Senior Process Engineer

TRS Staffing Solutions; Waikato; On-site; NZD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

TRS Staffing Solutions is seeking an experienced Process Engineer to lead projects in New Zealand’s dairy and food & beverage sectors from concept through to commissioning. Based in Hamilton, you’ll join a small, close-knit team that tackles challenging process improvements and plant modifications across multiple projects.

You’ll own project delivery, mobilising contractors, defining targets and troubleshooting as projects progress, with travel on-site and occasional remote commissioning

Qualifications

• Degree-qualified engineer with a chemical or process engineering background.
• Proven experience taking process projects from concept through to commissioning.
• Background in dairy, food and beverage, or a closely transferable process industry.
• Strong independent project management skills—comfortable running projects with minimal oversight.
• Experience with process fundamentals such as chemical dosing, chemical recovery and heat recovery.
• Comfortable working in a small company environment with variable workload across multiple projects.

Responsibilities

• Take process concepts through detailed engineering, design development and costing
• Manage full project lifecycle from scoping through to commissioning
• Mobilise and direct contractors, setting clear deliverables and timeframes
• Troubleshoot technical and delivery issues as projects progress
• Support tender and pricing work, fleshing out engineering scope and cost estimates
• Provide technical mentoring and support to less experienced engineers on the team

Skills

Process engineering

Project management

Troubleshooting

Education

Chemical or Process Engineering degree

Job description

A specialist engineering and project delivery company working across New Zealand's dairy and food and beverage sector is looking for an experienced Process Engineer to join their team, based in Hamilton. This is a chance to take ownership of process engineering projects from concept through to commissioning, working with a small, close-knit team that punches well above its weight.

Role Overview

This role sits at the intersection of process engineering and project delivery. You'll take existing dairy and food and beverage processes (think process optimisation, capacity expansion and plant modifications) and turn early-stage concepts into fully scoped, engineered solutions ready for construction and commissioning. Project management is a significant part of the role - you'll be expected to mobilise contractors, set clear targets, and troubleshoot rather than micromanage.

Projects range in scale, with some up to $10 million in value. Smaller projects under $1 million are typically run autonomously by one engineer end-to-end; larger projects are supported by additional project engineering and construction management resource as they scale.

Travel is part of the role and varies with the project pipeline - some weeks this might mean a day or two on site, or a couple of days per month. Some remote commissioning periods can occasionally require a week or two away.

Responsibilities

• Take process concepts through detailed engineering, design development and costing
• Manage full project lifecycle from scoping through to commissioning
• Mobilise and direct contractors, setting clear deliverables and timeframes
• Troubleshoot technical and delivery issues as projects progress
• Support tender and pricing work, fleshing out engineering scope and cost estimates
• Provide technical mentoring and support to less experienced engineers on the team

Candidate Requirements

• Degree-qualified engineer with a chemical or process engineering background (strongly preferred over mechanical)
• Proven experience taking process projects from concept through to commissioning
• Background in dairy, food and beverage, or a closely transferable process industry
• Strong independent project management skills - comfortable running projects with minimal oversight
• Experience with process fundamentals such as chemical dosing, chemical recovery and heat recovery
• Comfortable working in a small company environment with variable workload across multiple projects