Downstream Process Engineer: Scale-Up & Purification

Indiana Ag Connection; Indianapolis, Northern (IN, KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits from day one

Paid time off (4 weeks)

Parental leave

Tuition reimbursement

Retirement plan

Job summary

Corteva Agriscience is seeking a Downstream Process Engineer to lead development and scale-up of downstream processes converting fermentation-derived materials into high-quality product streams, based in Indianapolis.

You will work within Bioprocess Discovery and Development and partner with fermentation, analytical, formulation, and scale-up teams to improve recovery, purity, yield, reliability, and transfer readiness.

Qualifications

• PhD in Chemical Engineering or MS with relevant industry experience.
• 3+ years of experience supporting scale-up, technology transfer, or manufacturing of fermentation-based products.
• Experience developing downstream processes for fermentation-derived or biological products.
• Knowledge of downstream unit operations of fermentation broth processing, including filtration, centrifugation, extraction, adsorption, chromatography, concentration, purification, and stabilization.
• Strong experimental design, data analysis, and technical communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaborate across multidisciplinary teams.
• Commitment to laboratory safety, documentation quality, and data integrity.
• Demonstrated success improving process performance, quality, scalability, or operational efficiency.

Responsibilities

• Design and execute downstream process development studies for fermentation-derived materials, including clarification, separation, extraction, filtration, concentration, and purification.
• Develop scalable recovery and purification strategies based on fermentation broth characteristics, product properties, and impurity profiles to cost targets.
• Optimize downstream processes to improve yield, product quality, throughput, reliability, and cost.
• Integrate fermentation performance, analytical results, and process data to guide development decisions.
• Apply experimental design and statistical analysis to efficiently solve technical challenges.
• Troubleshoot recovery, purification, stability, and scale-up issues.
• Lead downstream workstreams within cross-functional fermentation and process development programs.
• Support technology transfer and scale-up through process documentation, risk assessments, and manufacturing recommendations.
• Evaluate and implement new downstream technologies and tools to improve process understanding and efficiency.
• Prepare technical reports, presentations, and recommendations for project teams, capability leaders, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Promote safe laboratory operations and continuous improvement practices.

Skills

Experimental design

Data analysis

Technical communication

Independent work

Cross-functional collaboration

Process development

Education

PhD in Chemical Engineering

MS with relevant industry experience

Tools

Statistical analysis software

Process modeling software

Data visualization tools

AI-enabled tools

Job description

Corteva Agriscience is seeking a Downstream Process Engineer to lead development and scale-up of downstream processes converting fermentation-derived materials into high-quality product streams, based in Indianapolis.

You will work within Bioprocess Discovery and Development and partner with fermentation, analytical, formulation, and scale-up teams to improve recovery, purity, yield, reliability, and transfer readiness.