PROCESS ENGINEER - Senior

Kings Recruitment; Manawatū-Whanganui; On-site; NZD 138,000 - 193,000; Full time

Job summary

Kings Recruitment's Palmerston North client is seeking a Senior Process Engineer to design and deliver liquid processing systems for dairy, beverage, and FMCG environments. You will work hands-on across workshop and site, commissioning systems, optimising process flow, and partnering with production teams to ensure food safety and regulatory compliance.

The role covers pumps, heat exchangers, hygienic piping, CIP, and instrumentation, with accountability for meeting project milestones, budgets,

Qualifications

• Experience in P&ID design for liquid food industry (dairy, juice, sauces).
• Hands-on across workshop and site environments.
• Knowledge of MPI requirements and hygienic design.

Responsibilities

• Design and deliver liquid processing systems (pumps, heat exchangers, hygienic piping, CIP).
• Commission systems and optimise performance in live manufacturing environments.
• Collaborate with production teams to validate process performance and regulatory compliance.

Skills

Process Design

Thermal Processing

Food Manufacturing

Piping & Equipment

Automation & Control

Project Management

Food Safety

CAD & Documentation

Commissioning & Support

Tools

AutoCAD

Job description

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Our Palmerston North based client is a specialist New Zealand engineering business delivering high-quality process solutions into the liquid food, dairy, beverage, and wider FMCG manufacturing sectors. Known for their practical, hands-on approach, they partner closely with clients to design, build, install and support tailored processing systems that improve product quality, plant efficiency, hygiene standards, and yield optimisation.

Their solutions are trusted within demanding production environments where food safety, reliability, and compliance are critical. From milk and dairy processing through to beverage, and liquid food applications, they provide end-to-end engineering capability across the full project lifecycle.

They are busy and so are seeking the support of a Senior Process Engineer for a contract role for 3, or 6 or 9 months, potentially longer.

They need a practical, solutions-focused Senior Process Engineer who enjoys working on real-world processing challenges and seeing projects through from concept to commissioning and ideally has experience in liquid food, dairy, beverage, or FMCG processing environments.

The Opportunity

You will be involved in designing and delivering liquid processing systems, including pumping, heat exchange, hygienic pipework, CIP systems, and process flow optimisation, ensuring solutions meet both operational and food safety requirements.

In this role you will be hands-on across workshop and site environments, working directly with production teams to commission systems, optimise performance, and troubleshoot plant issues in live manufacturing environments.

Success in this role will come from your ability to combine strong process engineering fundamentals with practical, on-site problem-solving, while building trusted relationships with clients across the food and dairy sector

Ideally, you will tick as many of these boxes as possible:

• Process Design & Engineering - Ability to P&ID design processes for liquid food industry including dairy, juice, sauces etc.
• Thermal Processing Knowledge - Knowledge of standard liquid food processing practices, including dairy, juice, sauces etc.Strong understanding of pasteurisation, heat exchangers, heating, cooling, and temperature control systems.
• Food Manufacturing Expertise - Knowledge of standard liquid food processing practices, including dairy, juice, sauces etc.
• Piping & Equipment Specification - Ability to select / specify pumps, valves, tanks, mixers, homogenisers, filtration systems, and associated process equipment.
• Automation & Control Systems - Be competent in writing FD's for automation and control of systems
• Project Management - Skills in budgeting, scheduling, procurement, installation coordination, commissioning, and client communication.
• Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance - Knowledge of MPI requirements, hygienic design, CIP systems, and food safety regulations.
• CAD & Technical Documentation - Competent in Autocad 2D modelling, technical reports, specifications, and operating manuals.
• Commissioning & Customer Support - Capability to start up systems, train operators, support clients, and validate process performance after installation

Please note, only that shortlisted will be contacted

Remuneration

Depending on your experience, the hourly rate will be between $100- $140 an hour