Project Engineer Upstream, Capital Projects

Astanor; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Dental & Vision Insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

Plantible Foods is hiring an Upstream Project Engineer to own the engineering and field execution of greenhouse, farming, and biomass handling systems. Based in Austin, TX with site presence across facilities, you will coordinate design, procurement, and construction activities to deliver scalable, repeatable facility packages.

The role combines technical design with active field work, requiring collaboration with Engineering, Operations, and external vendors to ensure safety, quality, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 5–10+ years in industrial/agricultural capital projects.
• Experience with commercial greenhouse construction, controlled-environment agriculture, irrigation or water systems, or large-scale repetitive construction.
• Ability to coordinate civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, controls, equipment vendors, contractors, and internal teams.
• Strong field instincts: sequencing, crew productivity, logistics, and on-site readiness.
• Willingness to spend significant time onsite during construction, commissioning, and startup.

Responsibilities

• Translate project requirements into clear scopes and deliverables for engineers and vendors.
• Coordinate multiple disciplines (process, mechanical, piping, civil, structural, electrical, controls, utilities).
• Maintain, track, and close engineering decisions, dependencies, risks, and interfaces against the project schedule.
• Lead design reviews with internal experts and external engineers; challenge designs for safety and operability.
• Develop technical scopes and bid packages for equipment and engineered systems; manage RFQs and vendor selection.
• Act as the on-site engineering point of contact during construction; manage RFIs, submittals, and field changes.
• Plan commissioning and startup activities; verify systems meet capacity, performance, and safety.

Skills

Field execution

Equipment coordination

Cross-discipline coordination

Education

Bachelor's degree in Agricultural, Mechanical, Civil, Chemical, Biosystems Engineering, Construction Management, or related field

Job description

Project Engineer Upstream, Capital Projects

Full-time

Austin, TX, USA

Vista, CA, USA

How You Will Contribute

Plantible is developing the next generation of our commercial production facilities. The Upstream Project Engineer will own the engineering and field execution of the systems that grow, cultivate, harvest, and deliver Lemna biomass to downstream processing.

You will sit between Plantible's agricultural and process experts and the people designing, supplying, and building our facilities. Your scope includes greenhouse structures, cultivation systems, water and nutrient delivery, harvest systems, biomass handling, and the utilities and infrastructure that support them.

This role is both technical and field based. Your job is to turn upstream requirements into systems we can procure, build repeatedly, commission, and operate at scale.

What You Will Be Working On

Connect the Engineering

• Translate requirements from Plantible's Engineering, R&D, Operations, Maintenance, and Food Safety teams into clear scopes and deliverables for external engineering partners and vendors.
• Coordinate the disciplines required for your systems, including process, mechanical, piping, civil, structural, electrical, controls, utilities, and facility infrastructure.
• Understand where systems interface, make sure every interface has an owner, and drive technical decisions to closure.
• Maintain engineering deliverables, decisions, dependencies, risks, and open items against the overall project schedule.
• Surface gaps early. 'Waiting on Engineering' is not a project plan.

Develop the Facility

• Support FEL, conceptual design, FEED, and detailed engineering for assigned systems and project packages.
• Coordinate development and review of Basis of Design documents, equipment lists, utility requirements, layouts, specifications, drawings, and other core project deliverables.
• Lead design reviews with Plantible subject-matter experts, Operations, and external engineers.
• Challenge designs for safety, constructability, operability, maintainability, hygienic design, cost, and unnecessary complexity.
• Translate lessons from Ranchito into engineering standards and repeatable design packages for future Plantible facilities.

Buy the Equipment

• Develop technical scopes and bid packages for equipment, materials, and engineered systems.
• Coordinate RFQs, technical evaluations, bid leveling, vendor selection, and technical alignment before purchase.
• Manage vendor drawings, calculations, data, documentation, and interfaces with the broader facility design.
• Track major equipment and materials from specification through fabrication, FAT, delivery, installation, and startup.
• Understand which decisions and long-lead packages are driving the project schedule and act before they become constraints.

