Plant Engineer

Western New York Integrated Care Collaborative, Inc.; Town of Ridgeway, Northern (NY, KY); Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

401(k) plan

Paid time off

Job summary

Western New York Energy, LLC in Medina, NY is seeking an Ethanol Plant Engineer to improve safety, reliability, and production performance across fermentation, distillation, and energy systems. You will collaborate with operations, maintenance, and safety teams to optimize yield, reduce costs, and ensure regulatory compliance.

The role requires a strong foundation in chemical/biochemical/process engineering, with emphasis on process safety, documentation, and capital projects.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Chemical, Mechanical, Agricultural, Biochemical, or related engineering discipline.

Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day engineering support for fermentation, distillation, dehydration, evaporation, centrifugation, drying, utilities, water treatment, and product storage systems.
• Monitor plant data and identify opportunities to improve ethanol yield, energy efficiency, throughput, product quality, and equipment reliability.
• Troubleshoot process upsets, equipment failures, quality deviations, and recurring production constraints.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Communication

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in Chemical, Mechanical, Agricultural, Biochemical, or related engineering

Tools

Microsoft Office

Industrial data-analysis tools

Job description

Western New York Energy, LLC Posted: 2026-09-02

Medina, NY 14103

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Salary Range: $85-$110K / year

More Than a Job. A Team. A Purpose.

Salary Range: $85-$110K / year

Western New York Energy, LLC (WNYE) is a privately held company in Medina, NY that began operations in 2007. With over 1 billion gallons sold to date, WNYE was the first biofuels production facility to operate and is the longest running biofuels facility in the Northeast. WNYE is one of the most efficient facilities in the country and is currently the only operating biofuels facility in New York. WNYE has diversified its product offerings while maintaining our reputation as best in industry.

WNYE started operations by producing fuel grade ethanol from feed corn. Fuel grade ethanol is the cleanest, most affordable source of octane in the world and reduces harmful tailpipe emissions in NY. In March 2022, the company expanded its Medina facility, allowing it to produce high purity alcohol grades in addition to existing fuel ethanol product offerings. To market these unique new product offerings, WNYE developed a trademarked brand and legal trade name of ClearSource.

ClearSource higher purity products include industrial and beverage grades of alcohol in both 190 and 200 proof. ClearSource is producing higher purity, plant-based grades of alcohol that will help customers achieve their sustainability and eco-friendly policies. ClearSource is the largest producer of beverage grade (Grain Neutral Spirits or GNS) alcohol made in New York sourced from New York grown corn.

Job Summary

The Ethanol Plant Engineer is responsible for improving the safety, reliability, efficiency, and production performance of an ethanol manufacturing facility. This role provides technical support for plant operations, maintenance, process optimization, capital projects, and regulatory compliance. The engineer works closely with operations, maintenance, laboratory, safety & environmental, and management teams to troubleshoot equipment and process issues, reduce operating costs, improve product yield, and maintain safe and reliable plant performance.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day engineering support for fermentation, distillation, dehydration, evaporation, centrifugation, drying, utilities, water treatment, and product storage systems.
• Monitor plant data and identify opportunities to improve ethanol yield, energy efficiency, throughput, product quality, and equipment reliability.
• Troubleshoot process upsets, equipment failures, quality deviations, and recurring production constraints.
• Perform root-cause analyses and develop corrective and preventive actions.
• Prepare process calculations, mass and energy balances, equipment specifications, technical reports, and operating procedures.
• Develop, scope, justify, and execute capital and maintenance projects, including cost estimates, schedules, contractor coordination, commissioning, and startup.
• Support preventive and predictive maintenance programs for pumps, heat exchangers, boilers, cooling towers, dryers, centrifuges, conveyors, compressors, and related equipment.
• Participate in process hazard analyses, management-of-change reviews, pre-startup safety reviews, and incident investigations.
• Ensure engineering activities comply with applicable environmental, safety, food/feed-quality, and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain and update process flow diagrams, piping and instrumentation diagrams, equipment files, and other technical documentation.
• Assist with operator and maintenance training on process equipment, operating limits, troubleshooting, and new systems.
• Evaluate vendors, contractors, equipment proposals, and new technologies.
• Track project and performance metrics, communicate results, and recommend actions to plant leadership.
• Participate in plant shutdowns, startups, equipment inspections, and emergency troubleshooting as required.

Experience and Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Chemical, Mechanical, Agricultural, Biochemical, or related engineering discipline.

Preferred Experience

• Two or more years of engineering experience in ethanol, biofuels, food processing, grain processing, chemical manufacturing, or another continuous-process facility.
• Experience with fermentation, distillation, molecular-sieve dehydration, evaporation, drying, boilers, or wastewater treatment.
• Familiarity with distributed control systems, programmable logic controllers, process historians, and computerized maintenance-management systems.
• Experience with Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, reliability engineering, or continuous-improvement programs.
• Familiarity with OSHA process-safety practices, environmental permitting, combustible-dust hazards, and management-of-change procedures.
• Engineer-in-Training or Professional Engineer credential.

Key Competencies

• Working knowledge of industrial process equipment, controls, utilities, and manufacturing operations.
• Ability to analyze operating data and solve complex technical problems.
• Understanding of engineering calculations, process safety, project management, and equipment specification.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively with operators, tradespeople, contractors, vendors, and management.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and industrial data-analysis tools.
• Ability to work in a production environment and respond to urgent plant issues outside normal working hours when necessary.
• Safety leadership: Identifies hazards and consistently promotes safe work practices.
• Technical problem-solving: Uses plant data and sound engineering principles to resolve issues.
• Continuous improvement: Finds practical ways to improve yield, reliability, quality, and cost.
• Project execution: Manages scope, budget, schedule, risk, and commissioning effectively.
• Collaboration: Builds productive relationships across operational and technical teams.
• Accountability: Takes ownership of assignments and follows improvements through completion.

Physical and Work Requirements

• Work is performed in both office and industrial plant environments.
• Must be able to climb stairs and ladders, walk through production areas, and access elevated equipment.
• May be exposed to noise, dust, odors, heat, cold, chemicals, rotating machinery, and outdoor weather conditions.
• Must be able to wear required personal protective equipment.
• Occasional extended hours, weekend work, or on-call support may be required during outages, startups, or operational emergencies.

Performance Measures

Success in this position will be evaluated using measures such as:

• Safe and compliant project execution.
• Improvements in ethanol yield and plant throughput.
• Reductions in energy, water, chemical, and maintenance costs.
• Equipment reliability and unplanned-downtime reduction.
• Timely completion of engineering and capital projects.
• Quality and sustainability of corrective actions.
• Accuracy of engineering documentation and reporting.

Benefits

• Competitive salary $85-$110K.
• Generous company-sponsored health and dental insurance
• Company paid life insurance
• 401(k) with employer match
• Paid time off