic troubleshooting, escalating to vendors as needed.

Fermentation & DSP Execution

• Operate bioreactors, including control of DO, pH, temperature, agitation, and feed strategies, and capture high‑quality process data through online and offline analytics.
• Operate DSP equipment such as centrifuges, filtration, and drying, and perform in‑process QC while adapting to development needs.

Safety, Quality & Compliance

• Enforce EH&S standards, including chemical and biological safety, confined space, and pressure vessel safety, and maintain SOPs, deviation logs, equipment logs, calibration, and change control.
• Ensure traceability across batch records, materials, operators, and equipment status, supporting audits and QA requirements.
• Maintain accurate batch records, logbooks, cleaning logs, calibration records, and electronic data repositories.
• Write and update SOPs and one‑point lessons, and generate concise run summaries and post‑run reviews with recommended next steps.

People Leadership

• Coach and supervise 2–3 operators, including task assignment, skills development, performance feedback, shift coverage, and fostering a culture of accountability and safety.
• Conduct stand‑ups, clarify priorities, remove blockers, and foster open communication with R&D scientists, the analytical and lab team, and process engineers.

About you

You are a proactive and self‑motivated individual who thrives in collaborative team settings while leading others effectively. You are able to integrate scientific methodologies with practical, hands‑on execution in a pilot‑line environment, ensuring reliable scale‑up and high‑quality process performance. Your meticulous attention to detail ensures high‑quality results in all your work. You have strong organizational skills and are able to set priorities effectively. You have a genuine passion for the foodtech industry and sustainability, driving you to contribute meaningfully to our mission.

More specifically, we are looking for someone who has:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s in Bioprocess Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 3–5 years of hands‑on experience operating pilot-scale aerobic fermentations with DSP in an industrial or advanced academic setting.
• Demonstrated experience supervising operators or technicians and running small, agile teams.
• Practical knowledge of bioreactor control, including DO, pH, and feed strategies, as well as aseptic technique, sterilization, and downstream unit operations.
• Strong documentation discipline; familiarity with ISO 9001/14001, HACCP, or similar quality frameworks is a plus.
• Strong communication skills, a collaborative mindset, and stakeholder awareness.

What’s in it for you?

• Being part of a fast‑growing purpose‑driven start‑up where you can make an impact from day 1
• Participation in our Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) plan
• 25 days of vacation allowance
• Commuting allowance
• Pension plan
• Flexibility in working from home and in the office
• Team outings and monthly get‑togethers
• Great coffee