Help Build It

• Serve as Plantible's engineering point of contact during construction for assigned systems and scopes.
• Coordinate RFIs, submittals, design clarifications, field changes, and vendor questions.
• Maintain a strong onsite presence during active installation: walk the work, verify progress, identify constraints, and drive issues to resolution.
• Resolve conflicts between drawings, equipment, contractors, and Plantible requirements without losing design intent.
• Support quality reviews, mechanical completion, punch lists, system turnover, and documentation closeout.

Make It Work

• Plan for commissioning and startup before construction is complete.
• Coordinate vendor startup requirements, FATs, SATs, commissioning, performance testing, and operator training.
• Work alongside Operations and Maintenance to make sure systems are documented, tested, safe, and ready to operate.
• Verify that assigned systems achieve required capacity, performance, quality, and reliability.
• Capture problems and lessons learned and turn them into better standards for the next facility.

Upstream Systems You Will Own

• Commercial greenhouse structures, coverings, ventilation, environmental controls, and modular grow infrastructure.
• Cultivation ponds or vessels, water circulation, nutrient delivery, level control, and water-management systems.
• Propagation, inoculation, crop-transfer, harvest, dewatering, and biomass-conveyance systems through the defined downstream handoff point.
• Civil preparation, grading, drainage, foundations, roads, and underground infrastructure required for upstream operations.
• Upstream mechanical, piping, electrical, instrumentation, controls, and supporting utilities.
• High-volume repetitive installation, including crew sequencing, work-front readiness, material staging, installation productivity, quality, and prevention of recurring defects.
• Interfaces with downstream processing, site utilities, automation, laboratories, maintenance, and facility infrastructure.

What You Bring To Plantible

• Bachelor's degree in Agricultural, Mechanical, Civil, Chemical, Biosystems Engineering, Construction Management, or a related technical discipline.
• Typically 5-10+ years supporting industrial, agricultural, or controlled-environment capital projects through design and field execution.
• Experience with commercial greenhouse construction, controlled-environment agriculture, irrigation or water systems, agricultural processing, or comparable large-scale repetitive construction.
• Experience coordinating civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, controls, equipment vendors, contractors, and internal technical teams.
• Ability to read and challenge layouts, civil and structural drawings, equipment specifications, utility plans, controls documentation, and vendor submittals.
• Strong field instincts. You understand sequencing, crew productivity, logistics, work-front readiness, quality, and how design decisions affect installation.
• Highly organized and able to keep parallel design packages, interfaces, decisions, and deadlines moving.
• Willingness to spend significant time onsite during construction, commissioning, and startup.

Preferred Experience

• Owner-side project engineering or greenfield facility experience.
• Direct experience building commercial greenhouses or modular agricultural production systems.
• Experience with high-volume repetitive construction such as solar, pre-engineered metal buildings, modular structures, racking, or agricultural facilities.
• Experience with pumps, piping, water treatment, drainage, environmental controls, instrumentation, automation, and biomass handling.
• Experience measuring installation productivity and driving contractor recovery plans.

Choose Plantible Foods

• Competitive health and wellness benefits
• Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
• Discretionary Unlimited PTO Program
• Paid Holidays
• 401k Program
• Career Stipend
• Career development and growth opportunities
• Working in a rapidly growing, flexible and entrepreneurial environment
• Team building and company-wide events
• Financial support with your relocation, if necessary, ensuring a smooth transition
• And of course, lots of beautiful land for outdoor activities!

Plantible Foods is an equal employment opportunity employer. Candidates are considered for employment without regard to race, creed, color, national origin, age, sex, religion, ancestry, veteran status, marital status, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, liability for military service, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. If you are interested in learning the status of your application, please note you will be contacted directly by the appropriate human resources contact person if you are selected for further consideration. Plantible Foods reserves the right to defer or close a vacancy at any time.

If you feel your skill set does not meet all listed qualifications for the role, we still encourage you to apply. As we continue to grow our company, we are seeking a range of candidates and would gladly consider you for other current or upcoming roles that may be a fit!