Project Engineer Upstream, Capital Projects

Plantible Foods, Inc.; Vista (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and wellness benefits

Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance

Unlimited PTO

401k Program

Relocation support

Career development

Team events

Job summary

Plantible Foods seeks an Upstream Project Engineer for capital projects in Vista, CA. You will own engineering and field execution for systems that grow, harvest, and deliver Lemna biomass to downstream processing.

Role sits between agricultural and process experts and the teams designing, supplying, and building facilities. Expect on-site work across greenhouse structures, water delivery, and utilities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Agricultural, Mechanical, Civil, Chemical, or Biosystems Engineering (or related).
• 5–10+ years in industrial/agricultural capital projects.
• Experience with greenhouse construction or modular agricultural facilities.

Responsibilities

• Translate requirements into scopes for external engineering partners and vendors.
• Coordinate disciplines: process, mechanical, piping, civil, structural, electrical, controls, and utilities.
• Lead design reviews with internal experts and external engineers.
• Challenge designs for safety, operability, and cost.
• Plan commissioning and startup activities with Operations and Maintenance.

Skills

Field execution

Cross-functional coordination

Interface ownership

Vendor management

On-site construction

Education

Bachelor's degree in Agricultural, Mechanical, Civil, Chemical, Biosystems Engineering or related discipline

Job description

Project Engineer Upstream, Capital Projects

Plantible Foods Vista, California, United States

About this position

Kindly be advised that we are handling the recruitment for this position internally and are not partnering with external recruiters.

We are a Biology Company

Plantible, backed by Astanor Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Piva Capital, Kellogg’s, and Vectr Ventures, is a vertically integrated biology company that is unlocking the power in plants in service of people & planet. Our mission is to create solutions that empower customers to make sustainable and regenerative choices without compromising on quality. We are beginning with the food industry. Please visit our website to learn more about our mission and continued success: https://www.plantiblefoods.com/

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

Joining Plantible means contributing to a sustainable future for all. We are a venture backed startup that is both spreading happiness amongst our employees and to current and future generations. We believe diversity creates uniqueness. Our team is composed of highly talented people with different interests and hobbies, which makes for a rich working environment.

At Plantible we are continually working on our offerings to foster the best team. Check it out!

• Competitive health and wellness benefits
• Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
• Discretionary Unlimited PTO Program
• Paid Holidays
• 401k Program
• 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.

Plantible Foods is aware of fraudulent job offers and individuals impersonating our recruiters or employees.

Please note:

• We will never ask candidates to pay fees for employment, training, equipment, or background checks.
• We will never request sensitive personal or financial information during the early stages of the hiring process.
• All official Plantible Foods communications come only from email addresses ending in @plantiblefoods.com.
• Our only official company website is www.plantiblefoods.com, and our jobs are posted on our Careers page and our official LinkedIn page.

If you receive a suspicious message claiming to be from Plantible Foods, do not respond. Please report it to [e-mail].