Senior Mechanical Engineer — Pharma & Life Sciences Lead

SSOE Group; Saint Paul (MN); On-site; USD 150,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental & vision insurance

Life insurance

401K

PTO & paid holidays

Job summary

SSOE is seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineer to lead planning, design, and execution of complex pharmaceutical and life sciences capital projects. You will collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to improve production capacity, regulatory compliance, and startup readiness in GMP environments.

This role emphasizes technical leadership, client interaction, and mentoring junior staff, with travel about 25% and a focus on sterile manufacturing, fill‑finish and clean utility systems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering required.
• PE license or progress toward licensure strongly preferred.
• 10+ years of engineering experience in pharma/life sciences projects.
• Significant experience supporting FDA‑regulated and cGMP environments.
• Leadership of multidisciplinary capital projects with scope, schedule, budget.
• Experience leading projects from conceptual design to startup.
• Knowledge of pharmaceutical facility design and clean utility infrastructure.
• Consulting experience with pharma/biotech clients preferred.
• Strong communication, project management and team leadership.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and AutoCAD or similar CAD platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead mechanical engineering efforts for pharma, biotech, and manufacturing facilities.
• Serve as Mechanical Engineering Lead on capital projects from modifications to major expansions.
• Drive project execution from planning through commissioning and startup.
• Develop engineering solutions for process utilities and facility systems in GMP environments.
• Support sterile manufacturing, biologics, fill‑finish, and lab environments.
• Interface with client operations, quality, validation, and leadership teams.
• Provide technical leadership for clean utilities and facility infrastructure improvements.
• Ensure designs comply with FDA, cGMP, and industry standards.

Skills

Leadership

Project management

Communication

CAD familiarity

FDA/cGMP knowledge

Mechanical engineering

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering

PE licensure or progress toward licensure

Tools

AutoCAD

Job description

SSOE is seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineer to lead planning, design, and execution of complex pharmaceutical and life sciences capital projects. You will collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to improve production capacity, regulatory compliance, and startup readiness in GMP environments.

This role emphasizes technical leadership, client interaction, and mentoring junior staff, with travel about 25% and a focus on sterile manufacturing, fill‑finish and clean utility systems.