Senior Process Design Engineer

Water Otter Inc; Woburn, Boston, Shreveport (MA, MA, LA); Remote; USD 125,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

ZwitterCo seeks an experienced Senior Process Design Engineer to advance membrane filtration systems for North America. You will design, specify, and integrate crossflow RO/NF/UF processes, drive modular system development, and lead technical guidance across projects.

Must have an engineering degree and 4–10 years in water/wastewater equipment design, with strong communication and Autodesk skills. Remote North America role with travel as needed.

Qualifications

• Requires a university degree in an engineering discipline (chemical, civil, environmental, or mechanical).
• 4–10 years of experience estimating and designing industrial water/wastewater treatment equipment.
• Experience with spiral wound membrane systems (RO/NF/UF) and crossflow filtration.
• Proficient with Autodesk for 2D diagrams; able to supervise drafting resources.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and detail engineering of ZwitterCo membrane filtration systems.
• Develop P&ID’s for custom and modular offerings based on high-level designs.
• Specify requirements for pumps, valves, tanks, and instruments.
• Determine material of construction based on operating conditions and lifecycle costs.
• Provide risk assessments and tradeoff analyses for multiple trains and system integration.
• Mentor junior engineers and support field engineering with technical advice.

Skills

Communication skills

Public speaking

English fluency

Autodesk software

Education

Engineering degree (chemical/civil/environmental/mechanical)

Tools

Autodesk software

Job description

About ZwitterCo

ZwitterCo has developed a breakthrough in materials science - a new class of zwitterionic membranes with unprecedented fouling resistance. Our membrane solutions perform beyond the limits of traditional filtration, making it practical to treat complex wastewater, purify water for reuse, and maximize efficiency in food processing application.

ZwitterCo serves customers in more than 20 countries across food and beverage, agricultural, and industrial sectors. We are rapidly investing in our technology, equipment, and global services platform to help our industrial customers achieve their most ambitious sustainability and growth targets.

We are grateful to have been named as Fast Company’s Top Innovators of 2024 and featured on the 2025 & 2026 Global Cleantech 100.

Overview Of Role

ZwitterCo is seeking an experienced Senior Process Design Engineer to join our team. This role will be a key contributor in ensuring the successful, high-impact application of ZwitterCo’s cutting-edge membranes across various industries with an emphasis on water and wastewater applications.

The candidate will play an essential role in developing ZwitterCo-powered membrane filtration systems for customers and partners primarily located in North America and will serve as a subject matter expert on the implementation and integration of ZwitterCo membrane systems into industrial process and wastewater operations. The ideal candidate will have deep experience in water treatment system estimating, proposal development, system design and standard platform development/management. The candidate will have practical experience with crossflow filtration system design, including spiral wound reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration; membrane process integration within larger treatment plants; modular system (skidded and containerized) design, process and/or wastewater applications. Experience integrating pretreatment and membrane operations is particularly valuable.

Key to this role is the ability to work across functions in a fast-paced dynamic environment. Successful candidates will be initiative-taking and able to self-manage work effort across different priorities without losing track of less urgent projects. Candidates should be passionate about membrane technology and eager to work on the forefront of the water treatment industry, supporting a range of customers in solving challenges with our products.

Responsibilities Of The Role

• Lead the design and detail engineering of ZwitterCo membrane filtration systems.
• Using high-level process designs (including membrane performance parameters) provided by applications engineering, develop piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&ID’s) for both custom systems and standardized modular offerings.
• Specify requirements for all system components, including type, MoC, and performance characteristics of pumps, valves, tanks, and instruments.
• Determine material of construction requirements for systems based on expected operating conditions, required equipment life, and cost considerations.
• Provide thoughtful tradeoff analysis and lead the decision-making on process design philosophy for the implementation of multiple trains, redundancy, and integration with upstream and downstream unit operations.
• Lead value engineering efforts, with particular emphasis on cost improvement in standard or modular system designs.
• Support field engineering with technical advice for repairing, servicing, or modifying ZwitterCo-owned equipment as requested.
• Evaluate, mitigate, and communicate technical risks associated with new applications, projects, and/or partners.
• Collaborate with engineering project managers on the procurement of engineered systems, including mitigation strategies to accommodate unexpected design changes.
• Maintain accurate and organized project data and records.
• Author technical guidance documents and give oral/written presentations to customers, industry partners, and ZwitterCo business leaders as needed.
• Maintain an adept understanding of product knowledge and application.
• Provide post-sales technical support for partners and end users to ensure customer success, including visits to customer sites.
• Provide mentorship to less experienced members of the engineering team.
• Other duties as reasonably assigned.

Qualifications

• A university degree in an engineering discipline is required unless the candidate has extensive previous work experience in a comparable role. A degree in chemical, civil, environmental, or mechanical engineering is preferred.
• 4 to 10 years of experience estimating and designing industrial water/wastewater treatment equipment.
• Subject matter expertise in the design and implementation of industrial and/or brackish spiral wound membrane systems.
• Process engineering experience with feed & bleed and batch membrane designs.
• Familiarity with current product lines for RO/NF/UF membranes common in the market.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral. Comfort with public speaking (hosting training, webinars, etc) is required.
• Experience with best practices and regulations affecting water and wastewater treatment.
• Candidates should be proficient with Autodesk software for developing or modifying 2D engineering diagrams, but also comfortable supervising internal or external drafting resources.
• Fluency in English is required, with technical proficiency for engineering discussions.

Schedule, Travel, Compensation, and Locations

This full-time position will be located remotely in North America. Access to a major international airport is highly desirable. This position will report to the VP Engineering Operations.

Travel for this role is expected to be up to 20%, mainly consisting of customer success site visits and conferences. Most travel is expected to be short (2-3 nights away). Travel to ZwitterCo offices (Boston, MA and Shreveport, LA areas) should be expected several times per year for meetings, training, and workshops.

Compensation will be commensurate with experience and location and will include equity if applicable.

The Pay Range For This Role Is

125,000 - 160,000 USD per year(United States)