Senior Mechanical Engineer – Pharma & Life Sciences Lead

SSOE Group; Portage (MI); On-site; USD 150,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental and vision insurance

Life insurance

401K

PTO and paid holidays

Job summary

SSOE Group in Portage, Michigan, seeks a Senior Mechanical Engineer to lead design and execution of pharmaceutical and life sciences capital projects, including cleanrooms, process utilities, and facility modernization. You will guide multidisciplinary teams, drive project delivery from concept through startup, and ensure compliance with FDA and cGMP standards while improving capacity and reliability.

A PE license or progress toward licensure and 10+ years of pharma experience are highly valued;

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering required.
• PE license or progress toward licensure strongly preferred.
• 10+ years of engineering experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or life sciences facility projects.
• Significant experience supporting FDA-regulated and cGMP manufacturing environments.
• Demonstrated leadership skills + experience leading multidisciplinary capital projects with responsibility for scope, schedule, budget, and client communication.
• Demonstrated experience leading projects from conceptual design through construction, commissioning, qualification, and startup.
• Knowledge of pharmaceutical facility design, manufacturing operations, process support systems, and clean utility infrastructure.
• Consulting engineering experience supporting pharmaceutical or biotechnology clients strongly preferred.
• Strong communication, facilitation, project management, and team leadership skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and familiarity with AutoCAD or similar CAD platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead mechanical engineering for complex pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing facilities.
• Serve as Mechanical Engineering Lead on pharmaceutical and life sciences capital projects ranging from facility modifications to major expansions.
• Drive project execution from planning through startup, including design, procurement support, and commissioning.
• Develop engineering solutions for process utilities, manufacturing support infrastructure, facility systems, and equipment integration in GMP environments.
• Support facilities involved in sterile manufacturing, biologics, fill‑finish operations, and other regulated pharma environments.
• Perform engineering assessments and feasibility studies for expansions and modernization initiatives.
• Develop project scopes, schedules, budgets, engineering concepts, and capital cost estimates.
• Collaborate with process, validation, quality, automation, architecture, structural, electrical, and construction teams.
• Interface with client engineering, operations, maintenance, quality, validation, and leadership teams.
• Provide technical leadership for clean utility systems, process support systems, and facility infrastructure improvements.
• Ensure designs comply with FDA, cGMP, corporate, and industry standards.
• Travel approximately 25%.

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering

PE license in progress

Tools

AutoCAD

Microsoft Office

Job description

SSOE Group in Portage, Michigan, seeks a Senior Mechanical Engineer to lead design and execution of pharmaceutical and life sciences capital projects, including cleanrooms, process utilities, and facility modernization. You will guide multidisciplinary teams, drive project delivery from concept through startup, and ensure compliance with FDA and cGMP standards while improving capacity and reliability.

A PE license or progress toward licensure and 10+ years of pharma experience are highly valued;